Five Panda Pointers: How to manage your work tasks

Have you ever arrived at work, knowing there is one task you absolutely have to get done that day…or perhaps before the end of the week? These tasks might fill us with dread, pushing us to find anything to distract us from completing them. Some people like to call these tasks ‘frogs’.

Is this really the way to approach any aspect of your career duties? Not at all! It’s time to embrace those dreaded work tasks with a little help from our panda pointers…

1) Plan ahead

The key to great task management is to plan exactly what you need to do on a specific day before it even arrives. If you plan day to day, spend five or ten minutes the day before listing what you want to do the following day. Everything you achieved that day will be fresh in your mind, which allows you to write tomorrow’s list with a clear mind. Don’t focus too much on when to do each task…for now this is just a general plan of action for the day to come.

2) Ranking your priorities

This is so important, as each task requires its own focus and its own amount of energy. If you have a clear vision of what you need to prioritise you will avoid multi-tasking, which ultimately burns up all of that much needed energy. The best approach is to take your list from the ‘plan ahead’ stage, and place them in order of importance. You have to be brutal with this as there may be some tasks you will feel share the same level of urgency…wrong! You have to push yourself and acknowledge your frog. Is there a task you think you have to get done but it could actually take a backseat? It’s all about teaching yourself to realise some tasks need your undivided attention, no matter what. This brings us to…

3) Avoid Emails

In the morning, make ‘Ranking your priorities’ the new checking your inbox. Task management is all about avoiding distractions and your inbox will be full of them. ‘I’ll just respond to this email quickly’ will soon eat up a valuable part of your morning. Unless there is a really urgent email you need to send, then an hour or two away from your inbox really won’t hurt. Not everyone expects a reply within five minutes of them sending an email to you. All of your goals for the day need to be set out in the morning and there will be room to schedule in some time responding to emails.

4) Make your colleagues aware

Your colleagues wouldn’t want to distract you, so it is best to make them aware of how you work. Let them know that, unless it is super urgent, you are getting your head down to work distraction free between a certain time frame and they will understand. It could be a great opportunity to educate the team on task management and priority. If your whole team is on the same wavelength, workplace distraction could be kept to a minimum.

5) Give the new routine some time

At first, you might find yourself slipping out of the routine simply out of habit. This is completely natural but you must take steps to stop yourself completely stepping back from improved task management. It will take some work, but start with comparing your productivity now to when you might not have managed your priorities as closely. Is there a big difference to your work output? Always keep your eyes open for the positive changes, as this will slowly convince you to stick to it. Remember to plan ahead, prioritise tasks and avoid all unnecessary distractions…soon, that frog will taste a whole lot better!