I have been struggling to juggle multiple projects over the past few weeks. I have new clients, new services, new writing contracts, and several projects that needed the dust blown off and tinkered with to be brought up to date.
The trouble is that I am, quite frankly, rubbish at multi-tasking. I was relieved to hear someone else admit this the other day in an interview, and it inspired me to stand up, raise my hand and ‘fess up. “My name is Angela, and I am a rubbish multi-tasker.”
It’s not an easy thing to admit in our fast paced society, and practically taboo in the world of online media where most six figure bloggers manage to churn out quality content each day while tweaking code and plunging head first into analytical data and reports from any number of social media platforms. How they keep up and make sense of it all boggles the mind. But that is why these guys make the big bucks.
For my part, I just wanted to streamline my workflow and optimize my work/income ratio. While this is an ongoing battle, I wanted to share some of my tips for anyone else struggling with these issues:
- Get your priorities straight.
Make a list of each item that you need to tackle, and decide what your main priority is. Do you have a deadline? Is your goal financial or creative? Perhaps you want to reduce your working hours? Everyone’s priorities will be different, and accept that yours might change over time, so be prepared to reassess if you find yourself feeling a bit discombobulated again. - Trim the Fat
Identify your time sinks. What swallows up precious time each day but doesn’t reward you? Facebook? Emails? Paperwork? Ask yourself what activities you can cut out or make more efficient. If a particular activity, such as looking for files or sending repetitive emails is taking up too much of your time find a better way to handle the process. - Be Ruthless
This is where I have difficulty. Train yourself to cut items out of your work day if they don’t meet your priorities. If you have a pet project that lets your creative juices flow but doesn’t pay the bills, and finances are your priority de jour, shelve it. Wish you could take on another client but just don’t have the time? Don’t be tempted to squeeze them in, or keeping putting them off to get round to later. Let them know that you appreciate their trust in your services, but make it clear: “Sorry, no can do.” (I have actually had clients send me a deposit as a retainer and ask to be put on a waiting list after telling them this!) - Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
I say this three times because it is vital to simplify your work life in order to reduce your work hours and increase your profitability. I recently hacked several beautiful but burdensome chunks of code from my blogs because it was taking me too long to format images and posts. I needed to make it faster to get in and get out. - Let Go of Perfection.
It’s not attainable. Or if it is, there is no way that it is financially rewarding. Work that is 90% perfect is much preferable to work that is never finished. Do your best. Get it done. Submit. Let it go and move on.
Got your own productivity tips? I’d be more than happy to hear your suggestions!
[Image by nkzs]
