To-Do lists in the office...

As a marketing assistant I am often doing multiple things at once (yes I’m one of those people who has loads of tabs open)!
Due to the nature of my job I find it hard to prioritise the tasks at hand and may find myself drifting off into the deep hole of the world wide web - there is always so much research to do around each subject that I cover in my day to day job.

Just recently at Seaside Creative we have started having Monday morning meetings which are really helpful as it sets you off for the week with a list of things that need doing. I’ll usually make notes during this meeting and then spent about half an hour compiling everything into a list (with tick boxes!) and then numbering them from most to least important.
The art of prioritising is one that needs perfecting though because a lot of the work I do has to be done to tight deadlines; whether it be a social post hat needs to go out for the launch of a product or advertisement that needs to be rescheduled in a local magazine, everything has a due date. But I like it that way, I like order and structure at work and so having a to-do list to accompany the order really does optimise productivity for me.

A to-do list also helps me know when I can relax a bit and when I really do need to work quickly to make sure everything gets done on time.
The aim is obviously to have everything ticked off by the end of the week and considering it’s Thursday, I’m doing pretty well with 4/6 tasks completed.

It’s important to note that I only put things on my to-do lists that are full tasks and not smaller things that need doing. For example; I wouldn’t put ‘schedule Facebook posts for care client’ if I know I’m going to end up doing that anyway in between jobs. The to-do list is more for bigger tasks that need to be completed, like this week I had to amend a database of dishes for a restaurant client that addresses all the allergens in their dishes. I also needed to create a website portfolio for Seaside Creative. It’s those kind of tasks that make it to my t-do list as they require more than an hour of my time and I really have to set aside time to do them properly.

Only having bigger tasks on the list also means I can avoid an unorganised list as throughout the week there are loads of little tasks that I get asked to do at short notice because that’s just the nature of the job.

Overall; I would suggest a list of some sort, whether it’s numbered in priority doesn’t matter. But just having a written down form of what needs doing means that nothing gets left behind and it really helps you manage your time more effectively. Another small thing to do along side creating a list is to always have a pen and paper to hand to jot down things people tell you either over the phone or in the office to eliminate the stress of remembering things.