Source: Unsplash by Carl Heyerdahl
Knowing how to be organised and stop wasting time is one of the keys to success for a manager and his team. The good news is that there are many methods, rules, laws and tricks to greatly develop our ability to organise ourselves and become more efficient.
The counterpart is that, to ensure that all these techniques are fully effective, it takes a certain discipline. In other words, it is essential to apply the best organisational practices on a daily basis. If we slack off, we risk losing what we have put in place.
Before seeking to improve our management of priorities and our organisation, it is necessary to stop the waste. For example, if we have debts, there is no point in being loaned money if we always spend more than we earn; we will continue to increase our debts and we will have to borrow again. Eliminate unnecessary expenses first. It is the same situation with the organisation. Time is our most precious commodity. Before optimizing it, we must seek to stop wasting it. This is the essential first step in knowing how to be organised.
Here is another example. People like my apartment and find that I keep it tidy. But in reality, I store very little. In fact, I only have things that are useful to me or decorations that I have chosen. I regularly dispose of what is not useful to me. Consequently, I am very efficient in terms of tidying up: I tidy up infrequently, but I have a tidy apartment.
It is the same principle for the organisation. We must remove all unnecessary tasks that disturb us to stop wasting our time before working on our organisation.
For this process, here are 7 key points:
1 – Limiting beliefs about how to be organised
Knowing how to be organised is knowing how to work on our limiting beliefs. They are present in our minds in all aspects of our lives. “ Life is hard ”, “ time flies”, “ I don’t have time”, “ I’m overwhelmed”, etc. All of these expressions are beliefs. Indeed, life is neither hard nor easy. Time does not pass quickly or slowly. He passes. We have time to implement actions, but not others. We all have the same number of minutes a day. We are neither overwhelmed nor overwhelmed.
In reality, it is our perception of reality that defines our beliefs. The problem is that these beliefs can limit us. If I think I’m running out of time, I risk putting myself in a state of stress that could affect my productivity. Also, I may have difficulty adding tasks to my work because I think I don’t have the time. Finally, I risk losing perspective and having difficulty discerning my priorities.
The reality is more neutral. We have 24 hours a day and we use them without exception. Running around doesn’t mean we have too much to do. We have the choice of doing little but spending more time or doing more and spending less time. But doing more and spending more time there is not possible, because we only have 24 hours.
Having too many tasks to do is just a figment of the imagination. It is better not to waste your time with this limiting belief. To do this, tell yourself several times a day for at least a month: everything is fine, I have enough time to achieve my priorities.
2 – Procrastination and bad habits
Procrastination and bad habits are quite close, because they waste our time without us realising it. To know how to be organised, you have to work on these two points. Procrastination is a kind of flight from priority tasks which need to be carried out. For example, we are afraid to do a task because it takes us deeply out of our comfort zone. We’re going to do another while we wait… but while we wait for what? We must therefore always make sure we know why we are doing the task in progress, to make sure that it responds to a priority.
Another question to have regularly: what are the reasons why I carry out this habit or this routine?
Is this the best way to be as efficient as possible? The risk with routines is that we always reproduce them in the same way. We don’t try anything new that could allow us to optimise the effectiveness of our routine. We must therefore challenge them “manually” so as not to fall into ineffective routines that would waste our time.
3 – The media diet for how to be organised
In the digital age, there are many sources that can distract us, lead us to procrastinate, adopt bad habits or even waste time on non-priority actions. Between the many digital newspapers, the many social networks and the many modes of communication like our phones, we receive countless information throughout the day. This can be done voluntarily: we launch an application, or involuntarily: we receive an alert.
All these applications and alerts are sources of time wasting. Personally, I have experienced it. I advise you to delete all notifications: newspapers, social networks and emails. Personally, I kept WhatsApp, Messenger and Messages to keep in touch with my family and friends because it is my priority.
Then, I advise you to delete the applications or to “hide” them in folders so as not to go there out of habit or reflex. We must choose to consult the information, but never do it involuntarily by undergoing it. Once or twice a day is enough. We must therefore cut off the sources that can waste our time or cut us off in our tasks. In addition, click here to consult the good practices on the management of emails.
4 – Managing contingencies to know how to be organised
The unexpected is also a source of loss of time, because when they occur, we have to spend time reorganising ourselves, but also managing our additional stress. We have to know how to manage them to know how to be organised. However, what is extremely surprising is that there is an extremely effective method for managing unforeseen events: planning one or more free time slots during the week. These will be completely empty. When an unforeseen event occurs, all you have to do is plan it or shift tasks to these slots.
It’s very simple and very effective. I tested it specifically when I was regional director in Russia. This organisation changed my life. I saved a lot of time because I didn’t need to reorganise in case of the unexpected. On the other hand, you should not take the reflex to fill your week at 100% because of limiting beliefs or bad habits.
5 – Managing emotions
To know how to be organised, I would like to mention an additional point so as not to waste your time any longer. It concerns emotional intelligence and more specifically the link between the management of our emotions and our effectiveness. Indeed, when a situation appears, we will have an emotional reaction. We can feel joy (= satisfaction of a need), sadness (= lack), anger (= lack of respect) or even fear (= danger).
It can be extremely unproductive and a waste of time to want to work on a task when an emotion is too strongly present. For example, I feel angry because I don’t feel respected in a situation. The energy that anger gives me is quite strong. It is “the energy of change”. So, I focus on the situation where I felt the lack of respect. I might not handle this emotion because I deny it or because I think I can deal with it. The risk is to be very unproductive on my initial objectives. I could be wasting my time.
It is the same with fear. If I feel this emotion, it is because I am in a situation where I think there is a danger. This can be real or fictitious. But, what is certain is that I feel a danger. My mind and focus will turn to this danger. If I do not manage my emotion by seeking to remove the danger, it will be very difficult for me to be productive on my initial objectives. Thus, I risk wasting time.
6 – Set goals to know how to be organised
Then, to know how to be organised, there is an essential point. We must always have a goal and always keep it in mind. At every moment, we must ask ourselves the question of what objective is responding to the action we are carrying out.
What is wasting time? We use the 24 hours a day available to us. Save time or lose it.
It depends on the goals we have set ourselves. We must therefore constantly know whether we are in the right direction (that of our objectives) or not. Self-monitoring regularly will allow us to verify that we are taking the right actions towards the right objectives.
Because, in any constructive dynamic, as in coaching for example, the objective is central. Often, lack of motivation, bad habits, procrastination or even limiting beliefs are attitudes that we take because we have forgotten our goals. We therefore “drift”. So, let’s not forget to regularly ask ourselves the question: “What is my goal??”
7 – The biological rhythm
Finally, to know how to be organized and no longer waste time, I would like to mention the biological rhythm which can also make us waste time. Dorian Vallet, in his book “Managing your time with 3 methods, 7 techniques, 27 rules and a striking story ”, explains the daily efficiency cycle.
Our daily efficiency peak occurs between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. This is when we are most productive. Then, the second peak of daily efficiency occurs at the end of the day between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Seeking to be the most productive requires respecting your own daily moments of efficiency.
Observing ourselves well to fully understand the times when our body is most efficient will allow us to achieve good levels of productivity. Thus, we will no longer waste our time trying to carry out ambitious projects when our current energy is at its lowest.