Summer can be a frustrating time.  Much like the end of the year, there are a lot of vacations to work around, and your team varies from week to week.  That makes this an excellent time to take your vacation as well.  However, when you find yourself at work with limited staff or tasks waiting for people to return, there is an opportunity for catching up.  Those secondary and less important tasks that never seem to get done are excellent targets during these slow times.

Getting Ahead

One of the areas where it is easy to get behind is planning.  You know the Fall and wrap up of the year will be busy.  It almost always is.  Thus, this is a perfect time to look ahead to those hectic months and search for tasks you can start or even complete in this slow time.  It can be a time to lay down plans for the push and create documentation outlines where possible.  The work may not be such that it can be completed and off your plate.  However, any steps you take now will be less time to spend during that rush.  This is also a time to set things in motion if you are going to need vendor buy-in, customer sign-offs, or other administrative tasks that can often drag out the completion of a project.

Catching Up On Overdue Tasks

Planning takes some thought and forecasting.  Overdue tasks do not suffer from these restrictions.  You know what needs to be done.  Many of these tasks are the kind that languishes on your to-do list for weeks or months.  Why not remove those headaches and stress by knocking out some of your “productivity debt?”  When you take action your days will move along quickly and you will be thankful in the months ahead that you did.