Bitsnarf

Tag: Productivity

  • Top 3 tips to manage overwhelm

    Hello friends! As more employers reduce their workforce and expect the survivors to do more with less, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. In this post, I share my strategies to manage feeling overwhelmed at work.

    Trust me, I get it. From May – September 2025, I provided interim support to my org’s Vice President while continuing to support my Director. I have nearly daily panic attacks with the volume of work. I can’t take a day off spur of the moment. I’ve had to push through the anxiety and get shit done.

    In this context, feeling overwhelmed is related to high work volume plus the expectation that the EAs deliver perfect work product 100% of the time. The stress amps up whenever one of us is out of the office for three or more weeks, due to medical leaves, unexpected illnesses, and taking the PTO we’ve earned. At this moment, we each support 2 Directors so when we need to cover for one of the team members, two of us have 3 Directors each.

    Here are my go-to strategies to manage job-related anxiety and overwhelm.

    Walk away from my computer

    I sometimes get frazzled, and my mind fixates on some stupid, minor detail or mistake that won’t let go. When I recognize it, I lock my computer and walk away. The kitchen on my floor is centrally located and my desk is in a far corner. I will get a glass of water or make a cup of tea. On a tough day, I take the long way around and walk the perimeter of the floor. When I return to my desk, my brain has settled down.

    Make a list

    I take out my notebook and a pen and start making a list of everything I need to do: meetings to reschedule with dates and names, event planning tasks, project work, and reminders that occur in the moment.

    Tasks are then stack-ranked by importance. If you’re unsure of how to rank tasks, I recommend using an Eisenhower Matrix, aka the Priority Matrix. Subscribers can find my post on this topic here.

    Get a second opinion

    Sometimes, I’ll come up with solutions and then wonder if my head is stuck too far up my own ass to see clearly. That’s when I reach out to my Lead EA, my mentor, or one of my team EAs and run my ideas past them.

    There you have it, my top 3 tips for managing overwhelm at work. Sometimes you have to focus on the basics.

    I hope these simple ideas help you the next time you feel overwhelmed at work.

    What are your strategies for calming down at work? Drop a comment and share your tips. Sharing is caring!

  • Wasting time

    Daily writing prompt
    How do you waste the most time every day?
    View all responses

    Hello there! Today, I consider my time-wasters. So what is wasting time? I consider it purposeless procrastination.

    I prefer to change gears, focus on another task or topic to get unstuck. I find this a useful tactic at work. By focusing on ticking off the low hanging fruit, I get a useful idea to solve the more complex task. Staring out the window was great when I started my job in Vancouver. The view was glorious: Mt Baker in the distance, Burnaby, mountains, Harbour Centre. This month, my org was restocked and I moved to another building. My view is the back of the Vancouver Civic Center. So much for inspired daydreaming at work.

    For my off work hours, I would have said scrolling through social media. I don’t recall when the ads started creeping in, but nowadays, every third post is an ad. I don’t have patience to spend much time on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or LinkedIn.

    We watch quite a lot of YouTube and pay for premium to avoid ads. I miss the scrappy days of YouTube, when everyone had a channel for their funky hobbies, untrained presenters and no budget. Old Times YouTube was like fringe theatre, with folks going for it on a low budget.

    I enjoy several hobbies and noticed an increase in haul videos. These were fun, at first. Then all the channels I followed had hauls and everyone was buying the same things. A few months later, these folks posted videos about “being behind “ and going on about all the supplies they have. A few months that, they’d post about holding a Destash Sale to get all this stuff out of their house. And the cycle repeats. For the most part, these creators stopped posting progress or tutorial videos.

    The last straw for me was a diamond painting haul video where the person stacked their haul on the dining room table. Diamond Art Club kits average $150 USD. This YouTuber must have purchased at least 30 kits. I literally felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t finish the video.

    My current YouTube viewing is purposeful: coloring tutorials, completed project videos, hiking videos, photography tutorials. Ballet Reign is a lot of fun.

    I wouldn’t call this wasted time. More like inspiration time that finds its way into my personal projects.

    We can’t be on all the time. Our bodies and minds need breaks and time to recharge. Stare out the window. It’s good for you.

