Productivity Hacks
There are some productivity hacks from my teacher days that carried over to my instructional design routines. Self-management is very important in the corporate world because deadlines are spaced out, and things can creep up on you.
As a teacher, demands are very immediate. Students show up in your classroom every day and you better have that lesson planned. That is not the case in instructional design, where projects last longer.
I'm sharing these tips with the hope that even one or two takeaways might help others get organized and feel on top of their workload:
Write a to-do list of 5-6 items for the following day before ending my shift each day. This way, when I arrive to my desk in the morning, I know exactly what I need to tackle first.
Keep my inbox at 0 by organizing emails into folders at the end of each day. My most useful folder is called "Deal With" and those are emails that need some sort of action or response.
Look at my work calendar for the upcoming week and make sure to block off personal appointments, focus time, and major deadlines. This proactively minimizes the risk of disruption and ensures things go smoothly.
Each Friday afternoon, email my project sponsors or managers a quick update of what we accomplished that week and what is on the to-do list for the upcoming week. This forces me to check the project plan and make sure we are still on schedule, and update the GANTT chart and Jira cards on the KanBan board accordingly.
When I am organized and have a plan, I feel less anxious about my workload. These are the strategies I've developed throughout my career that have helped me boost productivity in many roles and workplaces. What are your self-management tips?
