Done!

When you finally have time to do that thing that you have postponed a while longer than you wish, it is understandable that you want to get started immediately. But, today's Done! No. 529, is about a situation when it is actually wise to slow down and not act so quickly. Do you usually do something special before having a go at a task that has been on the to-do list for a long time? Do you check it against something or check in with someone? Tell me what and how! I am very curious to know how you make sure you are only doing what is actually relevant, important, and valuable. As mentioned, these episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), try it out!

Here is Done! No. 528. Today, I share a way for you to make sure that you spend your time at work wisely. If you log your time, what have you found or realized that you have not seen before? Write to me and let me know. Maybe you will give me an idea of something I should also look for that might help me. In the beginning of the episode, I mention this blogpost about how to update your to-do list: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/sift-out-wash-out And, here is Toggl Track: https://toggl.com/track/ These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Sometimes, we regret having accepted to do something a long time ago that we now, when the time is here, definitely would not prioritize. In Done! No. 527, I share a simple trick for saying "Yes!" only to the right tasks. What are your tricks for not saying yes to too much and sometimes the wrong things? Write to me and let me know. I love to hear about simple tricks like this, so I am curious to hear how you do it. Here is how to send tasks from OneNote to To-Do in two different ways: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/how-to-send-tasks-from-onenote-to-microsoft-to-do These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

We all need to declutter our workspace from time to time. But, did you know that good structure can actually ease your cleaning burden?  In this episode, the 526th, I show you how. What are your tricks for avoiding clutter? Maybe you have a method or a rule of thumb you would like to share with me? If so, write to me and let me know. I'm curious to hear from you! In the beginning of the episode, I mention a trick I learned from a lean consultant. Here, you will find that: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/one-two-three-then-no-more-excuses These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Even the best to-do list app might not support exactly the "thought model" you use for your structure. For instance, what if the app only lets you create groups containing projects consisting of tasks, but you want to divide the projects in sub projects before defining the tasks? In this episode, the 525th, I share an easy workaround that lets you work how you wish, even if the app actually doesn't support it.  What emergency solution or MacGyver-like trick have you come up with that you would like to share with me? Tell me! Also, as I mentioned in the beginning of the episode: please share with me how you handle travel time to meetings in your calendar. Here is a post on the Structure Blog where I elaborate: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/how-do-you-book-travel-time-to-meetings These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Knowing that you should get enough sleep is one thing. Actually going to bed when you ought to is something else. What if you struggle getting the hours of good sleep you need?  In this episode, the 524th, I share how to use the built-in functions of your smartphone to sleep better. How have you used apps to help you get the sleep you need? Write to me at david@stiernholm.com and tell me about your best trick. I'm all ears. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Welcome to the autumn season and a new edition of Done! - the 523:rd counting from the start! I hope you have had a beautiful summer (in the northern hemisphere, that is), as I have. Apart from emptying my sold parental home, I got quite a few hot days lying flat on an islet in the sea close to home and even a nice trip to and around New England (we loved it!).  This week's edition is actually about mistakes and why it might be wise to collect them. What was the most recent structure mistake you made? I told you about mine. If you’d be willing to share yours, I am all ears. Done! is also available as a newsletter to your email. If you prefer to read rather than listen (or both!), subscribe to the weekly email for free.  

Sometimes there are just too many meetings. And, one have to ask: do you really need to attend them all? In this last episode for this season, the 522nd, I share a question that will help you decide.  How do you make sure you only participate in meaningful meetings? Write to me and let me know. Having many meetings and having meetings often seems to be something many have to deal with nowadays, so I am very curious to hear your ideas. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

About six months ago or so (in Done! No. 500, to be specific), I addressed the issue of remembering to read, respond to, or in some other way acknowledge messages you and I receive in an increasing number of channels. I am referring to chat messages, direct messages, Linkedin messages, messages on other social media platforms, SMS, and of course also emails. The trick I described then that works very well for me is to do a metaphorical “doctor’s round” which you take every morning and during which you browse through all the different channels and deal with any new messages you have received. But what if you have a few channels that need to be attended to more often than once a day? In this episode, the 521:st, I share how to set up recurring tasks in your to-do list to remember to check these channels at the right interval effortlessly.  Have you solved this nuisance in some other way? If so, tell me how. As you might have guessed by now, I am always curious to hear about new solutions and tricks. Towards th

Microsoft Lists is a fairly new addition to the Microsoft 365 family, but for what can you use it? In this episode, the 520, I share four suitable uses for Microsoft Lists. Are you already using Lists? If so, tell me what you use it for. I am very curious to hear what use you have put it to, so write me a few lines, please. Here is how to search better in Outlook (and my three favorite search terms!). These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

The less you get distracted, the better the virtual meeting is. But, in a digital setting, the possible distractions are plentiful.  In this episode, the 519th, I cover a common distraction in digital meetings that you might not have thought but that is really easy to get rid of. What else distracts you in digital meetings and what have you done to prevent yourself from getting distracted? If you have nifty solutions or tips, feel free to share them with me. In these digital times all ideas and solutions could be useful to others with the same problem. As promised in beginning of this episode, here is the video about how I cured my time optimism.