  • Delegate Category Rule Set-up

    Hello EA pros! As you know, I recently changed teams at work. I support two new executives and their teams that do not intersect. The two interim EAs were quite happy to turn these leaders over to me. For my first week on the job, I got hammered with incoming meeting requests and needed a way to manage incoming invites so I re-examined using Outlook Rules to apply Color Categories.

    I added 3 new colors: one for each leader and one for the org to keep track of the leadership team level mechanisms. I created a simple rules (one condition and one result with no exceptions) to manage the flood of emails.

    Here are the instructions to applying a color category to incoming

    Color Category for Delegate Invites

    Before you create the rule:

    1.       Open the invite

    2.       Open Properties (File > Properties)

    3.       In the Internet headers box, find the target email.  It should looks something like this: X-MS-Exchange-Inbox-Rules-Loop: alias@company.com Copy the italicized code

    4.       Close the message

    Create the rule:

    5.       From the Ribbon, select Rules

    6.       Create Rule

    7.       Select Advanced Option. Step 1: Check “with specific words in the message header”. Step 2: click specific words and paste the code from #3 above (should be on your clipboard). Click Add.  Click OK.

    8.       Click Next. Step 1: assign a Category. Step 2: click Category and select your color category

    9.       Click Next. Choose an Exception, if appropriate.

    10.   Click Next

    11.   Finish Rule Set up. Step 1: Name the Rule (short name is best). Step 2: check both boxes (run rule and turn on rule)

    12.   Click Finish

    If you set the rule up correctly, your delegate meeting invites are color coded!

    As mentioned in my post 3 Simple Outlook Automations, I have rules for moving meeting invites into a Meetings to Schedule folder plus 2 other rules.

    I’m going to create a rule to move incoming emails with the words “meeting request” in the subject line into the Meetings to Schedule folder. It won’t catch all the emails, but it would catch some and reduce the time I spend manually moving meeting requests to that folder.

    Standard work tip: use this wording in the email subject line:

    Meeting request | 30 minutes | Name of meeting

    Ask the folks you work with you use this format and share your rule to help your EA besties save time.

    What Outlook time savers have you set up? Leave a comment & share your tips and tricks.

  • Outlook Email Quick Part

    Hello EA pros! A quick post to show the steps for using and inserting a Quick Part into an email. Using Chat GPT and other AI tools is fine when it’s appropriate but there are simple automation tools that require a small amount of time to set up that will save hours of time in the long-run.

    In the enterprise Office suite, this feature is called Quick Parts. In the free Office Online Outlook, it’s called My Templates. For this post, I’ll call this feature Quick Parts.

    Why use a Quick Part? As EAs, we get the same questions over and over: where do I find the list of team email distros? How to I request office supplies? How to I get my desk tech updated? No matter what questions you regularly get, here’s my rule: when you answer a question 3 times, make a Quick Part.

    Open a new email and write your response. This text can be formatted and include links.

    When you’ve fine tuned this message, select the entire block of text. On the Ribbon, select Insert and then select Quick Parts. The pop-up will offer you the chance to save the highlighted text. Choose this and then create a very simple name for this Quick Part. Send the message you created

    The next time you get this question, Reply and put your cursor in the body of the email, select Insert on the Ribbon and select Quick Parts. Then find the message you created by name and insert. Send. Done.

    Below is a screenshot of an email I made using My Templates.

    As EAs, we are very busy. Finding effective automation tools is an easy way to save time that can be spent on higher priority projects for our leaders.  

    It may seem like a small amount time in the moment, but think about how many times you answer certain questions over and over. Five minutes here and there adds up to many hours in the course of a year.

    Develop a habit to think about how much time you spend on ‘simple’ tasks. This time adds up over the course of a year. Should they spend that time on low-priority tasks they can delegate? 

    Doing this builds critical thinking skills that you can apply to your leader and start acting as a strategic partner with your executive.

  • My 2024 Planners

    In this post, I’ll share how I use planners, what I’ve tried and what I currently use. I’ve loved planners since the only options were those minimalist planners available in office supply stores.

