The superhero’s guide to getting organised

So, what’s your superpower? This is a question I have come across in numerous interviews of late. With the Marvel universe dominating cinema screens for years now, it seems to have become the latest, slightly ironic, way of asking “what are your hidden talents?”, and I’ve heard answers ranging from “I am a brilliant negotiator” […]

Be the master, not the slave, of your to-do list

to do list performance

What does your to-do list look like today? Is it long, short, detailed, written down, in your head? I generally have two going at any one time – one for personal tasks (on a post-it), the other for work-related items (currently experimenting with Trello). I love lists in general, as I find they give me […]

Managing the email avalanche

e mail avalanche

1. Make appointments to check email. Trying to keep on top of your emails all day long is a time-suck and the enemy of concentration. Choose your least productive times of day and schedule a meeting with yourself to check and deal with your email (keep high-productivity times for your most important tasks). This might […]

Finally tackling a nagging task

1. Identify your “why”. Any task is easier when you have a clear idea of why you are doing it. Finishing my family photo album “because it’s already May and I really should” just doesn’t do it for me. However, remembering the joy we all shared when we showed our kids the album I made […]

Letting go of the day and starting the evening mindfully

1. Clear away the day’s detritus. If you’re working from home – perhaps at the kitchen or dining table or at a desk in your living space – it can be hard to switch off when you down tools for the day. However tempting it is to leave the laptop and files out ready to […]

Organising your to-do list when it feels out of control

1. First, separate tasks into categories – personal, professional, family, admin… Then list the tasks, adding a status against each one. I use a star to signify that I have to perform an action. When I am waiting on someone else to complete their part before I can do mine, I write something like “pending […]