Done!

What if you have an important task to work on, but urgent tasks take precedence again and again? And, the important task is pushed back over and over? In Done! No. 557, I share what you can do to get the important, not so urgent tasks done in these situations. How have you managed to get the time you need for those important, long-term tasks? Write to me and tell me. I'm sure this is not the last time I'll be tempted to fall into this prioritization trap, so your best advice is very welcome. Here's how Ulysses helps me set goals for my writing.  These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepreneurial com

How close at hand do you have the information you need to complete a task? In episode No. 556 of Done!, I share a way to get your recurring tasks done even more easily.  What information do you link to in your tasks to make your work easier? Tell me! I want to simplify every aspect of my work, so I am curious to know what tricks you have.  Have you heard? Todoist has added an AI assistant to their popular to-do list app! These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepreneurial companies in hyper growth. He extinguishes himself by providing clients with concrete tools and methods that can be applied instan

You begin using a new to-do list app but as soon as things get stressful, you fall off the wagon.  This week’s Done! No. 555 is about how to get the full effect of your new to-do list tool.  How did you manage to quickly get used to a new to-do list? Write to me and tell me. I’m all ears and curious about what you have to share.  Here's what you can do to get recurring tasks done with less effort. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepreneurial companies in hyper growth. He extinguishes himself by providing clients with concrete tools and methods that can be applied instantly both at work and in

Welcome to Done!, episode No. 554! Almost back from a lovely Easter holiday trip to the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, I share one thing you can do to more easily get the focus time you need. What tricks do you have to maintain your scheduled personal time? Write to me and tell me. Every trick to increasingly master your calendar is worth its weight in gold - not least for me, so I am all ears. Early in the episode, I mention Ylva's method for feeling less stressed. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepreneurial companies in hyper growth. He extinguishes himself by providing clients with concre

You put off one of your tasks again and again - even though you know you should just get it done. In Done! No. 553, I share how ChatGPT can come to your rescue in situations like this. What have you used ChatGPT for? Tell me, because I want all the help I can get in my job - whether it's from other people or from smart systems that happily do what I don't feel like doing. Write to me and tell me. Book a talk on structure with me before summer is here! These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepreneurial companies in hyper growth. He extinguishes himself by providing clients with concrete tools and met

Have you noticed that email and chat often gets jumbled together? You end up with the same conversation spread out in many places simultaneously. You need to spend valuable time looking for where someone wrote what. In episode No. 552 of Done!, I share four ways to prevent this from happening. In fact, is the line between chat and email already clear to you and your colleagues? Great! What have you done to draw the line? Tell me, because I want more examples of what can help us separate the two. Want five alternative ways to keep track of your deadlines? These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepren

A myriad of new AI tools are emerging rapidly now. In this week's Done! No. 551, I share three tools that saves me hours every week.  The tools I mention are: ChatGPT Whisper ChatGPT Writer Runway Have you found any other AI services that I have not mentioned here that have saved you work and time? Write me and let me know. I wrote this text last Tuesday, and before it reached your eyes, it is possible that much more has emerged that would fit in this trio. I will write about them another time! An interesting study I found points to that concrete goals make you happier. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corpor

What is the best way create good order in your mailbox? Should you use folders or not? In this episode of Done!, No. 550, I share how to find the best structure for how to save emails. Do you have a folder structure in your email client that you really like? Tell me about it - I love seeing good examples of structure that work well.  Here's our Friday-related, 12 year old idea. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription. David Stiernholm is a ”struktör”. As such he helps people and companies become more efficient and productive by creating better structure. His motto is: everything can be done easier! David is frequently hired as a speaker by all kinds of businesses ranging from well-established major corporations to entrepreneurial companies in hyper growth. He extinguishes himself by providing clients with concrete tools and methods that can be applied instantly both at work and in your personal life.

Do you tend to do many things at once, even though you know that it would be better to focus on ”that one, most important thing”? Done! No. 549 is about a simple, yet effective, trick for multitasking less and increasing focus on important tasks.  Here is Szumowska's and Kruglanski's study. Do you do something similar to what I have described here? Perhaps you are one of those people who, in the late afternoon, choose the three most important tasks for tomorrow. Write to me and tell me how you do it because I'm always curious to hear what tricks work well for others. Get rid of your "to-be-sorted"-pile now. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

In Done! episode No. 548: How to feel less stressed and focus better, despite having many meetings in a day. In the episode, I mention this blog post (or, video, rather) on how to add time buffers between meetings automatically: https://www.stiernholm.com/en/blog/how-to-add-time-buffers-between-meetings-automatically Do you have any additional tricks for getting air and breaks between your meetings? Tell me how you do it. This issue interests me right now, so I am all ears. Here is how to send tasks from OneNote to Microsoft To-Do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFjPQ1GfzPk These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

