Productivity tips for MSPs

Sometimes the most difficult thing to accomplish at work is work. With telephone calls, meetings, and visitors, not to mention the deluge of mail, emails, and internal memos, it can be almost impossible to get anything done. To accomplish more, you must evaluate your time management and analyze ways to improve. Here are some tips to help you with that task:

• Keep a log for a week. As you evaluate the tasks that consume your time, ask yourself: Do I really need to do this? Could I have delayed this task in order to work on a task of higher priority? Could someone else have done this?
• Make appointments with yourself. If you have a big project that you need to start, set aside time for it and write it on your calendar.
• Build flexibility into your schedule so you can adapt when things don’t go according to schedule or when new opportunities arise.
• Estimate how long you need to finish a certain project; it will help you manage your time. Also, always anticipate that projects will take longer than expected. 
• When you return a phone call, minimize phone tag by including a time you can be reached when you leave a message.
• Review tasks to determine whether any of them can be delegated.
• Limit how many times per day you check your email. Remember, if there is something really pressing, people will find you.
• Vary your pace—no one can function at top speed all day. After a mentally taxing project, turn to something less demanding. Put small, enjoyable jobs in between tough ones. Also, take breaks to refresh yourself; you’ll be more productive. 
• Split long tasks into smaller increments to allow you to fit them into available time.
• Be decisive, and then implement the decisions you make.
• Expect interruptions. They may be inevitable, but we can learn to minimize them.