1. A way to see "the big picture" -- your primary goals (work and personal), your current projects, your team and assets (who or what is helping you to accomplish these goals.)  Look at this once or twice a week, and incorporate into your next two items:  calendar and task list!
2. A smart calendar tool (or tools):  one of your most important assets is your time, and you need a good calendar solution to manage it.  Can you easily see your existing and forward commitments?  Do you also block time regularly for key goal accomplishment (see #1 above)?  Do you use your daily view of today's calendar to help you manage your task list (see #3 below)?  I used a paper calendar for years, and it worked fine.  Now, I have people using Outlook for work, Google for personal, and accessing both through their smart phone and tablet in addition to their workstation.  As long as you can see and plan your time and your tasks, you are in business!
3. A robust daily and long-term project/task list:  The best performers can quickly and easily figure out what is "hot", what is "important", and what is NOT (as well as who in their people resources they need to bug)!  And then they spend the majority of their open time each day working on the hot and important items, and following up with others.  They generally do this without too much stress, as they are being efficient as well as effective, working on the "right stuff" at that given time.  The best way to do that is by having a smart task list that reflects your goals and individual projects (#1 above), your time (calendar), your new inputs (e-mail and other information inputs), and your people (staff, vendors, partners, etc., and their related assignments and deliverables).  Each day, these high performers spend a little time assembling a smart task list FOR THAT DAY that reflects all four things above, including your people inputs (assignments and deliverables).  If you know what you need to do, why you need to do it, and who you need to bug to get it done, you can be HIGHLY effective, regardless of the tech system you are on.
4. A system for managing e-mail and other information inputs:  I have spent a big part of my time the last few years teaching people in particular how to better manage e-mail, but to make this super short and sweet, the essence is this:  for any new input that crosses your plate (e-mail, voice mail, fax, text, phone call, document, interruption, etc.): decide what needs to be done with it immediately, get the quick little stuff done NOW, add the other items to your prioritized task list (#3 above), and then put the original information AWAY (file it, delete it, archive it.)  Thanks David Allen!  The goal is to acknowledge these information inputs, but not let them take over.  YOU need to stay in charge, and the way to do that is by referring to your priorities, your calendar, and your task list BEFORE your e-mail and other inputs!  (By the way, getting the first four items above organized and prioritized is basically how I spend the first 30-60 minutes of most work days.)
5. A place to store critical people contacts:  A big part of your effectiveness are the people that work for and with you to help you accomplish your/your firm's goals (we're all part of a village!) You need a place (places?) to store your contacts so when you need to reach out to your village, you can quickly and effortlessly do so, with easy organization of these contacts at your fingertips.  We all remember the days of the Rolodex, but now we're likely saving these contacts in Outlook, Google Contacts, our smart phones and/or tablets, and possibly even social media resources like Facebook and LinkedIn.  Simply, can you reach the right people quickly and easily?
6. Another place to store good ideas and needed reference information:  You can't do it all right now.  That is what a lifetime is for.  That is a quote from my first book, Major Satisfactors = Major Success, and is one of my key mantras in life.  But that also doesn't mean you should let good ideas you don't have time for to slip idly by.  Store those good ideas, as well as "fingertip" information (info you'd always like "at your fingertips") there too.  I used to keep this stuff in the "notebook" section of my planner, but now it is stored in cloud-based lists in my Evernote app and on my Smart Phone and Tablet, including classic lists like my "bucket list", my shopping lists, packing lists, 800-numbers, passwords, etc.  You don't want to even try to track this stuff in your head -- it will clog up your synapses!!!  Instead, organize and assemble it into an appropriate infrastructure tool, and then keep that tool handy! (Boy Scout Motto:  "Always Be Prepared!) 
7. A properly designed productivity station(s).  I like having a "place" to do this organization and prioritization, and the resulting work, productivity, and achievement that comes from it. That might be your office or your "cube", but in this day and age, it might also be in your car, at the local coffee shop, or even at your "vacation retreat".  Mobile tech has made it so productivity can follow you around with the right mobile tools handy. 
8. A good daily routine for managing it all.  This is a big part of what I teach -- how to not only assemble the infrastructure above, but also how to actually use it.  Basically, when working properly, at the start of every day, I reference my projects/priority list, make sure that appropriate tasks from that list are in my daily task list, reference and plan my calendar, make sure my task list reflects my calendar too, review and manage my e-mail and other inputs, review and manage my assignments, deliverables, and needed follow ups, and then optimize my prioritized task list for that particular day.  Then, I start working on important or urgent items from that task list in my open time blocks throughout the day, taking periodic breaks to check and incorporate the new information inputs (e-mails, etc.) that have come in since the start of the day.  It really isn't rocket science -- just good planning, good infrastructure, and good habits/routines. (Note that this process by design would naturally reduce stress!)   
9. The necessary motivation to make it all work.  As the famous quote says, "If you have a big enough 'why', the how becomes obvious."  Do you know what it is you are trying to accomplish in work and life, and why it is important to you? If so, the infrastructure above will greatly assist you in a more efficient and effective accomplishment of those goals and priorities.  And if you don't really care, the infrastructure above probably won't help that much.  "You can lead a horse to water..."  ;-) 

But regardless, you could build the infrastructure above on pretty much ANY system, from the old paper-based planners, to Outlook and other server-based software systems, to cloud tools like Google productivity apps and Toodledo, to an app-based system on your smart phone and/or tablet.  The pieces are all out there -- all you have to do is assemble them on whatever tech system you choose, and then use them CONSISTENTLY most every day.  

Do you have all of your pieces in place?  What pieces are missing?  Do you want to upgrade for better mobility?  What is stopping you from taking action RIGHT NOW?

Once you are clear on your "why", an investment in this infrastructure -- regardless of the tech system being used -- is one of the wisest uses of your time, money, and effort.  Give yourself a gift this holiday season by assembling/upgrading your time/projects/people/e-mail/info infrastructure.  (And let me know how it goes!) 

App of the Month

Kristy LeVasseur 
Director of Communications
Midland Area Chamber of Commerce