Welcome to my annual 15 Minutes to Fabulous series! Over the past few weeks I’ve featured some fantastic guest writers. Let’s face it, give a busy woman 15 minutes of uninterrupted time and she can conquer the world…or at least 15 minutes of it! Today’s guest blogger is a work colleague of mine from Nashville, Rodney Bowen. Rodney is a productivity (and SEO) ninja. Be sure to visit his informative blog and follow him on Twitter for his insight on marketing, faith, and fatherhood.

Our lives are full.  Filled with activities competing for our limited attention, a day’s demands can quickly grow to the point of our feeling paralyzed with an inability to act on a single item.

Like so many, my busy work schedule stacks onto an already busy family schedule.  With hundreds of tasks and immediate next steps demanding my attention every day, I work hard to keep the healthy balance between my professionally work that involves the strategic building and implementing of integrated marketing plans for my clients and my quality family time.

I cannot afford for a single item of my work or quality time with family to fall through the crack.  These effective time management tips have become great ways to keep my professional and personal life more organized.

Time Management Tips:  How to Organize Your Life

1.  Email Management.

Your workday likely begins very similarly to mine in which I open my laptop at 6:00 am to find nearly 100 new email messages with work and family both represented.

Where do I begin? I have found these steps very helpful to kick start my day with some great control over the workflow of the many email demands, which continue to arrive into my inbox throughout the day:

i.          Delete the obsolete.  Immediately skimming the list of email messages in my inbox, I identify the spam emails that I can immediately delete.

ii.         File for reference.  I will file any email messages that are simply “for your information” and a no-response-needed message is needed.

iii.        Respond then file.  I quickly reply to any email messages that I know I can quickly respond in-full; and then, I archive the message.

iv.        Copy and Paste.  I keep a working draft of text or copy available that I find myself regularly using when I respond to email messages.  I have found this copy-and-paste step a great time saver.

v.         Confirm receipt.  For those email messages needing a little more research and work before responding, I quickly acknowledge receipt of the message and then confirm my list of immediate next steps, which will include an estimated time later that day that my recipient can expect to hear back from me.  After I respond to the message, I add the necessary action(s) to the Wunderlist to-do list app that I’ve listed in the below #2

2.  Wunderlist app

Wunderlist app is the best to do list app I have found to date.  A few years ago, I stumbled upon the free app, and it has become my go-to resource that is sure to help organize your work and family life with efficiency.  The app provides me a great way to manage all my work and personal actions, which also includes subtasks that I can most effectively manage throughout the completion of the various projects.

Please feel free to visit my How I Use It (http://rodneybowen.me/best-to-do-list-app-wunderlist/) blog post for a screenshot and details how I most actively integrate the app into my workflow.

3.  Google Doc 

I really value the ability to use the Google doc app on my phone to create any digital drafts for my email or blog posts, when I am not able to access my laptop.  Whether I am needing to customize a lengthy email while I am away from my computer, or I have been inspired to write a new blog post, I have found the easy accessibility and edit-ability the of Google Doc app to be a great addition to my workflow.

I trust this information has been helpful to you as well.

As you begin to test and integrate these time management tips into your workflow, I am hopeful that you soon begin to identify a process and pace that fits your comfort ability, so you may also begin to better and more efficiently manage the daily demands hitting your schedule.