Be more efficient when working

I only had a short week this week, since I took Monday off to spend time with friends, which did mean I was a little under the weather for the first part of the week.

However, as odd as it might seem I can be at my most productive during such times as I tend to stick very tightly to my various systems, and focus a lot more on the jobs in hand.

With that in mind I spent a bit of time tweaking past systems as a way of focusing myself, and now have a day planning system I am happy with, more so since I have a green pen; One of the girls asked me jokingly if I had enough pens when I happened to be holding my Red, Blue and Black all the same time, to which I replied Nope, I really need a green as well, to my surprise not long after she drops a green pen on my desk! Ace.

My Day Planner Page consists of:
Top Half Of Page – Daily To Do List In Detail (Black)
Bottom Left – Overview of Future Items (Black)
Bottom Right – Notes and Detailed Next Actions (Blue)
Top Of Page/Header – Icons representing drinks of Tea (3 max), drinks of water (Aim for 8), Treat such as choc or biscuit (1 max), and Fruit and Veg portions (Aim for 5)

I’m playing about with some other ideas as well, but for now it’s been a productive way to focus on what I need to get done, and moved me forward very well this week.

One thing that really bugs me in the office is the amount of effort the sales and admin people put into working out VAT on orders.

It annoys me because we sell the vast majority of products at £99, £149, £299 and £499 (I think) so surely it would make sense just to get a post it note, work out the VAT for each price point, and stick it somewhere in plain sight by the PDQ.

I sort of want to go over and suggest this, but there are so many people involved, and it’s not really anything to do with me, that I don’t think it would be well received. It would just be someone from IT coming over and telling them how to do their jobs.

But grr, it would make their life so much simpler on a daily basis.