    Planner systems I’ve tried

    • Day Runner
    • Day Planner
    • Franklin Covey
    • Bullet journal
    • Plum Paper planners
    • Classic Happy Planner
    • Handmade Traveller style notebooks
    • Composition notebooks
    • 6 ring binder planners
    • Hobinichi Weeks
    • Hobinichi Techo Cousin

    Digital planning

    One of my previous employers had a rewards program where your coworkers gave you ‘points’ you could accumulate and then use your points to buy something. I saved my points and got an 6th Generation I-pad for the cost of shipping and purchased a 1st Generation Apple Pencil.

    My goal was to use the I-Pad for digital art journaling and planning. I purchased a number of digital planners, looking for the ‘perfect’ planner.

    I used Goodnotes and was pretty happy with it. Then in 2023, there was a major app upgrade and there was a new fee in order to have more than 3 files. Well, that was the last straw for me. I gave up Goodnotes

    I currently have I think it’s just called Notes. It’s ok but the whole experience put me off digital planning. So I went back to paper planning.

    For work planning, I use OneNote meeting notes, goal setting, playbook for my org and leaders.

    For task and project tracking, I use my Outlook calendar to time block tasks and then I group tasks together: travel coordination and expense reporting, team offsite planning. For smaller, one-off tasks, I use Outlook Tasks to keep a running list with reminders. I wish the Tasks there was a built-in way to drop tasks onto the calendar.

    Paper planning

    I’ve always liked the Carpe Diem planners. That company was bought by another stationery company and all the ring bound planners were discontinued. I purchased the A5 Feathers planner from the Carpe Diem website on special.

    I used the A5 ring planner for a personal and business planning in 2023. For 2024, I purchased dated monthly and weekly inserts from PT Paper on Etsy. I’m using this planner for my business: scheduling posts and site promotion. 

    For my personal planner in 2024, I’m using a Hobinichi Techo Cousin, A5 size. I use the monthly grid to record my workouts. The weekly grid is for tracking my learning, media and reading. The daily pages are used as a memory keeper and task list.

    In late 2023, I took a barely used A5 Leuchterm 1917 and converted it to a commonplace book. I am reading classic literature with my sister, which we discuss on our weekly calls. I’m also currently studying French and use this notebook to record vocabulary and track progress.

  • SMART Goals

    Hello office pros! Today is the last in the series of my Top 3 Tools for EAs: SMART goals. Goal-setting is important but if the goals are not specific, relevant or achievable, you won’t be motivated or possible able to continue. If there is no deadline, it will never get done. Life is hard enough.

    SMART, which stands for:

    • Specific
    • Measureable
    • Achievable
    • Relevant
    • Time-specific

    This is a great for goal-setting. It helps you to consider all the variables, work backwards to set milestone dates, determine your data points and decide if a particular goal is going to serve your career or needs.

    The SMART format is also great to use when you’re considering a job or career path change. Taking the time to put each of your work projects and achievements in this format will help you develop compelling and cohesive stories for the interview.

    I hope you found this series and the tools helpful. Let me know how you’re using the SWOT, Priority Matrix and SMART tools.

    To get a pdf version of this form, check out So You Want to Become an EA.

  • SWOT Analysis

    Hello office pros! In part two of the three part series on my top 3 tools for EAs, I’ll examine the SWOT analysis tool.

    SWOT stands for:

    • Strengths
    • Weaknesses
    • Opportunities
    • Threats

    Traditionally used by business executives to make informed choices, say for a product launch, the SWOT tool has other uses as well. I find it useful to assess the current state of my career as well as prepare for a job change.

    Strengths and Weaknesses are pretty obvious categories. Opportunities are the people or resources that can support your strengths; Threats are people or resources that are barriers or the negatives (for example, taking a pay cut or demotion).

    For example, let’s say you are working in tech and are considering a lateral job change to a nonprofit organization making the world a better place. Noble idea, of course, but before you jump into a new industry, take time to deep dive the world of nonprofits. Nonprofits are very different from corporations. There are plusses and minuses to each. To make a good decision for you and your career, spend time doing research to find out what you’re really getting into. Changing industries is akin to starting over for EAs – you have no or limited knowledge about the new industry and business.

    You need to learn the language, new acronyms, and rhythm of business, so you may have to take a demotion or pay cut if you change industries. It’s better to know upfront than get through the interview process and receive an offer only to find out the salary is below what you are able or willing to accept.

