Improvement Report

Most jobs entail rather unexciting tasks that have to be done on a regular basis.

Trouble is, such tasks tend to be important - if boring - and pretending they are not there will not make them go away.

The piles of un-filed paperwork will still be spilling off your desk tomorrow, the numbers of voicemail and unanswered e-mails will not decrease because you can't bring yourself to trawl through them.

The trick is to find a way of getting the boring stuff done, regularly and consistently.

Dedicate time to complete the chores. If you run a small business, for example, this might be putting an hour aside every Friday morning to do your books and file the receipts.

Whether running your own company or working for someone else, create checklists and schedule a timetable for them. One or two chores a day and before you know it, the memos have been read and replied to, e-mail in-box cleared down, nuts and bolts admin sorted.

Break tasks down into quick, easy to do steps - bite sized chunks are better than chewing off more than you can handle! It's much better to spend a few minutes each day on some routine task than have to spend a whole morning once a week on some sizeable chore - and so fall behind with all your other work.

Putting time aside, structuring it with a checklist, will help you get the standard stuff done quickly, accurately and timely...

and then you get on - and enjoy even more - the rest of your day.