Done!

For some of us, short tasks tend to be prioritized first, before we choose to focus on the more extensive tasks. As a consequence, important tasks may be put off longer than we would wish they were. In this episode, the 543rd, I share how to get important tasks done well in advance. Do you have some other trick you apply to help yourself prioritize things you are reluctant to do? Perhaps you resort to the classic method of breaking the task down into smaller steps to make it easier to get through. Or, something completely different? Write to me and let me know. I'm curious to know what works for you.  Do you want my help with enhancing structure? Book a personal structure training with me now. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

If you feel overwhelmed from time to time by the sheer amount of emails received in your inbox, this week's edition is for you. In this 542nd episode of Done!, I share a trick that helps you get through your inbox quicker. What are your tricks for dealing more quickly with all the emails you receive? Drop me an email and let me know. Although more and more communication is moving to chat, many people continue to receive an abundance of emails on a daily basis (myself included) so your tip will be much appreciated. Recently, I learned a method for practicing better impulse control. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

The purpose of time management, is it to just get more things done in shorter time and get increasingly efficient? No, of course not. In this episode, the 541:st, I share findings from an interesting study that points to other, even more valuable, benefits from managing your time well.  What will you choose to refine in the near future? Please tell me, because I may want to make an effort in that area myself after being reminded of it by you, and I might even be able to contribute to your initiative with tricks, tools, and tips that I have accumulated over the years. Feel free to write to me! Wondering about what the counter question that makes your meetings more efficient is, that I mention in the beginning of the episode? I'll tell you. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

To recover and get the well deserved rest when you are free, you need to mentally disconnect from work, according to a study by Bennett and Field. In this last episode for 2022, the 540th, I share four practical ways to do just that. What are your tricks for disconnecting from work easily when you are off? Let me know. Write to me, because I want more tips on just that (as well as on many other things). I may well share it with others who would also benefit from hearing them - with your permission, of course. Right now on the Structure Blog: Solve tomorrow’s problems with structure today These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

When questions, problems, ideas, suggestions, errors, and the like arise, they need to be dealt with by the right person. But who to ask?  In this episode, the 539th, I share a tool that helps you more easily delegate an issue to the right colleague. How have you made it easy to know who to pass the ball to when you receive things or issues that don't concern your area of responsibility? Write to me and let me know. I'm always curious to hear how others solved hassles my clients (and I myself!) encountered, so I would love to receive an email from you.  I have found three things you can do to come better prepared to your meetings. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Microsoft OneNote is an excellent tool for writing and keeping notes, if you ask me. But, I do not think you should use it for your to-do list.  In this episode, the 538th, I share why - and I give you two suggestions for tools you could try out instead. Don't agree with me that OneNote is not a good place for to-do lists? Have you found features that solve the hassle that I haven't? Let me know! I want to learn more about this, so I would love for you to tell or show me. Book a talk on structure at work by me and set the tone immediately among your colleagues for an even more well structured 2023! These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

When setting up a folder structure for your digital documents you need to find an order that suits you and your organization. In this episode, the 537th, I share what to consider when choosing what order to implement. How have you achieved a folder structure that works well? Write to me and tell me. This aspect of structure is something many people struggle with and I am curious about what you have done to succeed well, so I am all ears. Here is how to sift out at the source. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

When you work at the office, you might have agreed with your colleagues that you use the chat app's status indicator to show each other whether you are available or not. But, how do you signal to your family members while working from home that you need to work uninterrupted at the moment?  There is now an app for that - and I will tell you about it in this 536th episode. Did you try the app and how did it suit you? If you came up with a different signal, what was it? Write to me and tell me, because I collect clever tricks, as you know. However, I don't just keep them for myself, but love sharing them freely with those who are interested since the more of us who work in a structured way, the easier and better all our lives will be. Here are five ways to sort your digital folders: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/video-five-ways-to-sort-things These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Sometimes and some days, you do not find the time for completing all the tasks on today's list. Then, some tasks have to go.  In this episode, the 535th, let us talk about what tasks you can skip on stressful days.  Have you done something else to prioritize fairly quickly in stressful situations? Write to me and let me know. Anything that makes our working lives easier is of great interest to me. That's why I'm curious to hear what you'd like to share.  I mentioned the word "Spuddle" in the beginning of the episode. Do you have a productivity related favorite word? Tell me! These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

How quickly do you have to respond to emails, chat messages and other communication? Well, it depends. In this episode, the 534th, I share what you can do to make your workdays less fragmented.  What "channel frequencies" did you agree on? Write to me and let me know. This question interests me right now, so I'm curious to hear what you and your colleagues came up with.  Here is how to escape regretting a "yes!": https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/video-escape-regretting-a-yes These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