    I’ve created the SWOT Analysis workbook for my So You Want to Becomen an EA series. Follow this link to the EA Mentor Google Drive and download a copy. For personal use only.

  • Priority Matrix

    Hello office pros! The next three posts will feature my favorite tools for EAs. I feel the most important skill a strategic EA uses is data analysis. The ability to compile, analysis and make data-driven recommendations to your executive will transform your career from a calendar jockey to strategic business partner. Today’s post about the Priority Matrix.

    Back in college, the financial aid office had a sign on the wall behind the desk that read: Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part.

    Effective prioritizing is key. Without it, you’re running around reacting to requests rather than taking stock and focusing on what is actually urgent and important.

    Everyday, you’re dealing with your stakeholders, direct reports, vendors, all manner of people who want your and your executive’s time. There are only so many work hours per day and none of us want to work 10 – 12 hours per day every day. Having a system to prioritize will help you work efficiently and efficiently. The last you want to do is spend days on a low priority/low urgency project, or as I like to call these: Someday Projects, which means they’re probably not going to rise in urgency or importance.

    The priority matrix pretty straightforward to use: take your list of tasks, drop them in the quadrants below based on your and your executive’s priorities. Then start working on the tasks in the upper right quadrant (high urgent & high important), next work on the upper left quadrant and so on.

    I find the Priority Matrix particularly useful when I’m having a bad day – maybe I’ve got a migraine coming on, didn’t sleep well the night before or it’s just a Bad Brain Day. Tools like the Priority Matrix help me focus and plan.

    I hope you’ll give the Priority matrix a try.

    If you’d like a copy of this form, check out my article, So You Want to Become an EA for this and other handy forms, in pdf format.

  • Note Taking

    Today’s post is, as you might guess from the title, about note taking for administrative professionals. While it is not about taking meeting minutes, I feel the practice of note taking helps you take better minutes. If you’re interested, here is a link to my post about taking minutes on complex/technical topics.

    I started my note-taking journey early in my career. Perhaps I was influenced by the vintage rock star admin: Miss Della Street, who never went anywhere without her steno pad.

    It probably had more to do with the fact my first full-time admin role was the Program Assistant (equal parts receptionist, admin assistant and technical writer) in the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) department at Fred Hutch. I had to quickly learn the basics of safety training, biohazard, radioactive and chemical safety because I took notes at the monthly safety committee meetings, wrote the monthly newsletter and proofread the safety manuals.

    All my learning was on the job by taking notes and asking questions. I’m curious by nature and I like to understand how things work and why. In my career, I’ve supported anywhere from 2 – 9 leaders at a given time and primarily supported doctors. They don’t have time to revisit anything – they need focus on patient care. I needed to develop a solid, repeatable, scalable note taking system.

    A quick Google search revealed very few people have eidetic or photographic memory, anywhere from 0-10%. It is unlikely you have a photographic memory. This is my first tip: don’t rely on your memory.

    EAs and other admin pros do a high volume of task switching every day. As people head back into the office, we’re returning to what I call: The Drive By – random people who stop by your desk throughout the day and interrupt you without bothering to acknowledge they’re disrupting your work flow. They’ll walk away and now you’re stuck trying to pick up the threads of what you were working on.

    I feel taking notes is key to being organized as an admin pro and a core skill. I’ve noticed that admins of any level (Receptionist to EA) who fail to take notes are not productive or effective. They apologize a lot, ask the same questions and struggle getting their work done on time. This cycle negatively impacts their confidence and fuels Imposter Syndrome.

    Make your job easier: take notes.

    Taking notes and minutes are skills to be learned and practiced regularly. I view notes as minutes for me. What helps me do my job efficiently is I treat notes much like minutes: summarize the instructions, identify due dates, task owners, resources, stakeholders, ask questions.

    If you’re groaning right now about having to take notes and how you hoped to be done with notes after finishing school. Sorry cupcake, the learning never ends for the admin professional. Don’t believe me? ChatGPT didn’t exist 1 year ago. Now, AI chatbots and sweet new ways to leverage them are a hot topic all over LinkedIn. Keep learning or get left behind.

