There’s nothing more daunting than having lots to do and not knowing where to start. Being an insurance agent can be an all-encompassing profession, and there’s a big difference between being busy and being productive. A To-do list can help you to keep organized, prioritize your time by dedicating it to crucial tasks and keeping you focused along the way. In this article, we’ll be talking about how you can set up your to-do list so you can stop feeling overwhelmed and start getting things done.
Plan Daily, Weekly, and Monthly tasks
Keeping your priorities straight is one of the goals of a to-do list. You will have several tasks demanding your attention at any given time, some having precedence over the others. To keep on track, you’ll need to know what needs to be done when; daily, weekly, monthly. Knowing this lets you create an organized approach where you aren’t wasting time figuring out what to do. For daily tasks, you should take time the day before to write everything down for the following day, so you always know where to start. You can set aside time to look at emails, deal with phone calls and any scheduled meetings you’ll need to work around. For weekly planning, it’s recommended to take time either at the beginning of the week to plan the rest of the week or the end of the week to prepare for the following week. Monthly planning should only be used to plan more extensive projects. Knowing what needs to be done and when can significantly reduce stress and improve productivity.
Focus on One Task at a Time
Most people cannot actually multitask, and even if they can, it’s been shown to be less effective than focusing on one task at a time. Trying to do multiple tasks simultaneously slows you down, makes you prone to mistakes, promotes stress, and hinders creativity. The bottom line is that it is more effective to focus 100% of your attention on one task to completion and then move on to the next.
Dealing with distractions
70% of people have reported feeling distracted at work, so how can you overcome distractions to maintain focus? Even minor distractions can disrupt your workflow and make tasks more challenging to complete. Being aware of your distractions beforehand can aid you in avoiding them. Most peoples top 10 distractions are:
- Texting
- The internet
- Gossip
- Social Media
- Co-workers dropping by
- Meeting
- Smoke breaks and snack breaks
- Noisy co-workers
- Sitting in a cubicle
Task Management tools
People usually will prefer either a hard copy paper to-do list or a virtual task management program. One is not superior over the other it is dependent on what works best for you. If you decide to use paper and pencil, remember to keep everything together and in front of you so you can see it while you work. The benefit to using a Virtual Task manager is that you can easily change your priority if something unexpected happens. You can also add relevant information to your tasks like:
- Subject
- Notes
- Attachments
- Date tasks were created
- Task due dates
- Priority level
- Related tasks
- Status
- Type
- Follow up user
- Follow up team
- Method (email, phone call, mail, visit. etc.)
Don’t waste time looking at everything you have to do and looking for a place to start. Plan ahead with a to-do list and never feel like you don’t know where to start ever again.
If you have any questions, the professionals at Agent Pipeline are here to help at 800.962.4693.
