Breakfast, school, dog… we all have tasks that pile up in a short time, there is the option of waking up earlier, but sleeping less hours, in the end it is a balance. Neither sleepy nor rushed.
This is not always achieved, but I do like to include some physical activity at the start of the day, such as walking the dog, cycling to Distrito T or now that I work at the Villaverde Logistics Centre, I can walk to school and then listen to music in the car. There are many options.
In general, I like to change slightly each day so that I don’t fall into routines that become a boring obligation in the long run. If the workplace is relatively close I can’t help but recommend riding an electric bike, a colleague recommended it to me and I adapted my old mountain bike with a motor that lightens the ride and allows me to arrive fresh and without the need for a change of clothes, showers, etc. The difference when arriving at work after a traffic jam in a car or a pleasant ride on an electric bike is remarkable.
My work tools
Throughout my professional career I have varied the specific tools I use, although they all share a common purpose: to organise and optimise my personal and work time, which often, at least in my case, are intertwined. Years ago I remember the paper diaries, then came the on-line calendars like Google calendar, which I still use for my personal time.
Professionally, I think we all have an agenda marked from the corporate Outlook to which agile type tools are added, from the most basic to the most advanced ones that help to manage time and tasks. In fact, at home we have adopted a canvas diagram for the tasks of children and adults, if something is useful and works, it ends up being imposed, both personally and professionally.
My best moment of the day
At lunchtime, during the lunch break where I try to slow down and enjoy either a simple sandwich or a large meal for a special occasion. I also like to go for a short walk, meet someone I haven’t seen in a while and generally get my strength back to finish the working day focused and with enthusiasm.
It’s a little “reset” that at least I find very useful whether I’m at home teleworking or in the office. And if it is also accompanied by the feeling at the end of the day of having made progress and being happy with the tasks done, we can consider it a rounded day. It is not always like that, but when it is achieved, the feeling when you get home is much more gratifying.
My tips for getting organised
In my case, with small children it can be difficult to organise myself to achieve a balance between personal and professional life, but my best recommendation is to try to find different time slots for each task.
For example, do not try to answer all emails as they come in, in fact, there are certain “social norms” that in my opinion are being imposed. For example, an email that is not marked as urgent can be answered within 24 hours, a Teams chat (without abusing it) can take some time, but I prioritise it over the email, as well as a call that I try to answer at the moment, except when I am in a meeting where the priority for me is the time of all those attending the meeting.
Of course there are exceptions and we all deal with them, but in my experience, trying to answer everything immediately leads to inefficiency, if everything is urgent, nothing is urgent. It is better to find different time slots to answer mail, to meet, to document, etc.
