Three tools to help Public Affairs professionals be more productive
Productivity is not about painfully ticking task after task. It’s about doing more of what matters to you in a sustainable way.
Do you feel like there aren’t enough hours in a day to do your work?
Are you working longer days only to do the very basics of your job?
If you answered positively to both questions, chances are that you could benefit from a few productivity tips. Here are three tools that I use to get more done and feel good about my day’s work.
Let’s get started right away.
Start the day before
What if I told you your day’s productivity was determined by how you ended the previous one?
I recently incorporated at the end of my work days a simple “Shutdown Ritual.” Every day, half an hour before clocking out, I review my achievements and prepare for the day after.
I set up a short checklist. I first log on to the activities of the day on the timesheet my company uses. There, I leave notes of what I did (met with a stakeholder, drafted a report, attended an internal meeting, etc.). I use these notes to update my manager on the development of the most important projects. Finaly, I identify the three most important tasks to be done the next day, before setting them on my calendar. Once this is done, I can clock out peacefully.
This way, I ensure that:
I will start the following day with the most important tasks, and
My manager and I have a clear picture of what I did and what remains to be done.
But how do you know what is important to be done the next morning?
Prioritise
That’s where the next tool comes in handy.
The Heisenhower Matrix (from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower) is a usefull tool to sort between the countless tasks one is expected to performe the most important and most urgent. It basically looks like so:
Basecally, all your tasks fall under a Important/Not-important axis and a Urgent/Not-urgent axis. The Urgent & Important take top priority (that’s what I schedule first in the morning), and Important & Not-urgent get second-range priority (typically to be done sometime in the afternoon). As for the rest, I delegate or delete it from my to-do list.
This tool ensures that I stay focused on the right items. This way, I don’t have to chase nice-to-have tasks that, in the end, won’t bring anything substantial to the table.
Now, how do I deal with requests from colleagues? That’s surely a non-escapable and time-consuming activity, right?
Dealing with requests
The next tool is probably one of my most powerful weapon to get things done.
I’ve been an adept of Inbox Zero, and it never failed me. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is a method for dealing with emails in a efficient way: all emails should touch your mailbox only once, and be cleared afterward.
This way, my inbox remains (ideally) empty, and I know each email request has been dealt with.
Ideally, you don’t want to look at your inbox more than only a couple of times a day. For every email, I either act on it right away, add its request to my calendar, or strore it for later. Well, in reality, that’s more complex, but you get the gist of it. And for more information on the Inbox Zero system, I strongly encourage you to look at tutorial videos on Youtube.
And that’s it.
No need for fancy tools and apps. Just a few common sense methods can already help you achieve more.
I hope this piece was useful to you. I could talk about productivity for days. If you’d like me to continue on this issue, please let me know.
In the meantime, don’t forget to like this post and send it to a strugglig colleagues.
Thanks for reading!
I’m Alexandre Météreau, EU lobbyists and campaigner.
The Beubble is a side project where I share insights and practical advice on EU policymaking and influence.
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