When you are overwhelmed with work and things to do outside of work, a useful trick to feel less stressed (and thereby more productive) is to hide all things that might distract you.  But what things? In this episode, the 518th, I walk through a rather extensive handful of things to hide in these stressful situations.  How do you handle having too much to do and/or feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that needs to be done? What is your trick to getting things done and remaining focused? Write to me and share your tip. I am all ears.  Done! is also available as a newsletter to your email. If you prefer to read rather than listen (or both!), subscribe to the weekly email for free.

Naming files and documents in a good way is quite an art. A common mistake many people make is to name files and documents in a far too impractical way when they want to save different versions of the same document. In this episode, the 517th, I share how do it clearly and efficiently instead. How have you decided to name versions of files at your company? Write to me and share your method or syntax. As always, you'll reach me by emailing david@stiernholm.com and I'm very curious to hear how you've solved this seemingly small but very annoying problem.  Done! is also available as a newsletter to your email. If you prefer to read rather than listen (or both!), subscribe to the weekly email for free.

Sometimes we get involved in a project or workgroup where everything is happening very fast. All participating colleagues are eager to get moving on what you decide to do and it becomes difficult to keep the decision-making contained to the regular, formalized meetings. So, you make decisions on the fly. But, what if you forget to inform the colleagues that were not involved in the decision what you actually have decided? In this episode, the 588th, I share a tool for keeping track of what you have agreed on. How have you kept track of past decisions made and how has it been useful to your and/or your team? If you have any experience with this method, please get in touch and let me know what difference it has made to you and your company, department, or team. You will reach me by emailing david@stiernholm.com and I will be all ears. 

“Storing” and “doing” are not the same thing. Still, confusing them often leads to a very common structural mistake I see many of my clients make. In this episode, the 515th, I share how to differentiate between "storing" and "doing" and what you will gain by doing so. If you are being honest, is your overview also a jumbled mess of both reference materials and tasks? If this used to be the case but is no longer so, how did you solve the problem? Write to me and tell me. You will reach me, as always, byemailing david@stiernholm.com and I promise to be all ears. (Yes, words do matter. Here, you will find a tip about four words to beware of when writing your to-do list.)

Sometimes there is just not enough time. You have a deadline fast approaching, but what you need to do takes longer than you had anticipated - much longer. What do you do - and could you do - when you are running out of time? In this 514 th episode, I share a model that has helped me plenty of times to feel less stressed and more in control on such occasions. And, if you want to, you can even download the simple model for free. You will find it at https://www.stiernholm.com/en/ambition-step-down Do you have your own method to handle the madness that can sometimes grab hold of us when trying to meet a deadline and finding ourselves with too much to do before it is upon us? Please write to me and share your thoughts - I'm sure you know that I am always on the lookout for tips, tricks, and methods that simplify our lives and structure. you will reach me at david@stiernholm.com. 

Even if we work digitally most of the time we sometimes need to print things. It can be something that needs to be signed, something we need to bring, something you need to complement your hand-drawn sketches with, or something else.  But, we might not have a printer available at any given moment.  If it is not urgent you will have to wait until you are conveniently close to a printer, but then you need to remember that you needed to print whatever it was.  Printing will become yet another thing you have to remember, amongst all the other things you have going on right now. Quite the nuisance. So, in this 513th episode of Done!,  I share three simple ways to make this problem smaller. Do you have another solution to this problem? Tell me about it in an email to david@stiernholm.com. By the way, if you prefer to read as a compliment to listening to my weekly tips, they are also available as a newsletter. Sign up here.

Some tasks you do again and again, week after week. Should you keep them in your to-do list as well? Or, do they belong in you calendar? In this episode, the 512th, I give you my best tips on how to structure these recurring tasks.  How do you manage your recurring tasks? How do you keep track of when they need to be done, and the next time, the time after that? Write to me at david@stiernholm.com and tell me. I am all ears. 

When the tempo is high at work, we all need to prioritize among all the tasks on our list. One popular way to address the issue of what to prioritize is to determine if a task is urgent or not, then if it is important or not, and then put it in the right place in some kind of model (many people use a four-field matrix) or system. Generally, the tasks that contribute to the goals you are responsible for are the important tasks. But, what if you don't have any goals? Or if your goals are unclear? Are you then stuck with prioritizing only by urgency? In this episode, the 511th, I share how to figure out what is important if you lack goals. How have you figured out what is most important in your job? Please share it with me. I collect useful tips, tricks, and methods to simplify both my own and other peoples’ lives. You will reach me, as always, by emailing david@stiernholm.com.

Welcome to the 510:th edition of Done!, about how to more easily choose the right thing to do right now.