By Tonya Mott, Vice President of Operations

My colleague recently turned me onto the book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown: https://gregmckeown.com/book/

I was hooked after reading these two questions:

1. 1. Is your time being hijacked by other people’s agendas?
   2. Are you busy but not productive?

YES, the answer is, YES!!

After I finished the book I decided it was time to live by design, not by default.

I immediately made the following changes:

1. Created distraction-free space to focus only on the essential projects and tasks.
   • Tuesdays and Thursdays are distraction free days and are only for focusing on essential work.
   • Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are free-for-all days, bring on the chaos and distractions!
2. Determine what is essential. I made a list of essential tasks and projects using the project management tool, monday.com.
3. Cleaned up Outlook inbox (Outlook is not a project management tool) – Took action on 150+ emails that has clogged my inbox on a daily basis using these categories:
   • No action needed > Filed or deleted email
   • Needs follow up > Set a reminder to Outlook tasks and filed email
   • Project > Moved to Monday.com board and scheduled time on my calendar to complete then filed email.
4. Communicated the plan to my colleagues – Let them know if they have an urgent matter on Tuesdays and Thursdays to text me and I’m be happy to help.

The way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time, it’s about getting the RIGHT THINGS done.  It’s a discipline not a time management tool or productivity technique.

Since implementing this new discipline my inbox has been at zero by the end of every work day for the past 5 weeks.  For the first time in a long time I feel like I’m getting meaning full work done and I’m available to help my team without feeling stressed.

A pic of my inbox as proof that it seems to be working:

By Dena Lythgoe, Senior Account Executive & Partner

All of us throughout the world have experience vast changes in 2020. The world is not yet back to the ‘normal’ we have grown knowing and now with the holiday season upon us we seem to be searching for ways to remain close to our loved ones near and far. The struggle is REAL!!

To have, or to not have a party? Companies are also struggling with how they should share holiday cheer with their employees. How do you transfer that warm and cozy feeling an in person holiday party provides to employees virtually? Check out this article for some helpful hints and suggestions.

No matter how you choose to celebrate your holiday season, all of us at RISQ wish you the happiest and safest of holidays.

Click here to view the article Virtual Workplace Holiday Parties