Mohamed Tamer

Hello blog readers,

Organization and structure is half the battle in the working world. Therefore I would like to introduce you to my favourite tool in my daily business. In the project business I have to create many notes and task lists to keep track of everything. In the past, I have worked with Microsoft Notepad. But unfortunately, I have found that one loses the overview relatively quickly. Therefore, I now use the application “Notion” daily. The advantage of Notion is the general structuring and arrangement of my notes. It is possible to display subpages and tables with functions. So I can structure my notes much easier in subpages. Another advantage is the multi-device functionality. This allows you to access your notes from any device cloud-based. If you are interested, you can read more about the application at the following link.

Hello blog readers,

are you often having trouble focusing or noticing that you can’t concentrate on the tasks you need to do? For me, it often happens in daily life that every pop up of notifications can keep you from stopping the productive train. To prevent the little distractions that add up over the course of the day, there is a method that has helped me stay focused and concentrated personally. The so-called “Pomodoro technique”, sounds funny but there is more to it. The technique involves focusing on a predefined task for 25 minutes and then resting or taking a break for 5 minutes. This time is recorded with a timer or a “Pomodoro” clock, nothing more than a kitchen clock. In working time, the goal is to complete this predefined task. After the timer has expired, you take stock of whether you have achieved your previously defined goal. Build it into your everyday life. I am curious if it helps you as much as it helps me to stay focused. For detailed information, I can recommend the reference link.

Hello blog readers,

are you familiar with the situation that you sit down at your desk at 9:00 a.m. to work or study and don’t know where to start? I have adopted a positive habit for this exact problem. Finish your day at the desk with a to-do list for the next day. Write as detailed a list as you can with the next steps sorted by priority for your tasks. This works best at the end of your working day. By doing this, you will know exactly which tasks have to be done as you can retrospectively look over the past day. The next morning, you work through the to-do list and complete the most important steps at the start of the day. At the end of the day, you write the to-do list again for the next day. This creates a loop, and the problem no longer exists that you do not know what you need to do or where to start the day to get into the flow of work.

Hello blog reader,

in personality development, certain strengths and weaknesses are decisive for every person. A distinction is usually made between introverts and extroverts. In everyday work, especially as a project manager, certain results and tasks often must be discussed. Not everyone has the gift of being an extrovert. Therefore, there is a method that helps me personally in my everyday life. It helps to put yourself in the role of a journalist. By asking your interviewer in detail about the topics of conversation, you show interest. This makes your conversation partner feel better and goes into more detail about the topics. Once the stone of conversation has been set rolling, you will personally realise that this becomes purposeful. Try it out yourself and practise it, for example, on the train or in a taxi with a stranger. Questions like “Who was your most interesting guest?” are a good way to start conversations in a taxi. This will give you a feel for how conversations develop. Try it out and incorporate it into your everyday life.

Hello blog readers,

In the project business, it can happen that you don’t have the possibility to do another task because you don’t have the capacity or would overwork yourself. Therefore, it is essential to make the experience of refusing tasks at a very early stage. Because by always saying “yes” to everything and overworking yourself, the quality of your work decreases and you feel mentally used up relatively quickly, which could also lead to burnout syndrome in the worst case. Therefore, I would like to describe the so-called sandwich method, which could help you say “no” better and help the person asking the question understand your “no”. Start your feedback on the question of whether you can accept the further task with a positive sentence. For example, “Thank you for trusting me with this responsible task. The second component of your feedback is the negative feedback, i.e. saying “no”. In the example, this would be “Unfortunately, I don’t have the capacity to take on another task at the moment. I could only work on the topic in the next sprint.” You round off the whole thing with a positive message, the so-called “lid”. With the statement “If you like to work on the topic, you are welcome to come to me with questions, and I could give you hints for the solution”.

Hello blog reader,

the world is constantly changing. Therefore, it is important to be informed about current events and external factors that can affect you personally in the business world and in the daily project business to prevent so-called bubble thinking. Therefore, I have adopted a morning routine that helps me to stay up to date. I use my travel time to the office to listen to various podcasts concerning business news and general news. Since my commute takes about 30-40 minutes, I listen to three different podcasts that give me a diverse perspective on different topics. My podcast selection is currently based on German-language formats. In the future, I plan to include international podcasts in my selection to expand my knowledge accordingly. Feel free to try out my routine and plan it into your day. I’m curious to see if it gives you added value like it currently does for me. It’s best to choose podcast formats that appeal to you personally and fit in perfectly with your commute or sporting activities.