Clearing your desk for the weekend

Happy Friday! Yes, it is Friday the 13th, but my day has started out nicely, and I'm hopeful the trend will continue through the rest of the day. After all, my kids are healthy and happy, the snow outside is beautiful, I have a delicious cup of coffee next to me in one of my favorite mugs, and I'm making progress on the coffee house book. What else could I need?

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend with the kids, but that means I have to make sure to get my work done today.

I have some methods for staying on top of my projects throughout the week so I can try and have a clear desk by Friday afternoon/evening. It doesn't always work, but it's certainly better than if I did nothing.

Weekly task lists. At the beginning of every week (usually Sunday evenings) I make a list of what I need to do that week. It includes deadlines, active projects, any meetings or appointments I have, and emails I need to send. It's an overview of my week, and a sort of master list for my life that week.

Daily task lists. Once I have my master weekly list, I use it to make my daily task lists. Every evening (sometimes every morning) I make a list of what needs to be done the next day. I try to divide the tasks somewhat evenly, taking into consideration when my deadlines and meetings are. Anything that doesn't get done gets pushed to the next day's list.

When I make my lists, I don't indicate priorities on the lists, but I know in my mind what the priorities are. So when I work on the lists, I don't simply go from top to bottom, task by task. That way, I can be sure that the items that are most important get done first, and anything that doesn't get done is lower on the priority list.

If I finish my list for today, I'll be able to relax this weekend and spend my days playing with Bean and Bunny. If not, I'll likely have to work tomorrow. We'll have to see how my list goes this today. How do you stay on top of your projects throughout the week?