Jessie Shand / Co-Founder of Avenue The Label

Making a list! There’s nothing more satisfying than ticking it off. The endless tasks, the emails... it all seems a whole lot less daunting and doable when it’s compiled into a neat checklist.

Chelsea Kirby Maitland / PR & Events Manager at Sephora Australia

With only four weeks of the calendar year to go, the retail world is only getting busier. With rounding up 2019 and planning strategies for 2020 it can start to feel like there’s just not enough time left to get it all done. When it all gets too much I use the following strategies to get back in control:

-       Flex your hours: find the times of the day you’re the most productive and you can get the most clear space without distractions or meetings  

-       Touch it once: don’t put off what you can do today. If an email can be answered when you read it, then send your reply and file it.

-       Block out the time: just as you would schedule and attend a meeting, schedule in the time to close your inbox and get task-oriented work done.

-       Take it home: sometimes the only way to get it all done is to take a little work home, so I’ll choose to clear out my inbox at home on the lounge (with a glass of wine)

Zoe Walker Ahwa / Editor, Fashion Quarterly & Simply You

Working in media, dates and deadlines have been a big part of my life for a long time – so I've developed some slightly nerdy ways to manage them. My iCal has definitely become a much more integral part of my working life in the past year, but I still love a physical calendar for planning and scribbling on. I have the An Organised Life A0 wall planner next to my desk for a yearlong overview and highlighted key dates (i.e. issue on sale dates, printing deadlines, trips), and I also print out smaller monthly calendars for the two months ahead. It helps calm my mind and narrow my focus seeing it all together like this!

Another strategy I swear by is deciding at the beginning how much time and energy to put into something. I know how easy it is to get caught up in making something 'perfect', but at some point you need to let it go ... and move onto the next thing on your to-do list.”

Dani Dean / Founder of The Make Haus & The Ware

My top tip to getting ontop of my work load is planning. Yes a broad term and nothing too inventive, however with a young family, two business and a team to coordinate all can get a little blurry between the lines. I spend a lot of time doing the pre- production of each project to ensure all runs smoothly. This comes with a lot of lists and a couple of really great spreadsheet templates I have created. Utilising as many aps on my phone as I can to stay on top too. Wunderlist, UNUM, Paper 53 are some of my go tos. 

The Make Haus is never a ’same day’ scenario. Our jobs are so varied and near and far. Without been prepared all could burst to dust! Deep down I love been ahead on my list, however thats not always the case. 

Factoring in some social time and me time also helps!