Since the birth of my second child and the creation of this blog, getting better organized on a daily basis has become a priority. The feeling of running out of time, of always having a bunch of little things to do lying around, of never getting around to them and being overwhelmed… you know the feeling? The good news is that there are solutions! So don’t let it become a habit. Learning to manage the stress caused by poor organization is all well and good, but why not act beforehand and adopt a concrete daily organization?

And since you’re suffering from a lack of time, I’ve come up with 5 short, practical exercises to help you get organized right away.

Are you ready? Get started!

GAME #1. TAKE STOCK
Time: 30 minutes (minimum) / Materials: paper, pen, diary, telephone.

This exercise is a real method for finally getting rid of all those little tasks you’ve been dragging along behind you.
Sit down in a quiet place with 30 minutes to spare. Write down all the tasks you have pending, going round the house if necessary, room by room and closet by closet. List the appointments you need to make, the errands you need to run, the little chores you need to do around the house, the big chores you’ve been putting off, the projects you need to set in motion.

Select and rank the five most urgent tasks, starting with the one you least enjoy doing. Divide each task into short tasks lasting no more than ten minutes, to keep you motivated.
Depending on the time you have available, start doing the tasks one after the other. Cross them off your list as you go along (this is important to free your mind).
Plan to take a short break every hour or so.

Then schedule the tasks and operations you’ve missed in your diary, creating alerts on your phone so you don’t forget them if necessary.

Game #2. I manage the flow in GTD mode
2 minutes on the fly / Materials: diary, phone.

Here’s an exercise inspired to get better organized on a daily basis… and it’s revolutionized my life!
Every time you are asked to do a new task, whatever the medium (telephone, e-mail, conversation, reflection…), identify it, then ask yourself this question:

Will it take more or less than 2 minutes to complete?

a- YES, can you do it now (service open, information at hand)?
If yes, do it now!
If not, see b-.

b- NO, program it now and set up a telephone alert to remind you.

The benefits:

• free your mind from small tasks that drag on, and accumulate when they’re short;
• free your mind by planning all the others, so you don’t have to think about them all the time.

GAME #3. WINNING GOALS
10 minutes / Materials: list of questions, sheet of paper, pen.

This exercise will help you define winning goals.
Our stress often stems from the fact that we feel we’re not achieving our goals. And in 90% of cases, the problem stems from poorly defined goals.

Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself to set good goals.

What do you want to achieve? What’s the best way to get there? Define exactly what you mean by that. How will you know when you’ve achieved it?

(Key 1: phrase your objective in positive terms).

Where? When? How much? With whom?

(Key 2: define it precisely and with a deadline).

When it’s done, what will you hear? What will you see? How will you know? How will you feel then?

(Key 3: visualize your objective through your five senses, so that the desire to succeed takes precedence over the fear of failure).

What resources do you have to succeed? What resources do you need to acquire?
(Key 4: the objective must depend solely on ourselves).

What price do you have to pay to reach it, are you ready?

(Key 5: measure its impact on your life).

GAME #4. I TAYLORIZE
Time: 5 minutes before your task / Materials: none.

The idea of this exercise is simply to adopt a few simple Taylor-inspired tricks to increase our efficiency.
Take 5 minutes before the next action on your “to-do list”, and make sure you follow the steps below… Productivity gains guaranteed!

• Gather all the materials you’ll need before starting your task;
• do things in chronological order, if possible, and limit your movements;
• cut off all sources of distraction around you so you don’t get distracted (because we waste an infinite amount of time falling back into our state of concentration);
• group together all your similar tasks (e.g. phone calls to make, e-mails to send, errands to run…).

Can you feel the difference?

GAME #5. 5 MINUTES!
Duration: one day / Materials: diary, telephone.

Our bodies can quickly become tired if we do one task after another without ever stopping… and even more quickly if we’re used to doing several things at once, or if we’re regularly interrupted.
That’s why it’s important to set aside some time for recovery when planning your day’s schedule.
I advise you to do this exercise over the course of a day, to see the benefits.

You’re going to follow your schedule and complete all your tasks and activities today, with one small difference.
You’ll simply plan and take a 5-minute break every time you change activity. Or if you have to stay on the same task for a long time, once an hour.
Take advantage of these 5 minutes to breathe, do nothing, or simply move more quietly from one place to another.

These 5 minutes won’t cost you much in terms of time – quite the contrary.
You’ll be better rested and more productive when you get back to your files.

Better organization for less stress… it’s possible!
I’ve presented 5 exercises to improve efficiency and task management… What do you think? Which do you prefer?

Did you like these little games?