How to get affairs in order?

How to get affairs in order?

Some days before I had a word with a familiar of mine about work management. That's what he said: "Every day I receive items to do, but they are much more than I can manage. The delayed tasks grow together with chaos. How to stop it?" And this is the burning question in people's minds. Many of us know the bottom of despair under the constant pressure of outcoming tasks. These are the five steps how to get out of chaos:

Tip №1: just stop...

...or stop the incoming stream. To repair the working mechanism, it should be stopped first. You will not be able to fix the problems as long as they continue to come to you as a flow. So stop the flow. Do not accept new challenges and take a break. The stop will allow you to sort out the current situation and concentrate on it as well. In general, the tip №1 -put all the tasks in one list and do not accept new ones until you bring order in activity you already have. In addition to say, the affair list can be fulfilled if you know what you do, if you are able to control the situation and therefore, satisfied with yourself. Here the last point is the most important. And this is not a joke. You need to regain a sense of satisfaction.

Remember: the world will not fail and the company will not collapse if you withdraw for some days.

Tip №2: estimate time expenditure.

The next thing to follow is to estimate the required time for each task. There's no need to be high accurate. Measure by eye. The core is to understand how much time should be spent to complete your affair list. According to early estimates, it may turn out to get two months to make your plan ‪#‎real‬. But if these periods are not required to the reality where you're able to manage everything in time, the ‪#‎plan‬ is absurd and has to be reconstructed.

Tip №3: clear up your list.

This is not so easy. The optimization of plan requires a serious and critical evaluation of affairs. Leave all the questions that can be settled without your participation. Are there any doubts? Do you think you 'll manage better? Anyway, leave them for others and take it under control. Unite all tasks in a group. Find time for processing of mail and calls. Do similar things in a row. It saves time. Delay everything that can be done later. Even professional meetings can be temporary replaced. Just arrange it. Assign contacts with customers more evenly. Change terms where it's possible. ‪#‎Free‬ up your space for manaever. Remove everything that lost the relevance. Without any doubts cancel those tasks which profitably are in doubt.

Tip №4: do affairs step by step.

Sort out your affair list in order of time preference. Select all the tasks that require not more than 30-40 minutes to be done. Do them in a row. Forget about all the rest. When short tasks are over, run your eyes over the list. Surely, it looks better and much more comfortable to work with. You can even find out that you're ready to start afresh. Nevertheless, put all the rest activity in a way where it can be fully finished in time. Create a reserve time in 15/20% of the time required for settlement. For now it's better to leave uncompleted than overdone.

Tip №5: say "no" to sharp planning.

In any case do not limit your work time by putting a deadline. See the sharp planning as an enemy. It can be effective if all the plan is under your control. Now everything is very shaky. So, take your own time and set yourself free. Don't drive your brain into framework, otherwise you'll come back to the point from which you have started. You shoul calmly turn the affair list into action according to the early planning. One by one. Do not perform a new task if previous one is still in process. One task at a time. The most precious here is to realize that you are really able to make a pause and get your affairs in order. Accept it as the indisputable fact.

These 5-steps planning has already proved it's benefit. As practice shows, it's effective in fire suppression or raking ruines, but work needs to be build in a reliable way so such situations can not arise.

How to avoid the extremes? 

What is your truth?