Kickstart Your Year: How to Simplify Your Daily Workflow

“Where do I even start?!?”

If you’re anything like me, the start of a new year is always a combination of excitement and potential at all of the new opportunities alongside overwhelm and stress at the constant demands and endless tasks that don’t know the slate was supposed to be cleared January 1.

I’ve spent years looking for more clarity and calm in my daily routine and I have learned to create systems that simplify my workflow and  save me time. Now I share what I’ve learned (and am still learning!) to help myself and others create space for what truly matters… whether that’s growing a business, pursuing creative ideas, or finding more balance.

An intentional, simplified workflow can be the difference between a chaotic day of putting out fires and a productive day staying on top of everything. Let’s take a look at why simplifying your workflow matters and three steps to simplify your workflow.

We’ll use the example of Sarah, a busy realtor, as she tackles her own workflow challenges. By identifying her bottlenecks and making small but impactful changes, Sarah is finding ways to save time and reduce stress—without sacrificing the quality of her work. Along the way, we’ll explore practical tips to help you do the same.

Why Simplifying Your Workflow Matters

Sarah’s days are packed. She has to respond to client inquiries, schedule showings, prepare listings, and keep up with her marketing—all while trying to find time for her family and social life.

Simplifying her workflow isn’t just about clearing her to-do list faster; it’s about creating a system that helps her:

• Focus on the most important tasks so that she can...

• Free up mental energy for strategic decisions, which will...

• Reduce chaos so she can feel in control of her day.

It all starts with figuring out what is slowing you down.

Step 1: Identify Workflow Pain Points and Bottlenecks

The first step is understanding what’s not working. Sarah begins by tracking her day and noticing where things feel the most overwhelming.

Here’s how she approaches it:

1. Track Time: Sarah logs her tasks for a week to see where her time is going.

2. Spot Patterns: She realizes she is constantly interrupted by emails, spends hours organizing client documents, and struggles to find focus.

3. Notice Frustration Points: She identifies repetitive tasks, like answering the same client questions, as a major pain point.

Try This:
Log your tasks for a few days, but preferable a whole week, and ask yourself:

• Which tasks take up the most time?

• Where do I feel disorganized or stuck?

• What feels like a constant source of stress?

This can feel tedious and overwhelming. As you stop to record everything you do, it will feel like you’re breaking your groove and wasting time. It’s not a waste, it’s an investment. The minutes you invest now to track your progress will pay back hours later when you put your systems into place.

Step 2: Actionable Steps to Simplify Your Workflow

Once Sarah understands her pain points, she can take small, focused steps to make her day easier.

1. Group Similar Tasks Together

Our brains don’t actually multitask very well, they just bounce between tasks, which is mentally exhausting and drains focus, so Sarah batches her work into dedicated time blocks.

• What she does: She schedules specific blocks of time for emails, showings, and marketing and sticks to her schedule. For example, she only answered emails in the morning and after lunch, freeing up the rest of her day for focused work.

• Why it works: Batching similar tasks reduces mental switching costs, so you get more done in less time.

Try This:

• Dedicate certain times of the day for tasks like client calls, social media, or admin work.

• Use your calendar to block these times and stick to the schedule.

2. Use the Right Tools to Stay Organized

Sarah realizes she’s wasting a lot of mental energy by relying too much on memory and manual tracking, so she introduces tools to do the heavy lifting.

• Trello: She creates a board to track her active listings, with columns for new leads, under contract, and closed. This way, she can easily see where things are without wasting time drilling through her memory or shuffling through stacks of papers.

• Buffer: She creates a social media plan and spends a days scheduling her social media posts for the month, so she doesn't have to think about them every day.

• Google Calendar: She adds reminders for follow-ups, showings, and deadlines. She also sets up the Google Appointment Scheduler with her availability so that clients can book appointments in the background while she works on other things.

Why It Works: Tools streamline repetitive tasks, automate others and keep everything organized in one place.

Try This:

• Use Trello for project tracking. Create boards for key areas of your business, like lead management or marketing campaigns. Trello is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool for managing any number of projects! Here are 15 examples of ways to use Trello

• Schedule your social media in advance using tools like Buffer to save time. Even if it’s not the whole month, spending some time Monday to schedule for the week will save a lot of time Tuesday - Friday.

• Set calendar reminders for recurring tasks to stay on top of deadlines and setup your Google Appointment Scheduler so that clients can book appointments without you having to stop work.

3. Create Repeatable Routines

One of Sarah’s biggest breakthroughs is creating routines for recurring tasks.

• What She Does: Every morning, she spends 15 minutes reviewing her schedule, sending follow-up emails, and updating her Trello board.

• Why It Works: Starting the day with a simple routine gives her clarity and control before the chaos begins. Even if the plan veers off course, she knows what needs to be done and can make a plan to adapt.

Try This:

• Create a morning checklist with 3-5 key tasks to start your day.

• Use routines to simplify weekly or monthly processes, like preparing client reports or scheduling content.

Step 3: Avoid Common Mistakes

As Sarah works on simplifying her workflow, she avoids some common pitfalls:

1. Doing too much at once: We can all think of a dozen things we’d like to do better. To avoid burnout, pick one and start there. Sarah starts with time blocking to limit the mental exhaustion of constant task-switching.

2. Overloading your schedule: There are 1,440 minutes in the day and too often, we try to schedule every single one. When we do this, and things get off, it throws our whole day off. Sarah leaves space in her calendar for unexpected changes.

3. Relying on memory: We know our business inside and out. But when everything is in our head, we can’t delegate or adapt well. Sarah uses her tools to do the tracking so she can focus on her work.

Conclusion: Start Small, Start Strong

For Sarah, simplifying her workflow isn’t about working harder—it’s about working smarter. By batching tasks, using tools, and creating routines that work for her, she finds more time to focus on what really matters: serving her clients and growing her business.

You can do the same! Start by identifying one bottleneck in your day, and take one small step to address it. Whether it’s setting up a Trello board, batching tasks, or creating a simple routine, those small changes will add up over time.

Looking for more tips and tools to streamline your business? Check out our book Freedom by Design for strategies and tools to help you reclaim your time and energy.

Looking for someone to take some of the load? Oliviara Multimedia is a full-service marketing agency and we’d love to chat about how we can help!

Let’s make 2025 your most intentional year yet.