Start your digital detox now!

To make yourself more efficient at work, remove non-essential applications and make sure you have a minimum of notifications. It’s important to create distance from your phone so that it doesn’t become a distraction and a waste of time.
Unsubscribe from intrusive newsletters and avoid giving out your contact information as rarely as possible, also block ads.
When telecommuting, set up rituals to avoid digital continuity and give yourself time to take a break and relax.

Separate professional and personal time

It is important to keep your professional and personal time separate by alternating between connected and disconnected moments. Listen to your body (meals, sleep) and pay attention to your sacred moments. Allow yourself time to disconnect: sports, lunch, relaxation, family time. Take quiet times/breaks by putting your phone on airplane mode in the morning and evening.

Avoid multi-tasking

Multi-tasking refers to the fact of simultaneously undertaking several missions.
Efficiency through multi-tasking is a myth! By trying too hard to manage everything at the same time, don’t we risk altering our health and our quality of life at work? It wastes time and has an impact on our productivity and our IQ.
According to a 2005 study conducted for Hewlett Packard by TNS, people who multi-task experience a temporary loss of 10 IQ points, double the decline observed in studies of cannabis smokers.

To remedy this, discover methods and tools to better manage your time and priorities:

Adopt the Pomodoro method or ‘timeboxing’

The Pomodoro technique provides a method to focus intensely on one task at a time. It suggests that you devote 25 minutes to a specific task, before taking a 2 or 3 minute break, then 25 minutes on another specific task, etc. You can also apply it on grouped shots, more commonly called batches (a continuous time slot for one task). Remember to take breaks between batches that you can dedicate to a quick walk, a coffee for example to avoid mental exhaustion.

Get organized with the 80/20 Pareto principle

You can use this method to prioritize the tasks you need to complete during the day. The 80/20 principle is an empirical phenomenon found in some fields. Generally speaking, 80% of the effects are the result of 20% of the causes.
It is therefore counterproductive to invest effort (time, energy, budget) that would be better spent on another project. And conversely, some actions can take 80% of our time, for a result of only 20% of success.
It is up to you to determine in your organization the 20% devoted for 80% of positive effects but also the 80% devoted for only 20% of positive results.

Plan your day by prioritizing ‘the big rocks’

The gravel, sand and water symbolize all the tasks we do first that prevent us from accomplishing the “big rocks”, i.e. the most voluminous and important tasks. For example, prioritize the big rocks in the morning, if you are more likely to be less bothered by the phone or email at that time. Then eliminate the tasks that are the most ‘ardious’ to complete. It’s important to ‘reward’ yourself for the harder work with a more enjoyable project or task.

Introduce deep work into your work routine

In our article dedicated to Deep Work, Bülent Turan, a former top athlete turned corporate coach, describes it this way: “It refers to the ability to mobilize all of one’s capacities, both cognitive and physical, to carry out a mission in an optimal manner.
To achieve this, you must eliminate all distractions until the task is completed. If you work in an open space, don’t hesitate to isolate yourself with a headset in order to immerse yourself in a state of concentration that will help you increase your creativity tenfold. This isolation will allow you to accomplish complex tasks and increase your productivity.

Write your To Do list

This is a method of organization that consists in listing the tasks to be done.
There are several possible approaches, the master list which is built up over time, the weekly list (once a week) and the daily list. It is important to have one (and only one)!

To go further, discover the replay of Isabelle Mai, Consultant and trainer in organization, who will give you the details on each of her methods to better manage your priorities and your time 😉