Holiday shopping and end of year reporting always equal a busy schedule. How do you balance? Managing your workflow and maintaining your sanity might be pretty difficult during this time of year. Below are a few tips to best stay productive during a busy season.

Workflow

Joggling daily responsibilities while managing additional tasks during an increasingly busy season can be challenging. To stay productive consider the following tips:

Try the Big Three

Create a list of only three things that will move your business forward, focus on the task that generates funds or any major projects on deck. Cutting your to-do list in half can ease your mental health and help you actually focus on the most important tasks. Your Big Three list can be a simple handwritten list or a savvy computer-based list. 

Complete the most challenging tasks first

That’s right, no procrastination allowed here. By completing the more challenging task first, your brain will be more alert. Consider scheduling meetings after lunch to guarantee your work is complete before attending any meetings.

Take Breaks

Though it is tempting to burn through your work until the day is done, your eyes and your brain need a break. Staring at a computer can be straining for your eyes. Even just turning away for your computer for a few moments can ease your eyes. Also taking a break can truly refresh your mind. Consider taking a walk, eating lunch away from your desk, or meditating for a few moments.

Meetings

Meetings can sometimes seem like a time suck. You already have so much on your plate as it is. To ensure your meeting is more productive following these steps.  

Why have a meeting?

Determine why you are hosting this meeting. Create an agenda with at least three topics to cover during the meeting.  

Limit attendees

It’s also a good idea to limit the number of attendees. Major companies like Google and Apple limit meetings to no more than 10 people.  By inviting only key people this provides more structure to your meeting. 

Be Concise

Aim to keep your meeting under an hour. Considering attention spans tend to die down after 10-20 minutes, an hour is plenty of time. It’s best to be mindful of people’s time. 

Big Finish

End your meeting with your key takeaways.  Determine the next steps and assign a person or a few people to follow up in a reasonable amount of time.  

BONUS TIP: If you want to get really fancy, walking meetings in warmer weather are always a nice change of pace. 

As work begins to pile up, reflect on these tips to get the most out of your workday. Doesn’t matter if you apply all the tips or just one. What matters is your work is getting done in a timely manner.