We’re sharing our secrets for staying on task and on time.
“How do you stay organized?” It’s a question we get a lot, especially once people learn that Team Victory works remotely, with our team members gettin’ their productivity on at home, on the road, or in coffee shops around the country. The truth is, remote work does require a high level of organization and self-motivation, and we work hard to stay on task, even when the TV, our kiddos, or the great outdoors are calling. Over the years, we’ve honed our skills and become a well-oiled, well-organized machine.
As a team, we’ve long sung the praises of Basecamp 3, the platform we use to keep tabs on all of our projects and communicate with one another daily (this tool saves our inboxes from getting too out of control), and we rely on Google Hangouts for weekly “face-to-face” meetings. But each of our team members has found their own personal secret weapon for staying organized on the daily. We thought we would share them here, in hopes of inspiring one of you to get organized today!
Sara Douglas, Director of Operations
“My secret weapon for staying organized is that little notebook in the corner right there! If I don’t write it down it didn’t happen!”
Kathryn Sawers, Director of Social Media
“I discovered the Productivity Planner last year. I love how it’s set up to help me prioritize to-dos for the overall week and then day by day along with time-tracking. At the end of the week, you can reflect on your ‘weekly wins’, what you learned and what needs to be pushed ahead to the following week. I find this helps me to not get side-tracked by other tasks that come up.”
Samantha Burtnick, Digital Strategist
“I actually adopted the bullet journal method late 2017 and it has kept both my work life and my personal life very organized. I write down all of the tasks I need to do in a given week (separate work and personal into two lists). Then, each day I write out the tasks I plan to do that day, based on what I need to complete in a given week.
As I complete the tasks, I fill in little bubbles complete. Tasks that don’t get finished get an arrow which indicates I need to roll that task over to the next day or week. This helps to mitigate my forgetfulness which my close friends and family KNOW can be a real problem, lol.”
Alyssa Dubé, Content Strategist
“Lists lists and more lists. I use lists (handwritten, always, and ideally in a cute notebook) to get my thoughts in order before starting any project, and my daily to-do list is my most valuable tool. I organize my to-dos according to priority, and nothing makes me happier than checking those babies off! At the end of every day, I re-evaluate and re-write my list so that I know exactly what to tackle the next morning. Also… coffee.”
Kelcey Hamilton, Senior Graphic Designer
“I stay organized with lists! Handwritten, just like Alyssa. As a mom of two young babes, I often have lots on the go, so it helps reinforce things when I write them down. I write down each project for the day and compile the list based on the importance / urgency of each one. Something is so satisfying about crossing things off when they’re done! I too, used to use cute notepads and pens and then #momlife happened.”
Natalie Neerhof, Graphic Designer
“My secret to staying organized is to keep it simple. The less clutter I have at my desk the more I can concentrate on my computer. Most of my organization is done on my deskptop and in that case- colour coded folders and proper naming conventions are always key!”
Taylor Sargent, Graphic Designer
“For me, staying organized means calendars and lots of lists! I colour coordinate all of my calendars and notes, using specific colours for each type of task (ie. school is green, work is blue). I also break down my to-do lists into sections (work/school/personal) and tackle the most important task first before working my way down from there. I make sure my lists and calendars are front and centre on my desk so nothing gets missed!”
