Workload Out of Control? Tips for Reining It In
by Maria LenhartHow can busy travel professionals, overwhelmed with everything from nonstop email messages to customer demands, keep the daily workload under control?
It can be done, but “first you have to accept the fact that as a travel professional the nature of your work is uncontrollable,” said Laura Stack, president of The Productivity Pro and author of What To Do When There’s Too Much To Do.
“So a lot of the old advice about time management such as writing out what you will do each day or only checking your email a few times a day simply doesn’t work for you,” Stack said during a presentation at a recent fam event hosted by Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas.
Stack shared several tips designed to help travel pros maximize productivity.
Chart your daily energy levels
Stack asked the audience to draw a line with peaks and valleys according to the times of day when their individual energy levels are higher or lower.
The time of day when energy is high should be when important tasks are handled, while easier tasks should be done when energy is at a low ebb, she said.
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“If you are morning person, then that is when you should zoom in on your most important tasks,” she said. “If your energy is low, it will take you much longer to get a task done. Productivity is all about taking advantage of your prime time.”
Don’t tackle easy tasks first
Brain chemistry dictates that we often tackle those tasks that are easiest or most enjoyable, not necessarily the most important ones to get done, Stack noted.
“Completing even a small task makes you feel good – in biochemical terms, whenever you check something off your list, your brains gets a little shot of dopamine – the equivalent of a party in your cerebral cortex,” she said.
“So, of course, you feel compelled to complete a bunch of small tasks to keep your cerebral high going.”
As a result, a much more important task may be pushed aside. “So hold off on the inconsequential and push hard to get something significant done.”
Don’t take care of tasks based on when they come in
Brain chemistry also has people wired to take care of tasks in the order that they are presented, but this can be a mistake, Stack said.
“We tend to do things as we think of them, but this can distract us from the more important tasks,” she said.
“Another mistake is when we instantly respond to the needs of those who are screaming the loudest. You need to be able to say ‘no’ and set your boundaries.”
Set up a selective alert system for email
Stack said OCED (Obsessive-Compulsive Email Disorder) is now a term used by psychologists.
She warned against checking email every time an alert is sounded. Instead, she recommended setting up a selective sound alert system signaling email only from people you are waiting to hear from.
“It’s important to weed out what we’re paying attention to,” she said. “Email can be a form of procrastination – we may be bored with what we’re doing, so we check our email instead.”
Stop multitasking
While many people think they can have a phone conversation and write an email at the same time, it’s not really true, according to Stack.
“Do not think you can split your conscious mind in half – one thing will suffer at the expense of the other,” she said. “Multitasking is a code word for not getting things done.”
Write it down
When you think of something that needs to be done, write it down in either a notebook or electronic device, Stack advised.
“Many of us jump at a shiny new idea and do it right away, dropping whatever we’re working on,” she said.
“Don’t listen to your brain. Instead, just write it down – so you can remind yourself about it later – and move on.”