    Here are the benefits of taking notes:

    • Time saver – by capturing all the details from the jump, you don’t have to procrastinate because you failed to take notes and have to go back to your executive because you can’t recall the details of the assignment. Now 2 people have lost productive work time.
    • Reference – by keeping notes for every meeting you attend, you can review them later, refresh your memory. My notes have saved my bacon countless times. Over time, they help me look around corners and see patterns that are otherwise missed without notes.
    • Documentation – everything from instructions or links for rarely used processes, performance, preferences, to post event notes on venues, catering, and hotels.
    • Reflection – take time reflect and summarize discussions, projects that went well and those that flopped, record key takeaways and lessons learned.
    • Taking notes will improve your minute taking. You’ll develop the ability to summary information as well as tracking team metrics, deadlines, owners.

    Note taking system

    You need a system for note taking in order to build your muscle memory. To keep things super simple, I recommend using the same system for note and minutes.

    Physical

    I started with paper and pen by creating a daily running list of tasks. Like a bullet journal, I transferred unfinished tasks to the next day.

    Ten years ago, I had carpel tunnel release surgery on both hands. As a result of carpel tunnel syndrome, I lost a lot of hand strength and muscle tone so my handwriting is illegible. Great for art journaling. Terrible for recording work notes.

    At the time, I wanted to convert to digital but my employer was a non-profit and didn’t offer OneNote as part of the standard computer install. Not wanting to purchase a license on my own dime, I searched for free options.

    Digital

    Outlook Tasks – it’s there and I tried it, but don’t like that my tasks are separate from other notes.

    EverNote. It’s simple and is organized like a binder so I could capture everything in one spot. I tried it for a while and still use it for my own personal note keeping.

    I tried TeuxDeux for a year. Nice as a task list, but I didn’t feel it was good for project or event management. Minutes were recorded elsewhere and I like to keep it simple.

    Goodnotes. Nearly every company I’ve worked for used Windows OS. At home, I use Mac and Goodnotes for personal journaling. It is easy to learn and use. I love that you can annotate pdfs and I keep a digital planner for myself.

    In my previous company, OneNote was part of the standard install so I adopted it and haven’t looked back. I love it because it integrates with other Office products. I can link meeting details in my minutes. A super simple, all in one solution. I’ve tried using special OneNote templates, but find they get in my way. I still prefer a hybrid of Bullet Journal & narrative style of note taking.

    Experiment

    Unless you know exactly what works for you, plan to experiment. Give each system time to work. You have to find your groove. And that’s ok. It’ll be fine. At the end of the trial, reflect on what worked and what didn’t in order to determine the next system to try. Repeat until you hit on what works best for you.

    Whatever method you choose, I recommend picking 1 method; otherwise, you run the risk of wasting time trying to find your notes. Is it in OneNote? On my note pad? On a Post It? Yes, sometimes you need to jot a quick note outside your system but create the habit of transferring that note into your system as quickly as possible.

    Embrace note taking as part of your admin toolkit. It will serve you well your entire career.

  • Top 3 Outlook Productivity Tools

    I have a short attention and, like most EAs, my work day is full of interruptions. I need effective systems to manage core tasks so nothing slips through the cracks. Over the years, I’ve experimented with all the tools Outlook has to offer. My Top Three Outlook productivity tools are: Quick Parts, Quick Steps and Color Categories.

    I look for tools that are easy to use and give me the most bang for my buck. I live by KISS – Keep It Simple Sweetheart – I hear Han Solo’s voice say “sweetheart.” It makes me laugh. Hey, I’ve been working from home for 3 years. I’ll take all the entertainment I can get. Also, Your Worshipfullness does not fit this acronym.

    All three tools have been around for a long time, yet I’m surprised how few people use these. They are not flashy. They are simple, powerful tools anyone can leverage to be more productive.

    For new EAs (particularly if you are new with no prior admin experience), implementing these three tools will save you at least 1 week’s worth of time per year. That’s time you can take training, work on a high value project for your executive or take a week’s vacation guilt-free.

    One last note about today’s post: there are no videos or screenshots because at home 1) I use Gmail and 2) I have the free Office 365 Online, which has limited capability (as you might guess because, hey it’s free).

