Three-step approach
Getting control over your work with the three-step approach
A three-step approach is applied within the courses that RCN Advies & Training offers in order to give professionals, who are drowned in their work and no longer have an overview, a good grip on their work again. All courses are set up with one or more of these steps in mind.
After completing step 1 you will have a good overview of what needs to be done and thereafter can look at the distribution of time and attention on a overview level.
After completing step 2, you will have gained a good overview of the work and have a clear picture of where the priorities lie and which tasks need to be worked on first. But the difficult part starts here: How do you ensure that you actually work on the priorities and do not get distracted by less important things? How do you tackle your inefficient work behaviour? You will work on this in the third and final step.
Step 1
Gaining an overview of your work
Problems that are addressed in step 1:
Not having a grip on e-mail traffic, having no or insufficient overview of the actions that need to be carried out and goals that need to be achieved, not having an overview of where you are in your current projects, spending a lot of time searching for things or thinking about what needs to be done.
In conclusion, when it gets a little more busy and you have a lot of plates spinning, you do not have an effective work strategy to keep a control over your work. This means that you will experience pressure and stress.
The result after implementing step 1:
A grip on your e-mail traffic, an empty inbox every day, a clear e-mail archive in which you can find things, all actions organized in a handy way in a task list or folder, an overview of current projects, and less time spent thinking and searching.
Step 2
Prioritize and plan
Problems that are addressed in step 2:
Having too much work for the time that is available, not knowing where the priorities lie and/or having difficulty making choices, working too long on less important tasks and on ad-hoc tasks and requests, schedules that are out of control, or finding it difficult to plan.
The result after implementating step 2:
You have a clear idea of what is expected of you, which are the projects that have priority and which are the ones that can wait a while. You now have the tools to plan and monitor those priorities.
Step 3
Work with focus
Problems that are addressed in step 3:
Postponing difficult and tedious tasks, spending too much time on less important tasks, not sticking to schedules, saying ‘yes’ even if that is not possible given the workload you already have, having too much on your plate, getting distracted by social media, unimportant things and by colleagues, having too little time that is available in your calendar to work on tasks, and working on too many tasks at the same time.
The result after implementing step 3:
Work with focus, work effectively on priorities, optimal use of the available time, fewer distractions due to internal and external disturbances, less trouble with procrastination, achieve goals faster, have control over your work and therefore peace of mind.