I was drafting a status e-mail to one of my clients tonight, and it was amazing the clarity that came as a result of it. When I sit down to write a to-do list, it always fills up with junk! When I sit down to write a status email – lo and behold…a to-do list! Really. I suddenly had my to-do list (or a portion of it) and it came so much more easily to mind than it would have if I had said to myself “Self, let’s come up with a to-do list.”

So here’s my advice. Draft status memos for each of your clients (even if they haven’t asked for one). As you’re drafting the status, categorize it by completed, and to-do (this week) and to-do (next week – or just skip next week. One week at a time!). You’ll discover, if you’re like me and you have a lot of work, that as you’re typing up your ‘completed’ section, all of your ‘to-do’ tasks become very obvious. Write those under the to-do section and sub-categorize them by day. Then, put all of your to-do tasks from all of your clients in a list.

Tada! To-do list magic. AND status memo magic. Status memos are extremely helpful even when they aren’t requested. For one thing, they help you see how much work you’re actually doing for your client! Two, they show you how you’ve spent your time (most of my time today was spent working stuff out with the baby). Three, they put your work right in your face so you have a better understanding of your workload so that you can say “yes” or “no” with confidence to future requests.

Cheers! Enjoy making your status memos!

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