With many of us leading increasingly busy lives, spinning lots of plates and doing our best to manage our precious time and space, it can often help to turn to independent professionals to support us with our greatest challenges.

Some professional organisers specialise in assisting individuals in the way they manage their time, tasks and information at work and/or at home.

This can include advice about how to streamline processes, instil simple routines and minimise overwhelm, as well as regular reviews and a degree of accountability.

 The most popular approaches include;

 ·       one-to-one coaching sessions (either virtually or in person)

·       group coaching

·       workshops

·       talks

·       support materials and resources, such as books, printables and videos

The process of working with a results-focused productivity specialist can help you to clarify your vision, goals and priorities, determine how and where you spend your time,attention and energy and aid your decision-making so that you work effectively and efficiently.

As well as discussion about your biggest productivity struggles, there will often be some planning and review time, where you will work with the specialist to map out your diary, think through processes and agree next steps.

If this has inspired you to boost your productivity, here are some simple tips to get you started:

Declutter before you organise

The fewer things you have the easier it is to keep them organised, so declutter your schedule, tasks,paperwork and digital landscape where you can. Focus on identifying and holding onto the non-negotiables and the things that are most important or fulfilling.Then turn your attention to those you can let go of. This might include;

·       diary commitments

·       kids’ activities that they no longer enjoy

·       volunteering obligations

·       committee engagements

·       unnecessary administrative tasks or household chores

·       subscriptions or newsletters

·       your email inbox

·       files and folders (digital and paper)

·       apps on your phone

Time management

I firmly believe that if you want to manage your time well, you need to be able to see it. Ditching the to-do list and plotting main activities, tasks and commitments in a diary is a simple but effective way of doing this.

Regardless of whether you prefer digital calendars or a paper-based approach, turning your to do’s into whens - and indicating how long you expect things to take - lets you see your commitments and capacity, keeps everything centralised and provides a framework to your week. You don’t necessarily need to stick to it one hundred percent but think of it as a productivity plan and aim for a mix of deep focus time alongside the routine tasks.

I do particularly recommend having some buffer time in between diary entries, to allow time for those spontaneous, urgent or unpredictable things that can inevitably crop up. Plan for the unplannable!

 Procrastination

One scientifically proven tip for beating procrastination is to identify a micro-goal, set a timer(for as little as 5 minutes, although it could be longer) and work solely towards that goal until the timer runs out. This is particularly good for chunky tasks that are less overwhelming if broken into bite-sized pieces, tasks that you don’t enjoy and those that you usually tend to put off.

Email

80% of people keep their email open all day and most of us check our emails every 6 minutes!

This inevitably means that we are frequently interrupted and distracted throughout the day. By only opening your email programme when you have some time to process its contents you can take back control and work in focused chunks. Aim to process,not just check.

To help with this processing, a swift way to compose or respond to emails is to regularly use the dictation function. It can take a little bit of getting used to but can be done on your phone, tablet or PC. We generally speak between 7 and 12 times faster than we type, so this handy speech-to-text function is a quick and simple way for sending short, specific messages and is also ideal if you are on the go. To get started, look for the microphone icon on your phone screen or keyboard, or search the help menu on your PC.

Accountability

According to one study, having an accountability buddy to help you achieve a goal can take your success rate up to 64% and holding a meeting with them can take that up to 95%.

Slimming clubs and personal trainers are good examples of how this can work, but have you considered doing the same for your productivity?

Whether as part of a group programme or on a one-to-one basis, having support and some friendly accountability from a professional can be an effective commitment dev ice, help you to focus on your priorities, let you explore how you can manage your time better, and ultimately bring you closer to your goals (both personally and professionally).

Where to find a productivity specialist?

If you’d like to browse some productivity specialists’ profiles, simply head to the APDO website and search for organisers who offer productivity coaching. Alternatively, I can be contacted directly via www.betterorganised.uk and will be delighted to have a no-obligation chat with you.

Find out more about the author Kate Galbally here