The year is still young, and had one of those blissful mid-week starts that meant the first week back was only two days - something that should really be a legal requirement. Now, though, everybody’s back and you may be feeling the burden accumulate as projects, staff members and the end of the FY all demand attention, invariably through different apps, interfaces and windows. 

There is probably a German word for the despairing sensation that occurs when you’re forced to switch over to a different application to complete a task, only to be greeted by a sea of brand-new notifications demanding attention. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and seemingly impossible for different systems to work together - even if they’re supposed to. Looking at you, Office365. 

A recent study suggested that workers waste four hours a week just switching between different applications, which adds up to 9% of their work time lost - and that’s not counting the time spent on the mental gear-change of switching to a new interface, or the drudgery of copy-pasting between them.   

There is a better way, and it doesn’t involve adding a new tool and yet another set of notifications into your life. Structuring your workload can be done with a simple document, even a paper one if you want to go really tradwork, which enables you to get tasks out of the maelstrom and into a simple workflow. Combine that with a system like Workiro that connects your existing tools like NetSuite and Office365, and you can tame your workload a lot faster and achieve a lot more in 2025. Here’s how.

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Building an efficient workflow

1. Identify your outcomes and goals

This can feel a bit reductive if you’re in a senior role, but it’s never not important - and the more senior your position, the more likely that your workday has been cluttered with things that aren’t key to your business or personal objectives. Start with a short list of what you’re aiming to achieve - things like a specific growth target, or a set of finance processes that need to be completed - and any deadlines. Starting with the knowledge of your final outcomes guides everything that comes next, and they’ll probably stay consistent through the quarter if not the whole year.

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2. Know the type of workflow you need

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This is driven by the nature of your goals. If you’re working on a group project then you need a workflow that includes robust reporting and collaboration; if it’s just you, then you can be much more specific and be a master of your own time. If you’re leading a group, delegating tasks and tracking performance is essential to manage your workload and develop your team - learn more about secrets of effective team empowerment in our recent guide.

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3. Start with a to-do list

An obvious kick-off, but it’s an essential one. Research has shown that the act of creating a to-do-list reduces the anxiety people feel about unfulfilled goals, and it’s the first step towards boosting your personal productivity.

There are a variety of different approaches you can take here, but one of the most celebrated and the most simple is Getting Things Done (GTD), first outlined in 2001 and beloved by many tech leaders. You can find a detailed rundown on the official site, which even includes a helpful PDF that you can print out, but we’re here to simplify things so we’ll follow a simpler version. If you want something even simpler there’s the so-called Eisenhower Matrix which is a more general guide, which we’ll look at in a minute.

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4. Capture everything you need to do

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The goal here is to empty your brain (or your inbox) of everything that needs to be completed, so you can start assigning it. 

• The things you have to do
• The things that you want to do 
• Anything you’ve already started 

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you'll finish the job you’re in the middle of and plan for everything else later - do it now! Something else will be along any minute.

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5. Clarify each task and Organise them into actions and projects

This is a simple filing process.

• Does it require you to take action? some text
  • If it doesn’t, you can file it for future reference or trash it. Don’t turn to a new tool for filing - you can use folders or flags in your email client, or within comms clients like Slack or Teams, to categorise things away from the things that require attention. With documents like contracts, Workiro integrates directly into Office365 to enable one-click filing, grouping important files by project or customer and preventing duplication.
• If it does require action: some text
  • Can it be completed in a single step? If not, then assign it as a multi-step project
  • If it can be completed in a single step, can that be done in two minutes or less?
  • Can it be deferred?
  • Can it be delegated?

The golden rule is if you can do something in two minutes or less, do it immediately and get it off the list. Treat yourself to that endorphin hit of marking a task “complete”. Everything else becomes an action or project to review, or where possible delegated. If you’re apprehensive about delegation, check out our guide on how to empower your team for advice on how to effectively delegate and monitor progress.

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6. Review tasks and set outcomes and deadlines

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The goal here is to assign an outcome for each task you need to complete. For multi-stage projects, this should be whatever you need to advance to the next stage (for instance, to build a budget you may need to start by requesting projections from different managers). For single-step actions, you just need to say what the outcome is (for instance, completing a performance review). 

If some need to be done by a certain time, prioritise them accordingly and make sure the deadline is recorded in your calendar or other tracking tool. (If you need some help with this, Workiro can do this for you in NetSuite, with a smart catch-up feature and automatic reminders of overlooked tasks.) If other actions just need to be done as soon as possible, then put them in the order they need to be completed and work through that list.

You will, inevitably, receive new tasks and requests during each workday - you may opt to do them instead of your list of actions, but be mindful that in doing so, you’re deeming the new task more important than everything else. Think back to point 1, and make sure that it’s the best use of your time.

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7. Simplify your tools to maximise efficiency

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Next, make sure you have the right tooling for success, which very rarely translates to “add another tool”. In a study run in association with Cornell University, nearly half of workers say that switching between apps hurts productivity, and only slightly fewer said it had lead them to make mistakes on the job.  

It’s always worth conducting a periodic review of the tools your group is using. This is a job you can easily delegate to one of your team, who can report on what’s actually being used and how useful it is - there might be savings on offer from retiring that subscription that no-one uses any more. 

Even if not, there will definitely be efficiencies in removing the number of times that people have to switch apps or spend time copy-pasting between them. Using Workiro means that you can send emails direct from within Outlook using the Salesforce Outlook integration, rather than copy-pasting text manually.  

For internal conversations, you can cut out email entirely and use Workiro’s realtime chat within NetSuite, so that discussion of projects or documents can be done within a single interface - saving you the cognitive load of having to dig through email for each project. It’s a powerful example of the advantages of integrated software applications - to find out more, set up a call or join one of our group demos.

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8. Engage yourself in completing your list of actions

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The final step in any workflow is, of course, to do the work you’ve spent this time planning - while keeping an eye on your prioritisation as you go. This approach takes a chunk of preparation time, but the Getting Things Done approach is all about using the prep work to make completion easier: you have your list of actions and you need to work through them, returning to the Review stage every week to evaluate and change course if required.

Consistency is key, here - it’s easy to build a plan and not follow it, but if you’re diligent you should reap the rewards very soon.

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Keeping it even simpler

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It might be that you don’t have the time or the workday structure to create and follow a detailed workflow each week. A simpler way to evaluate your workload and optimise for efficiency is the Eisenhower Matrix, which is attributed to the titular US President (although not, tragically, the Matrix movie). It’s a simpler view - you rank things on a grid of Important vs Urgent, which leaves four categories:

• Urgent and importantsome text
  • These are the things you should do first
• Important, not urgentsome text
  • These are the things you should schedule to complete later
• Urgent, not importantsome text
  • This is a judgement call, but wherever possible you should delegate it
• Neither urgent nor importantsome text
  • These are things to make a note of, and return to later

This is an approach that you can take on a day-by-day basis and address your objectives as they develop, but you should still follow up with the Simplify process to make sure that you’re doing so as effectively as possible. 

Find out how Workiro can simplify things by enabling your existing tools to work together, and bringing all your data into a single place, by booking a call or joining a group demo.