Make a Resolution to Take a Couple Hours to Step Back and Clear Your Desk
Happy New Year!
Are you making New Year’s resolutions? If so, have you committed to being more organized and less “out of control”? Determined to be more proactive and less reactive? Wanting to catch up with the latest trends and changes in your field so you can be sure you are having the greatest impact?
What’s been stopping you thus far? I might guess it’s the incredible clutter around your desk and in your head. You’ve been overwhelmed by too many things to do, people to see, and immediate issues to address that it seems impossible to find the time or space.
Well, today you have permission to take that time! Because once you are more organized, your productivity will increase significantly. So, find your calendar and make an appointment with yourself for at least a couple of hours. Then, close the door, take a breath, and push all the papers to the side for a little while, because you are now going to try a technique that I call the “brain dump”.
Pull out a blank piece of paper or open up a new blank word document and just start writing down all the things that you need to do or that need to get done by you or those who report to you. Empty your head onto this page with every work related task you can think of. Think ahead several months so you can get a jump start on those future projects too. Include what you know has to happen but also add those things that improve, excite, inspire, or totally change what you are doing. Allow yourself the freedom to be critical and creative. Add ideas and brainstorms. This is not a time to worry about whether they are practical or doable. As you write and your mind becomes less cluttered, you will discover insights and epiphanies.
When I was an executive director of a nonprofit, I allowed myself these “brain dump” sessions every couple of months. They served primarily as a way for me to declutter and organize, but they also freed me up for real strategic thinking.
I started with typical headings such as programs/events (with each one listed), fundraising, marketing, staff, board, committees, community, and outreach. And then I thought of everything I could that related to those topics. Other headings would arise and I’d add them and start filling them in too.
When I felt pretty confident that I’d covered most everything, I would then take time to organize and prioritize, adding notes that included “what, who, when, where, how”, etc. In many cases, I would think of what and how I could delegate tasks to others. I prioritize what needed to be done immediately and put lower on the list what could wait. That didn’t diminish the value of any task, just the timing of it.
Once I was pretty confident that I’d covered everything, I would then plan meetings with key staff to review those topics that related to them, asking for feedback and input, and agreeing to next steps. I’d also reach out to officers and board committee chairs with thoughts that related to their portfolios, adding topics/input to their next meeting agendas. I would also put “ticklers” in my planner to remind me of future tasks.
With my brain less cluttered and my mind more at ease, my attention was more acute and my productivity much improved. The investment of time paid off significantly because I could focus on what really mattered. One might say I was pursuing my own “clarity transition” and “keeping our mission on track”.