Tag Archives: systems

Add systems to increase efficiency

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The more systems I have in place, the better everything is for me. I have a long list of jobs to do most days and I feel demoralised if I don’t get the majority of things ticked off. There’s a regular daily battle between order and chaos in my life and anything I can do to help order win is always a good thing.

Systems and processes make the difference.

My mind works in a lateral, logical way so if I can stay focussed on a task for long enough I’ll always complete it. 

If a disruption happens – the phone goes off, incoming messages ding (I send a lot of direct messages to people every day) or I’m drawn to my inbox – it can be the equivalent of slipping on a banana skin – there’s no going back once you start falling.

If I can reduce the number of decisions I have to make every day, I can increase my outputs and efficiency. Time spent deciding what to have lunch, what to wear, and what job to do first may seem trivial but it adds up and if I don’t have these decisions to make when I sit at my desk, my brain avoids the banana skins. 

Something as simple as knowing what I’m going to wear the next day and eating the same things for breakfast and lunch most days makes a big difference to the flow of the day and the number of things I get done.

Simplicity is also important. Avoiding complexity makes every day run more smoothly and I work really hard at this. I try to avoid complex travel plans where possible and if I have to travel somewhere different I spend time creating a detailed plan with a couple of alternatives to keep the stress levels low. 

What systems and processes do you use to stay on track?

Order or chaos?

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Everyone prefers a sense of order in their life rather than chaos – generally lower levels of anxiety, better outcomes to projects, work delivered on time, etc – but how many of us actually achieve that state?

How many days start the right way with goals being met and tasks ticked off to-do lists but then go off-track faster than a downhill ski racer taking a tumble at top speed?

It might be the phone notification for a new message, an unplanned inbound call, or some web research that opens up the slippery slope of the internet.

Whatever form a distraction takes, it becomes difficult to get back to the task you were working on once it hits. Your brain reacts well to being focussed and taking deliberate steps as part of your plan, but it loves the distraction even more. 

You then have to make a decision to get back on track – one that would not have had to happen if you’d avoided the distraction in the first place. 

And it’s in the removal of decisions as we go through each day that lies, to me, the secret of achieving a better order/chaos balance. 

I plan the parts of the day that need focussed work and avoid decisions in these slots in oder to deliver my best. 

The fewer decisions I have to make, the higher the likelihood I’ll achieve more in the time I have available. 

If I have order to the way I work – processes in place, systems to work to, proper scheduling and a set of really simple rules to follow – chaos is off the table. This way, everything continues to move forward and this is always the goal.