We all have to manage towards our strategic plans to achieve our objectives and ensure company success. However, every day we are bombarded with external and internal request by people who want us to do something for them. This means we often have no time and energy left to do our strategic work. How do we balance our time so that we can keep up with requests, as well as prioritize strategic activities? It’s easy to say Yes to someone, but without a clear picture of your future work load it can be too much. To avoid overcommitting you need to have an overview of both meetings in the calendar and activities normally not visible there. Microsoft Outlook lets you do this in one view where you can add your activities, as well as flag email for follow up on a specific date. Because it is difficult to get hold of people in the office or on phone, most requests are done by email. To be able to prioritize your daily work, you need to work efficiently with your Inbox. This means manage an email only once, and decide immediately what to do with it and when. Based on your activities in the task list/calendar and the mails flagged for follow up you can make your weekly plan, and balance work towards your strategic goals as well as being responsive to others requests. To survive and thrive in communications, you have to manage the daily whirlwind. By doing this you will achieve better results with less stress.

1. SmartEndring-ChangeSmart ™
How to survive and thrive in
Communications when
information volume and speed
increase day-by-day
EACD 7. January 2015
Bjørn O. Hopland | bjorn.hopland@smartendring.no | +4790173524 | http://www.smartendring.no

2. How do you find
the right balance?
Work on
my
prioritized
activities
Work on
requests
from
others

3. Alle rettigheter reservert SmartEndring ™ 2014
Kan du gjøre noe for meg neste uke?

4. Get an overview of your total work load
Meetings
+
Tasks
=
Total daily
work load
Remember to
…

5. 1. Decide immediately what to do with the email when you open it
2. Prioritize according to importance and urgency
3. Move flagged email out of the Inbox
Take control over and prioritize tasks received on email!
Use the 4 D's as a guide:
• Do now
• Delegate
• Delete
• Do later / flag for follow up

6. Create a balanced weekly plan
No time for
tasks

7. 1. Prioritize according to importance and urgency 3. Add your own activities
2. Move flagged email out of the Inbox 4. Create a realistic weekly plan
Take control of your work day!
Balance yourgoals vs. requestsfrom others

8. Bjørn O. Hopland | bjorn.hopland@smartendring.no | +4790173524 | www.smartendring.no
today!
To survive and thrive in Communications, you have
to manage the daily whirlwind.
By doing this you will achieve better results with less
stress!
Receive free online training and learn how-to by
sending a mail to bjorn@smartendring.no
Follow http://facebook.com/SmartEndring for more
about how to manage the new world of work
(Norwegian)