I have to admit it. I'm not the most organized person. This would be immediately obvious if you were to see the home office I try and work from. So when I come across a technique that helps me address my lack of organization, I give it a try.
Recently, I've found a couple of techniques that I've found useful in getting me more organized and productive.
The first of these is the Pomodoro Technique. This is a time management approach developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. Originally, it used a kitchen timer in the form of a tomato, which is how the technique got its name (pomodoro is Italian for tomato). Of course, these days the tomato-shaped timer is a bit superfluous, give the numerous timer applications available for different operating systems.
Wikipedia has a detailed description of the technique, so I'll just do a quick summery. The Pomodoro Technique uses a set of timed activity and rest periods to help focus and increase productivity. A typical Pomodoro consists of 25 minutes working on a project with a five-minute or so rest period. Then back to another cycle of 25 minutes of work and another five-minute rest. Of course, the 25-and-5 minute cycle is arbitrary. If 30 minutes work and a 10-minute break work better for you, you're still using the Pomodoro Technique.
Using a timer for these cycles is a very regimented approach, and to be truthful, I'm simply not that organized. But I do use a similar work/break cycle, though not specifically 25 and five. Give it a try, and if you want to get back to the original method, you can always find a tomato-shaped kitchen timer online.
Another interesting organizational and productivity tool is an Eisenhower Chart or Matrix, named after the former president. This approach asks you to organize tasks in the order of their urgency. You can create an Eisenhower matrix manually or use one of the many apps that are available.
Basically, this approach asks you to create a four-panel chart. The top two horizontal panels are important tasks with Urgent tasks listed in the left box or panel and those tasks which are Less Urgent in the right panel. The bottom two panels have you list the less important tasks with Urgent and Less Urgent tasks in the left and right panels. These less important task might be ones you can delegate or pass on to someone else, put off or just not do at all.
The four quadrants are frequently described as Do First (left upper panel), Schedule (right upper panel), Delegate (Left lower panel) and Don't do (right lower panel). Ranking tasks into these four quadrants lets you understand the relationship and importance of tasks.
As with the Pomodoro Technique, Wikipedia has an excellent explanation of the Eisenhower Matrix, with an illustration that puts the technique into visual focus.
Neither of these two techniques is difficult to implement, but one or both may help you become more organized and/or productive. Give them a try and see if they work for you.
