A New Generation Marketer

The holidays have just ended and Q1 goal setting and implementation are now in full swing. Now is about that time where you and your team are revisiting old ideas, starting new projects and working towards the aggressive goals you must meet in the next few months.

Emails start flying amongst your team. To-do lists get longer and longer. Your days turn into nights and nights turn into days. Pause.

Last night after work I sat down on my couch – projects, ideas and deadlines swirling in my head. I thought to myself, “I need to find a way to work smarter. My company is at a very important and exciting stage so we all need to kick some ass to accomplish our goals.” With Q1 objectives set and my projects laid out, I needed a plan of attack.

I went to my computer and quickly evaluated how I worked. I had saved documents all over my messy desktop. My Google Docs account was unorganized and overwhelming. My email was not labeled and organized as much as I would have liked it to be. I knew what I had to get done and had the means to do so, but I wanted to do it smarter.

1.    Start using Evernote

I realized that I could move all the documents I’m storing on my desktop into notes on Evernote. That way, my desktop would only have the Evernote App on it. I could also access the files on my mobile app!  This has been a huge space saver, made my desktop look a bit nicer and gave me unlimited access to all my files.

2.    Create labels and folders in your email account

I use Gmail, but let’s assume most email clients have similar organizational features for the sake of this post. I realized I hadn’t updated the folders and labels I had created in Gmail in at least 6 month. I took an hour one day after work to create a few new folders and add recent emails to them. I now do this with every incoming email as well. This has made my job SO much easier because whenever I need to find a certain category of emails, I know exactly where to find them. This probably saves me a good hour each day at work.

3.    Create a DDD (= Did, Doing, Do) Report for yourself

At Backupify, we started doing DDD reports a few months ago and I’ve found it to be tremendously helpful. I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge to-do list person (and any list for that matter). This DDD report shows to you (and your team) what you are currently working on (Doing), what you accomplished (Did) and what you are doing next (Do).

I simply created a Google Doc with these three categories and put all the projects I had going on in them. Each day I go in and update it based on what I accomplished and what other projects I’m taking on. This is a great way to both know you’re accomplishing things and make sure you don’t lose track of projects.

4.    Block off Time

Each day, make it a point to determine an approximate time-frame and order of importance for each of your projects. Take 15 minutes every morning to compare your schedule of meetings to the projects that must also get done.

Plan for certain blocks of ‘work hours’ in between meetings where you can focus on one project at a time. Especially when you have a lot going on (which I’m sure you do if you’re at a start-up – and still reading this), focus is key. Let’s say that developing the structure for a new email campaign is of utmost importance that day. Commit (hypothetically) 2 hours that day to sit down and crank out that project.

5.    Utilize Gantt Charts

I was working on a large marketing project with many moving projects and several participants. I had written down with pen and paper all the to-do’s and due dates, but this was not easily shareable to my team. My boss suggested I develop a Gantt Chart to lay out each task, the owner, time frame and due date. I then shared this with my team in a Google Doc and now check up on it every day to ensure projects are moving smoothly.

I could honestly go on and on about ways to work smarter. The above five tips reflect new ways I’ve found extremely effective in getting work done to meet our aggressive team goals. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this boat. We’re all cranking on exciting ideas and projects – so why not find the best ways to execute? What are some other ways you have found effective in working smarter?