I often complain that there aren’t enough hours in the day. With so many areas of my life competing for attention, it doesn’t take much for one area to feel neglected and then all hell breaks loose.
I’m an anal planner. I have diaries packed with meetings and hastily scrawled to do lists and I feel like a failure if I don’t achieve everything I set out to in the day.
One of my resolutions for the new year is to manage my time more effectively – and set more realistic goals. So, when Got 2 Jot got in touch and asked if I’d like to review some of their ‘motivationery‘ (such an awesome name!), I jumped at the chance.
‘Motivationery’ is the name they’ve given to their motivational stationery, which includes Make It Happen* by creative business consultant Kari Chapin. Subtitled ‘A Workbook & Productivity Tracker for Getting Stuff Done’, it’s a fantastic tool to track how you spend your time, recognise patterns and adapt your routine to allow you to work more productively.
The templates are great, prompting you to analyse how long certain tasks take, what you can move around and manage to do lists.
I decided to take the book into the office before my Christmas break to see what changes I could make for the new year. My favourite templates were the ones that looked at how I spent my work day, breaking it down into hour-long slots.
I try to structure my time in my day job to get all of my little jobs done in the morning and focus on the bigger tasks post-lunch, although it’s easy for some days to be filled with meetings.
Come the third day of using the tracker I was already able to identify patterns. It was also perfectly timed with my annual Personal Development Review, so I was able to present my findings to my Line Manager and discuss ways we can manage my workload and delegate tasks.
My to do list is ever-growing because so much of my day is spent reacting to things which haven’t been anticipated/are timely and require immediate action. Fortunately we’ll be recruiting in the new year and I can have some support with some of my day-to-day jobs, freeing me up to be more reactive without worrying about increasing my workload.
Over a week before Christmas I sat down and made a list of the things I wanted to achieve over the next few days, both in the day job and on the blog. As always, things popped up which prevented me from achieving everything but all of the big things were manageable. I freaking love lists.
If you’re looking to be more productive with your time in the new year and make positive changes to your work patterns, grab a copy of Make It Happen. In fact, Got 2 Jot have offered me an extra copy for one lucky reader. All you’ve got to do to be in with a chance of winning is complete the Gleam entries below. You get one entry for each action you complete.
Terms and conditions: This giveaway will close at midnight on Wednesday 3 January 2018. The winner will be randomly selected and contacted directly. If they don’t respond within a week, a new winner will be selected. UK entries only.
*I was sent a copy of Make It Happen for review purposes and all thoughts are my own
I haven’t thought about my goals for 2018 yet. I really should.
I would like to gain more followers across my social media channels. Especially You Tube. x
Ohh I love this and definitely need it I think. Although not for work as I don’t want to be scared by actually thinking about my workload š
Haha yell me about it. It’s works for different tasks and goals. Definitely helps you see where your time is most spent.
This looks cool! Love a list š
Any excuse for new stationery š