We cannot be available everywhere all the time. Sometimes, we all need to work focused without interruptions. This will paradoxically be more easily done if you make yourself reachable - not through all channels, but one specific.  In this episode, the 533rd, I share what you gain by choosing what channel you use for emergencies. Do you have any other way to resolve the conflict between being unavailable and needing to be semi-reachable? Write to me and let me know. As the influx and inflow of messages increase in number, more of us are feeling the challenge of maintaining calm in our increasingly stressful work lives. That's why I'm curious to hear about your best trick.  Sometimes at work, you need to say no. It can be hard - at least in the moment. But, it will be easier if you create templates for doing so. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

When your workday consists of meetings back to back, the tasks you manage to get done in between might only be the quick things that not necessarily have the highest priority. Then, the really important tasks will have to wait until later. In this episode, the 532th, though, I help you make better use of the brief moments you have between meetings. Do you have other tricks for making the most of the short time between meetings? Write to me and let me know. I am certainly one of those who want to make the most of my working time, so I am curious to see what you would like to share. And, as I mentioned in the beginning of the episode, I wrote about thirteen ways to clean up when you are short of time. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Have you ever put up a sticky note where you see it in order to not miss something, but end up seeing it so much that you after a while do not see it (and still miss the thing that was written on the note)? This is similar to what happens when you work continously on a task without taking breaks. In this episode, the 531st, I share why you should refrain from that and what you can do instead. How often does it suit you to take a short break if you do not get one automatically? Write to me and let me know. I am one of those who find it easy to get lost in a task for a long time, so I am curious to hear what works for you. And, here's how to search better in Outlook: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/how-to-search-better-in-outlook These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Some people tend to mark an email as unread after they have read it a first time, since they want to remember to get back to it and do something later. The 530th episode of Done! is about why that is something to avoid. How have you managed to keep your to-do list complete - despite new things coming in through many different channels? Write to me and tell me. I am curious to hear what you will share. Here is how I view structure in relation to creativity: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/structure-and-creativity-are-they-friends-or-foes These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

When you finally have time to do that thing that you have postponed a while longer than you wish, it is understandable that you want to get started immediately. But, today's Done! No. 529, is about a situation when it is actually wise to slow down and not act so quickly. Do you usually do something special before having a go at a task that has been on the to-do list for a long time? Do you check it against something or check in with someone? Tell me what and how! I am very curious to know how you make sure you are only doing what is actually relevant, important, and valuable. As mentioned, these episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), try it out!

Here is Done! No. 528. Today, I share a way for you to make sure that you spend your time at work wisely. If you log your time, what have you found or realized that you have not seen before? Write to me and let me know. Maybe you will give me an idea of something I should also look for that might help me. In the beginning of the episode, I mention this blogpost about how to update your to-do list: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/sift-out-wash-out And, here is Toggl Track: https://toggl.com/track/ These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Sometimes, we regret having accepted to do something a long time ago that we now, when the time is here, definitely would not prioritize. In Done! No. 527, I share a simple trick for saying "Yes!" only to the right tasks. What are your tricks for not saying yes to too much and sometimes the wrong things? Write to me and let me know. I love to hear about simple tricks like this, so I am curious to hear how you do it. Here is how to send tasks from OneNote to To-Do in two different ways: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/how-to-send-tasks-from-onenote-to-microsoft-to-do These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

We all need to declutter our workspace from time to time. But, did you know that good structure can actually ease your cleaning burden?  In this episode, the 526th, I show you how. What are your tricks for avoiding clutter? Maybe you have a method or a rule of thumb you would like to share with me? If so, write to me and let me know. I'm curious to hear from you! In the beginning of the episode, I mention a trick I learned from a lean consultant. Here, you will find that: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/one-two-three-then-no-more-excuses These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Even the best to-do list app might not support exactly the "thought model" you use for your structure. For instance, what if the app only lets you create groups containing projects consisting of tasks, but you want to divide the projects in sub projects before defining the tasks? In this episode, the 525th, I share an easy workaround that lets you work how you wish, even if the app actually doesn't support it.  What emergency solution or MacGyver-like trick have you come up with that you would like to share with me? Tell me! Also, as I mentioned in the beginning of the episode: please share with me how you handle travel time to meetings in your calendar. Here is a post on the Structure Blog where I elaborate: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/how-do-you-book-travel-time-to-meetings These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Knowing that you should get enough sleep is one thing. Actually going to bed when you ought to is something else. What if you struggle getting the hours of good sleep you need?  In this episode, the 524th, I share how to use the built-in functions of your smartphone to sleep better. How have you used apps to help you get the sleep you need? Write to me at david@stiernholm.com and tell me about your best trick. I'm all ears. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.