I’m Late for a Very Important Date! (Or Deadline)

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As the end of the year draws near, the whole world seems to slow down, yet social media keeps speeding up! If you’re struggling with year-end fever or an increase in workflow, here are a few tips to keep you sane.

#1 Be on time

As someone who is always late for everything, this is a little hypocritical, BUT I work from home and I have to force myself to be at my computer at the start of work or the rest of my day falls apart. Be on time, in fact, try to be early, start off at a good pace and keep it up! And if you’re having a productive day, take advantage of your productivity and get everything done that you absolutely can—this will help you in the hectic days to come.

#2 Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today

We often get into a good groove and then realize we have a few seconds to breathe. Breathe, but don’t put something off because it’s only due tomorrow—you never know what tomorrow holds, but you hold this moment right now, and if you can get ahead on a deadline you’ll feel so much better than scrambling at the last minute to get everything done.

#3 Time management tools

Using tools to get organized and prioritize your work really helps with time-management. Everyone is different, I love lists and writing my tasks down in a diary, but here are two great digital organizational tools:

Wunderlist—This tool helps you prioritize your work according to day, time, and client and has recurring notifications so that you never find yourself in a bind when it comes to remembering what’s due on a specific day. There’s nothing like a beautiful chime reminding you that you have 5 million tasks due today.

Evernote—This app simplifies your life and lets you share lists and tasks with other people to make sure they’re kept in the loop too. Evernote also allows you to snap pictures, search keywords, and is available across all your devices once a note is created.

#4 Don’t be afraid to ask for help

This seems like an obvious one, but we’re all guilty of complaining about our workload, yet not asking for help. Other people are often more than willing to help out when you’re in a bind and the only reason they haven’t offered yet is because they have no idea you’re in the fifth level of hell battling a million tasks assigned to you. Just remember to extend the same favor to those around you when your own workload is light.

#5 It’s okay to not do it all!

Well… not really, deadlines are deadlines, BUT some things are more important than others and listing your priorities from most urgent to least urgent is important. No one can do it all—make sure to get the most important things done first and communicate to your clients and team if something will be late. People are more understanding than we give them credit for.

Here’s to hoping you survive the crazy season and manage to relax a little this year-end, especially if you’re in social media. Happy prioritizing! 😀

This post was written by Kirstin Venn. Kirstin is a Social Media Content Specialist Lead with Media Connect Partners.