It is a clever move to create at to-do task from an email that means that you need to do something that you do not do immediately. But, did you know that you also can create a task from a chat message in Microsoft Teams? In this episode, the 547th, I share how it is done. Do you use another app for chats? How do you create to-do tasks from a chat message there? Please tell me. Few things bring me as much joy as simplifications like this and I want to keep learning about clever ways to structure our everyday lives, so I'm curious to hear what you have come up with. And, yes, time management works and it makes you happier, according to an interesting meta study. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

Your work consists of plenty of tasks with varying characteristics. This 546th episode is about a planning concept from Y Combinator's Paul Graham that can help you create the optimal conditions for getting your different types of tasks done. Have you come across Paul Graham's concepts before and used them for your own planning? How? Tell me, because I always want to learn more tricks and methods that help me and those I help in turn to have smoother weekdays.  Here is what you can do when there are too many flags and everything is prioritized. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

Sure, you want to communicate with your colleagues in the chat and be available for them there, but sometimes you really need to work with full focus on other things. In this episode, the 545th, I share how to optimize your chat availability. What useful strategy do you have for when to have the chat open and when to keep it closed? Write to me and tell me. Understandably, this is a hot topic for many people, so I'm curious to hear your take on it. A talk about structure - is that any fun? These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Have you been working from home partly or fully the last 2-3 years, as some of us have? In this episode, the 544, I share a way to build on your experience from the pandemic to better balance where you do your work. In the episode, I mention a study about working remotely. What tasks have worked well from home and would you like to continue working remotely in the future? What have you liked about this year's changes and new ways of working? Write to me and tell me. I'm curious to hear what your experience has been like and what combination of working at the office and from home you have settled into now. I also found a study about a more effective way to say no. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

For some of us, short tasks tend to be prioritized first, before we choose to focus on the more extensive tasks. As a consequence, important tasks may be put off longer than we would wish they were. In this episode, the 543rd, I share how to get important tasks done well in advance. Do you have some other trick you apply to help yourself prioritize things you are reluctant to do? Perhaps you resort to the classic method of breaking the task down into smaller steps to make it easier to get through. Or, something completely different? Write to me and let me know. I'm curious to know what works for you.  Do you want my help with enhancing structure? Book a personal structure training with me now. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

If you feel overwhelmed from time to time by the sheer amount of emails received in your inbox, this week's edition is for you. In this 542nd episode of Done!, I share a trick that helps you get through your inbox quicker. What are your tricks for dealing more quickly with all the emails you receive? Drop me an email and let me know. Although more and more communication is moving to chat, many people continue to receive an abundance of emails on a daily basis (myself included) so your tip will be much appreciated. Recently, I learned a method for practicing better impulse control. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

The purpose of time management, is it to just get more things done in shorter time and get increasingly efficient? No, of course not. In this episode, the 541:st, I share findings from an interesting study that points to other, even more valuable, benefits from managing your time well.  What will you choose to refine in the near future? Please tell me, because I may want to make an effort in that area myself after being reminded of it by you, and I might even be able to contribute to your initiative with tricks, tools, and tips that I have accumulated over the years. Feel free to write to me! Wondering about what the counter question that makes your meetings more efficient is, that I mention in the beginning of the episode? I'll tell you. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

To recover and get the well deserved rest when you are free, you need to mentally disconnect from work, according to a study by Bennett and Field. In this last episode for 2022, the 540th, I share four practical ways to do just that. What are your tricks for disconnecting from work easily when you are off? Let me know. Write to me, because I want more tips on just that (as well as on many other things). I may well share it with others who would also benefit from hearing them - with your permission, of course. Right now on the Structure Blog: Solve tomorrow’s problems with structure today These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.  

When questions, problems, ideas, suggestions, errors, and the like arise, they need to be dealt with by the right person. But who to ask?  In this episode, the 539th, I share a tool that helps you more easily delegate an issue to the right colleague. How have you made it easy to know who to pass the ball to when you receive things or issues that don't concern your area of responsibility? Write to me and let me know. I'm always curious to hear how others solved hassles my clients (and I myself!) encountered, so I would love to receive an email from you.  I have found three things you can do to come better prepared to your meetings. These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.

Microsoft OneNote is an excellent tool for writing and keeping notes, if you ask me. But, I do not think you should use it for your to-do list.  In this episode, the 538th, I share why - and I give you two suggestions for tools you could try out instead. Don't agree with me that OneNote is not a good place for to-do lists? Have you found features that solve the hassle that I haven't? Let me know! I want to learn more about this, so I would love for you to tell or show me. Book a talk on structure at work by me and set the tone immediately among your colleagues for an even more well structured 2023! These episodes are also available as a weekly newsletter to your email. If you rather read than listen (or both!), sign up for a free subscription.