1. Write it down.
So the number one way not to forget anything is to write everything down. Need to ask one little follow-up question? Remind a client about feedback? Call someone back?
If it's not done right now but even "in five minutes," it's worth creating an entry about it in the scheduler. Perhaps in two minutes the phone will ring or an even more urgent matter will come to mind, and the risk of forgetting will seriously increase.
That said, it's important to keep your to-do list up to date. If you get a notification reminding you to call Will, but you've already done it or decided to postpone it - reschedule or delete the reminder (cross it off your to-do list). If there are a million reminders and half of them are irrelevant, they quickly turn into white noise.
Write it down in more detail.
And it's also a good idea to add details to reminders: links, dates, clarifications. That way you don't have to remember why and how to do the task. For example, instead of "Maria, write a rejection," create a record with a few details: where and for what position Maria was interviewed, why the rejection, Maria's contact. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to reread the message history to remember what was going on when you wrote the note.
2. Set aside time for tasks.
If your colleagues have a link to your schedule, for example in Google Calendar, Calendly or another online scheduler, they'll know when they should not distract you from your tasks and at what time to suggest appointments.
Reserving time is not just for calls and meetings - if you know very clearly that you're sourcing on Thursday from nine to ten, it will be much easier to focus on the task, not be distracted and not procrastinate.
3. Keep your notes in order.
Well-organized notes save time. A pile of misplaced to-do's and an unorganized inbox create a feeling of a jammed head and a messy swamp.
That's why it's important to set aside time to clean up your workspace. Delete unnecessary files from your desktop. Unfold your resume into folders in cloud storage. Make sure you really need all the tabs that are actively open.
Speaking of files, if you clutter your drive with files named like new_folder_23, you will spend an obscene amount of time every day searching for the right doc, resume, or screenshot.
4. Don't turn your to-do list into a pile.
It shouldn't look like someone threw notes in there like socks scattered on the floor.
It's worth identifying the things that are always on the to-do list and make up its sketch (for example, a group call every Wednesday).
This will be the sketch of the to-do list. It can then be filled with meetings, calls, and other things that require a clear time assignment. The rest of the activities (without a set time), can be prioritized.
To prioritize effectively, you need to be aware of deadlines and allocate important things throughout the week so that you do them one at a time. If you put all the important things to do on Monday, you may not get off work until Tuesday morning, and the productivity of the whole week risks a big drop.
5. Don't waste time on unnecessary "tasks".
You should always know why you are doing this or that task, what the result should be. Try not to get stuck on choosing a font size, color of text selection, and notification sound in the system.
Get in the habit of planning your day in the evening. If you write yourself a to-do list on Friday night for Monday, you won't waste 1-2 hours on Monday trying to figure out what you did before the weekend and what you should do today.
