How a 4-step system can help manage emails, tasks and more

Handling work emails, daily tasks, meetings, and briefs can be a job in and of itself. The workday can get very busy, and some important tasks can get lost in the ocean of work you have to handle.

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However, a simple system can help keep everything organised, on track, and managed in just four easy steps.

To do or not to do

The first step in this system is to capture every email, brief, task, and scheduled meeting in a to-do list. You can write them down first if you are a tactile person, or simply copy and paste significant parts of the given task and then add them to any to-do list you prefer.

Suggested ones are:

• Microsoft To Do
• Todoist
• Notion
• Google Tasks

Attach an action for each task

For every task, email, and schedule item that comes across your desk, attach an action needed to keep track of what is urgent and what needs to be done:

1. Delete: no value
2. Archive: keep for reference
3. Delegate: send it to someone else
4. Do: complete it immediately if it takes under two minutes
5. Task: add the next action to your task list
6. Calendar: schedule it if it must happen at a specific time

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Categorise urgency

All you need is three different kinds of to-do lists that help categorise the urgency of each task. For example, you could have to-do lists that look like this:

1. Today: three to five major tasks
2. This week: important but not so urgent tasks
3. Waiting for: tasks that are delegated or awaiting a response

Follow a simple daily routine

Create a routine where time is allocated toward checking emails, tasks, and briefs, sorting and adding them to the to-do list. For example:

For ten minutes each morning:

• Check the calendar
• Choose your top three tasks
• Reserve focus time

During the day:

• Check work emails in between tasks
• Allocate them to the correct level of urgency

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