    Quick Parts

    Think of Quick Parts as a permanent clip board. It allows you to quickly generate routine emails. Once you’ve fine tuned the wording for an email, including formatting and links, you create a new Quick Part then insert the content into a new email.

    How I use it: I own and co-moderate a large membership email list with over 22,000 members and a number of related subset lists.

    For example, partner teams will send informational emails to the All Members list and a subset list. I use a No Duplicates Quick Part to reject the email sent to the subset list. It explains why I’m rejecting the email and asks the sender to update their template. After a few rejections, the duplicate emails vanish.

    This one Quick Part saves 5 minutes per email. Every month, we moderate between 20 – 100 emails per month. On average, that is 60 emails, with half sent to a subset. This Quick Part saves me an average of 2.5 hours a month or 30 hours per year.

    How to set it up: write Your Brilliant Content, select it, click Insert in the Ribbon, select Quick Parts then select “Add Selection to Quick Part Gallery.” Give it a simple name because a short name is more readable in the Quick Part Ribbon list. The next time you create a new email, put your cursor in the body of the email, click Insert on the Ribbon,click the drop down menu for Quick Parts and select your custom Quick Part. Send. Done..

    Quick Steps

    Anything you can do to an email, you can automate with a Quick Step. My favorite use is: Create an Appointment from an email with the email attached. I use this when I need to do some research before I respond to the email.

    From the Home menu in the Ribbon, click Create New and select your desired actions from the list. You can add as many actions as you need. Give it a short name, and if you like, assign a keyboard command.

    Kick it up a notch

    Combine a Quick Step with a Quick Part to create a done by you pre-filled email in seconds. Just add attachments and send. For example you have 1 Quick Part that creates and addresses an email to your stakeholders, cc’s you, color codes it Green for Board of Directors with the subject line: “Monthly Financial Report.” You create a Quick Step with the email content that says the financial report is attached. Every month, click on your Monthly Report Quick Part and insert your Monthly Report Quick Step, attach your report and send.

    Color Categories

    Most people have tried Color Categories so I won’t go into details but I’ve noticed that most people over-complicate their list. I remind you to KISS. Create the fewest number of categories to cover the majority of work: high priority, office hours/power hour, Optional/Delegate, etc. You want just enough categories to make it useful at a glance and help you run a calendar audit, but not so many categories that you give up because it’s cumbersome.

    What about Rules?

    I’ve experimented and fine-tuned many rules over the years. Rules come in at #4 because I find they take a lot of finessing to get right. More importantly, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve logged in to find the overnight Outlook update broke half my rules.

    Yes, I have Rules. Very. Simple. Rules. These three rules save me about 30 minutes per week or 25 hours per year.

    The basic format of these rules: take a specific type of message, move it to a specific folder and (maybe) mark it as Read.

    1. Undeliverable Message. Managing all those large email lists means I receive bounces every day. I don’t want these clogging up my inbox so undeliverable messages are marked as read and moved into a folder. At the end of the week, I review the contents of the folder and update the manual subscription lists if needed.
    2. Automatic Reply. Like undeliverable messages, I get a lot of Automatic replies. These go into another folder and are left unread. When I’m scheduling high priority meetings or need to track who may not be attending a key meeting, I need to know who’s out of office so I can notify my leader.
    3. Meeting Invite or Update. I currently manage 4 calendars so I receive and generate a lot of meeting invites. This rule moves all meeting invites into a Meetings folder so I can batch review them throughout the day. This keeps me from obsessively checking my inbox throughout the day.

    For those playing at home: these 4 tools save me approximately 96 hours per year. Work smarter, my friends, not harder. My top 3 Outlook tools: Quick Steps, Quick Parts and Color Categories are simple yet very powerful productivity tools.

    Implementing these tools allows a new EA to more quickly transition from a tactical calendar jockey to strategic business partner because you’ve freed up time on low value tasks to focus on high value projects. The faster you become a partner, the more valuable you become to your executive and your company.

    Hey, guess what? You also just learned how to create macros. You can now transfer this knowledge to creating, for example, macros in Excel or actions in Photoshop.

    Go forth and conquer!

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