Project Management Tip: How to avoid those last minute requests at the end of the day
A typical working day is filled with requests, whether face-to-face, by email or on your messenger app.
When the requests come in randomly, or at worst, at the end of the day, your day and sometimes evenings can be taken over.
Questions and requests for your help are fine, but it doesn't matter how well you plan and structure your day; these ad-hoc requests can kill your productivity and your evenings!.
To fix this, each morning before you get started, think about who's most likely going to need your help today?
This could be someone you're working the most with or someone who often asks for your help; you'll know who these requesters are most likely to be.
Then ask them, 'What do you need from me today?" or something similar.
By doing this, you're doing two things.
You are forcing them to plan ahead as they'll need to think about their day and when they might need you.
Plus, they're less likely to ask you for something they could do or find out themselves later that day.
This is because if they think of something they would typically forward to you, they'll feel bad, as you've already asked earlier that day and are less likely to do it.
Depending on who you work with and how busy you're, it will vary who you need to ask.
You don't want to ask the same person every morning what you need from me today, so use your judgment on who to ask and when.
To help you be consistent with this approach, add a reminder in your diary to make sure you do it daily.
Another benefit of doing this is you start to change the habits of the most consistent last-minute requesters without them even realising! Over time, they'll begin to come to you without you having to ask.
Productivity Tip: How to have the best day ever!
So can you have the best day ever or even the perfect day?
That could be reducing how much you procrastinate, being more focused and present, achieve what you planned to do.
The best day can mean different things to different people, but this technique is all about planning for your perfect day, and although perfection isn't possible, if you get anywhere close to that, you'll be having a great day!
This approach is all about visualisation, so visualising your day as if you've already had as it tricks your brain into performing at a higher level.
It's quick and has a ton of others benefits too.
Visualising your perfect day isn't about seeing yourself winning the lottery or meeting the love of your life; it's about excelling in the everyday areas of your life for that day only.
So typical things you do daily, but at the same time, what makes up a great day for you.
Before I take you through an example, I'll explain more about what you need to do.
Typically when you're planning your day, you write down what you're going to do and when. I recommend this, but this approach is different, and they definitely work better together.
So why do you visualise your perfect day as if you've already had it? It's because by tricking your brain into thinking you've already done it, then subconsciously, you're more likely to do some of these perfect day activities without even thinking about it.
You still need to write your perfect day down, as doing this further embeds it into your mind, plus you have a visual reminder right there in front of you all day.
You can bracket your perfect day in these four areas; health, relationships, work and personal.
These are just suggestions, but these are broad enough to cover everything you typically do in a day.
As you start to visualise and write down the perfect day, this doesn't need to take long, so some bullets in your notepad, on a Post-It, in your journal, on your laptop or within an app.
It's more effective when it's visible throughout the day
Let me take you through an example under each of those areas, so health, relationships, work and personal, before I share some more benefits of doing this.
For health, you can write down today I did a 5k run, beat my PB, and then I spent a relaxing 10 minutes stretching.
I ate 5 pieces of fruit and only ate healthy snacks all day, and my energy levels were excellent, as was my focus.
For relationships, you may say;
When I gave my wife a kiss and hug before she started work, it was a really nice moment as she looked a bit stressed before her long day ahead. We then chatted about her day and how I could help, and she seemed much more relaxed after that.
At lunchtime, I closed my laptop, left my mobile on my desk, and spent 30 minutes totally focused on her. We spoke about our kids and what we wanted to do at the weekend whilst sitting outside in the sun. It was a lovely break from work and felt like a proper lunch break.
For work, I may say;
I smashed the plan I created for my day and completed everything I needed, including the tasks I'd been putting off for my client.
I got lots of praise from my boss, and when I closed my laptop at the end of the day, I felt like I had achieved so much, and I know I'll sleep well tonight.
For personal activities, I may say;
I dedicated some time today to re-work my 6-month goals, and I can't wait to start working on them tomorrow. They push me, but I know they'll help me get to that dream job faster if I complete them.
So these are some very brief examples, but you get the idea. Put yourself in the moment at the end of the day as if you were writing in your journal.
Then as well as visualising it, imagine how you'll feel after your perfect day. Your brain will then want that feeling and do everything it can to help you get it during the day.
I mentioned there are other benefits, and the one I really want to highlight is lessons learnt.
At the end of your day, you can then compare how your day went versus what you planned as your perfect day.
As it's the perfect day, the likelihood of you hitting everything you planned could be more realistic, as it's hard to plan 100% how things will go. But this is an opportunity to learn.
You need to look at what stopped you from achieving the perfect day.
Take a moment to note where you didn't quite hit the mark and then write down how you could have prevented it; then, next time, you can get closer to your perfect day with the lessons you've learnt
There are always reasons why you didn't achieve what you wanted that day. Sometimes it's entirely out of your control.
But! If you always look deeper, there is usually something you could have done. So if you find yourself making excuses, don't just accept them; look for ways to prevent them next time.
So why don't you write down your perfect day today and see how it improves your productivity at home and at work.
And remember:
- Visualise it to help trick your brain into thinking it's already happened
- Think about your day in as much detail as possible when visualising it
- Think about how you'll feel when you finish the day you visualised
- Write it down and keep it visible to remind you what you want to achieve that day.
