At a recent team meeting, we were talking about focus and what types of things help or hinder our ability to concentrate on a task. One team member admitted in college that she couldn’t get started on homework until her dorm room was clean. It was a funny thought, but I’ve been thinking about this and how this translates into my work life today.
When managing multiple projects at once, it’s important to stay focused and organized within each project. It would be safe to say that there is housekeeping done on a project each week/month to ensure that it stays on track. During the course of a month, you have project meetings, minutes, schedule updates, invoices, changes, and progress. Without procedures to keep track of all this data, it would be difficult to answer questions about the project timeline, status, etc. It’s like keeping the project’s house clean.
Not having a clean “house” would make some monthly tasks difficult. Completing your monthly project status reports could be a perfect example. Imagine having to reconcile all of the data mentioned above before focusing on the status reports each month?! That would turn an hour-long task into a time consuming, laborious effort. Plus, you’re able to stay focused on the task at hand, status reports, without having to also update the project schedule, budget, etc. Those tasks would already be completed and up to date!
How do you keep your work “house” clean? Do you have any tips or tools that help you?
For the tasks that I procrastinate, I do a bit of them every day. Yes, doing it everyday helps me to avoid procrastinating. Try it. It is counterintuitive, but it works wonders for me.