How many of you sit and procrastinate and procrastinate and procrastinate and … you get what I mean. Or think that you can’t get things done because you don’t move forward with a purpose? Why waste time checking emails if you are just going to leave them in your inbox to check again later? Take action people!

Not sure how to get started? Here are some tips:

Clear The Clutter
Seriously, how long has it been since you’ve seen the surface of your desk? How do you expect to get anything accomplished when it takes five minutes to find a pen? Clean up your mess and find your focus! Your workspace should be just that – a space for work. It’s not a dumping ground and, as cute as your Kid Robot figurines are, it is not a museum. Life provides plenty of distractions; you don’t need your desk to be another one.

Tackle It or Toss It
Each time you go to your email inbox, decide that you are not going to leave it until you have addressed every message. Yes, EVERY message. Thanks to subject lines, spam is easily detected with a quick scan of your inbox. Scroll through your messages, highlight the spam, hit delete. Boom – anywhere from a quarter to two-thirds of your messages … gone.

Then there are messages with subject lines like “25% off entire site!” that come from your favorite online stores. Do you really need temptation like this in your work inbox? No. You don’t. Take a little extra time and find the unsubscribe link in the message, or create a rule to send it to another folder to read it later. Most legit companies offer easy access to account settings and you can remove yourself from their mailing lists in a number of mouse clicks.

Once you’re down to your “real” emails, open each of them purposefully. Then complete the action, or file it. It’s that simple.

Organize And Prioritize
Speaking of filing … you absolutely must (You must!) have a system for organizing your information. A file full of photos named img009, img010, img011, img012, ad infinitum, is not helpful to anyone. However, if you have a photo named, “Jim Smith Headshot” in the Jim Smith Photos sub-file that is found in the Jim Smith client folder … well, do I have to say more? Having a clear filing system – and ADHERING TO IT – is imperative. Workers all over the world who don’t take the extra sixteen seconds to accurately title and file their work documents waste countless hours searching for information that should be at their fingertips. Don’t let it happen to you.

Once you’re well organized and ready to work … where do you start? Well, that depends. It depends on deadlines, the complexity of the assignment, the agreements you’ve made with your clients. Take a look at the entire scope of what’s ahead of you, make a priority list and follow it methodically. Of course, you may have to make adjustments from time to time, but knowing what you have to do and when you have to do it, lessens your stress and ups your productivity. Who doesn’t love that?

It’s true there isn’t enough time in the day to get EVERYTHING done (Ahem, that’s why Virtual Assistants exist, ahem.), but there are ways to be more productive in each task you attack.

Go get ‘em, tiger!