Better work efficiency can improve your client service, leading to more growth in your business, says Rosemary Smyth, founder of Rosemary Smyth and Associates in Victoria.
But without an efficient scheduling system, it can be easy for important tasks to slip through the cracks.
Here are three tips to help you juggle your ongoing responsibilities:
1. Categorize your tasks
Smyth is a proponent of prioritizing tasks as either “urgent” or “important” by allotting tasks to one of four categories, a method popularly known as the “Eisenhower Decision Matrix.”
The four categories in order of importance are:
a) Urgent and important. This category, for example, includes completing trades or prepping for an upcoming client meeting. These are tasks that need to be accomplished immediately and personally.
b) Urgent and not important. Responding to phone calls or returning a phone call, Smyth says, are tasks that have a deadline but are not as immediate.
c) Not urgent and important. This can be considered reading research or the latest bulletins on stocks and the economy, Smyth says.
d) Not urgent and not important. Smyth relates this category to the mindless online “surfing” we’re often distracted by, whether that’s checking Facebook, or texting family members and friends. These are the first tasks that should be dropped from your daily routine.
Smyth recommends listing daily tasks under each of these four categories every morning, either on paper or a digital calendar.
2. Develop tasks from your goals
Write down yearly goals so you’ll know what’s most important to you, Smyth says, and you’ll be able to break those goals into smaller tasks.
For example, if your goal is to segment and increase the client experience for preferred clients, measure your progress by scheduling three meetings with each of those clients per year, Smyth says.
When prioritizing these tasks, ask yourself what the impact will be if you perform that task tomorrow as opposed to today. This should help prioritize the urgency and importance of each endeavor.
3. Make a checklist for projects
For projects with many moving parts, such as a client event, Smyth recommends creating a checklist to avoid leaving all your responsibilities until the last minute.
For example, schedule dates when you’re going to book a venue, mail invitations and follow-up with attendees, Smyth says.
This is the first part in a three-part series on prioritizing your workload.
Next: How to make the most of your calendar.