Everyday Productivity Tips & Tricks from some of Information Technology Executive Members

Information Technology
Productivity
Woman hand holding pen taping paper on desk
With continuously evolving software and limitless digital opportunities, ensuring that these tools are being fully utilized can be challenging. Luckily, members of the Information Technology executive team have some unique points of view to share, along with some words of wisdom in making your day more manageable and efficient.

It is no secret that IT executives follow best practices to keep up to speed in their fast-paced lives.  

Martin Bernier, Chief Information Officer, has an approachable work tip everyone can use to stay productive and centered to reach their goals. "List small goals at the start of the day, and by the end, tick off that final box (done!). It always feels good to complete tasks, no matter how small!" In addition to making his tangible goals clear, concise, and displayed on his list in descending order of urgency and importance, Martin additionally suggests using email filters whenever possible. This is used to categorize information and data by subject or project to stay organized and save time when you need to go back and reference the information later.  

Deputy CIO, Daniel Trottier, has a different approach. "On a day-to-day basis, I primarily use the Getting Things Done Framework also called (GTD).” GTD is a popular task management system created by productivity consultant David Allen. This methodology is based on storing mental clutter in an external system to review it later to pinpoint and pull the exact time and dates you might need to use it. “Sometimes tools are more powerful when used in tandem with another digital tool or practice. Special thanks to Jean-Ray, who introduced me to GTD a million years ago! It really does work great. It is old, but most modern systems we know and use today are loosely based on concepts related to GTD. Daniel also uses Kanban boards as a secondary tool to compliment GTD. Kanban presents similarly to the Planner Board function on the widely used MS Teams platform. Kanban is a modern workplace concept grounded in overall general workplace transparency. For this to work, real-time communication is required from each person regarding the nature of their work capacity. This method requires each team member to contribute a "full transparency of work and projects" mindset to maximize results.  

Chief Information Security Officer, Mathieu Bertrand, has a valuable trick that centers around maximizing efficiency by staying fully immersed in immediate priorities. "My productivity tip would have to be centered around the overall mindset of working with intent, combined with the Pomodoro technique. I use the Pomodoro technique to break down my daily focus time into periods of 25 minutes. At the start of each one, I ask myself what I want to accomplish in the following 25 minutes and make this my goal for 25 minutes. It forces me to identify what I want to accomplish with each task instead of being driven to deal with every new thing immediately."   

Jean-Ray, Senior Director of Infrastructure and Operations, describes his expertise surrounding the most easily implementable tip yet—the two-minute rule. "If something comes across your plate, and you can complete it in under 2 minutes, don’t defer this task. Just do it. It will take you more time and cognitive effort to jot it down and remember to do it later than just doing it right away. This trick truly helps to get the ball rolling!" In addition to this, Jean-Ray also suggests using the Outlook Snooze function to manage when you have received an email but can't immediately follow up. With this function, you can "snooze" an email for tomorrow, next week, etc. You can use it as a timer (for example, if you need to ensure a follow-up is done, set it for however long you need it). We receive so many emails daily that it's easy to get lost. Snoozing will return that email to the top of your inbox on the date or time that you've chosen and will serve as a gentle reminder.”  

Aren’t these tips wonderful? We have so many tools to make our life easier and work smarter.