Covid-19 has hit us all, indiscriminately. It has affected the way we live, the way we work and the way we play. Some of us have to change the way we work, such as working from home and having to meet others virtually. Many have said that they seem to have gotten busier, have longer working hours, and heavier workload.

I am no productivity expert – just another office worker – but I have been interested in improving my productivity, and have looked into various methods to manage my workload. During this period, I find that some of things that had worked for me in managing time, work and email inbox have continued to help me greatly.

I have decided to share three most important practices that have worked for me, and hopefully they will benefit you too!

Establish a review system

I started Bullet Journaling 2 years ago. I have modified it to suit my style but the basic concept of what I do follows Bullet Journal by Ryder Carroll. I use it for personal and for work. Ever since I started Bullet Journaling, I have a greater sense of purpose, productivity and achievement. You can read up on Bullet Journaling separately.

To me, the key is constant review – and doing it at a pace that I am comfortable with. For me, I review daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. Break things down into smaller tasks or bitesize actionable items, log them and review them. It keeps me focused on the tasks that are important now while tracking my goals in the long term.

[Note: My friend shared that Getting Things Done is another great resource. You can read up on that too. This site is not affiliated to any of the methodologies mentioned.]

Keep todo list separate from Inbox and clear Inbox

I had felt frustrated in the past when I realised I kept opening and reading emails which I have already read. I felt that I should not be wasting time on such tasks. I realised the problem lied in the fact that my inbox was cluttered with emails which I kept as actionable items but I could not follow up just yet. Either because I was waiting for some input or I had other urgent tasks to work on first.

I manage my inbox very differently now – and I keep my todo list separate from my Inbox. The key is to always perform an action (delete or remove from Inbox) after an email is read. Either I read and remove, reply and remove or log it into my todo list and filing the email away. The action is determined by the amount of time I need and have on hand. If an email takes less than 15 mins to read or reply, I will perform the task required and either delete or archive the email. If an email require more time, I will log it in my todo list and file the email away to be retrieved for action when I have time for it.

This way, even if I do not have time to address an issue till 1 week later, I do not have to waste time rereading the email till I need it.

Quiet Thursdays

I came across a TED talk many years back, talking about setting aside quiet time for ourselves for thinking. The talk left a deep impression. The talk also spoke about how we take time to ‘ramp up’ to our optimal working state, and meetings and phone calls can disrupt this ‘optimal work cycle’. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of the talk nor the speaker anymore.

The key point is about controlling my work cycle rather than have external factors disrupt these productive cycles. As such, one option is to instil ‘quiet’ days where there are zero meetings or calls. This is hardest to maintain, however, I think it is most beneficial. Calls, meetings can be disruptive as they are usually set at a time not determined by me. Emails and messages on the other hand can be addressed by me at my own pace.

And I hope that you will find them useful for you too!