Images_Digital_Edition_June_2019

KB BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT JUNE 2019 images 37 You cannot multi-task and do goo d wor k quotes to send to customers or seven orders that need artwork created. Which one would you work on first? Second? Can you delegate one or two to someone else? Learning how to prioritise work is easy if you set up some guidelines. For me, the one thing that always works is to use the ship date as a keystone marker for work priority. It’s logical. Something that is due to ship in a few days has to have priority over something that is due to ship next week, right? This is why it is crucial to use real dates for your orders. I k now a lot of salespeople and co m panies like to use padded dat e s, “just in case”. But that only lea d s to problems down the road. Let’s face it. Not using the real ship date is mainly due to a lack of trust with your process. Fix that so you can prioritise the work correctly. I like to use the ship date and organise everything with these four ideas: Rush Rush orders are those that are paid to go faster or have some critical component in them that makes them a priority. These orders are always worked on first in every department. This is true not just in production, but in purchasing, receiving, the art department, screen room, even in shipping. Rush jobs get worked on first. Every. Single. Time. Late Rush orders have to go first, but after that, anything that is late needs to be knocked out. Late jobs cannot get any later. This happens all the time, especially in high-concept areas like the art department. You can’t simply put tasks off because somet hing better came up, or was tagged important by someone else. Stick to your process, and don’t get distracted. Today Today’s jobs mean those tasks that are scheduled for today. The rush and late jobs have to go first; after that, anything that needs to be worked on or completed today is handled. It’s easy to cram in that ‘little thing’ for today ahead of another one that may b e a rus h or l a t e t as k , but this is how that excuse, “Sorry, we just ran out of time, that rush order didn’t ship”, happens. That’s when the rush job or the late job gets pushed out. Tomorrow This is critical. You can’t work on future work until the rush, late, and today’s jobs are handled. Too many times that fun order for two weeks from now or that job for the doughnut-wielding salesperson gets jumped in front of everything else. Don’t fall into this trap. Simply not distracted Let’s assume you have built some solid functional processes. What’s next on the road to not being distracted? Here’s another clue for you: Keep things simple. Avoid getting sucked into the vortex of distractions by limiting the things you are doing at one time. You cannot multi-task and do good work. You need to be present. Here and now. Your priorities should be: 1. Start a task 2. Work the task 3. Finish the task Simple, right? Instead, what is more common is: 1. Start a task 2. Check your email 3. Get back to the task 4. Look at your mobile phone to see who liked your recent Instagram post 5. Get back to the task 6. Go to the bathroom 7. Stop by the breakroom for coffee 8. Have a conversation about Game of Thrones. 9. Check your email 10. Get back to the task 11. Go to a production meeting 12. Check your email 13. Respond to a few of the emails with follow-ups 14. Get back to the task 15. Forget what you were doing 16. “Oh yeah!” 17. Finish the task How to keep things simple If you want to limit how you get distracted, try sectioning off blocks of time into chunks. Try using 30-minute or 60-minute blocks, and colour code them on your calendar. During that time you focus on whatever that scheduled time is about. Don’t answer any emails or take a phone call. Those can be responded to later. When that segment is up, move onto the next thing that is scheduled. That’s when those tasks are handled. Leave unscheduled time on your calendar for those tasks that always seem to come up. For some, a good trick might be to get a cheap kitchen timer that winds up. Set it for whatever chunk of time you need to designate, and then keep your head down working on it until the timer dings. How much work could you do if you worked uninterrupted for 30 or 60 minutes at a time? I know, I know. It seems dumb to have to use a kitchen timer to get work accomplished, but this tip works for those that are easily distracted. Try it! Emails A trick that has worked for me for years is to only respond to emails three times a day. Morning, midday and before you leave. I call it the ‘Breakfast, lunch and dinner’ plan. It’s the best way to not let