10 Essential Productivity Tips for Event Planners

Take control of each and every day to improve your productivity. Here are our essential tips for event planners.

Every event is different and requires just the right combination of event planning skills to make it successful. Being realistic about what’s achievable each day in the planning process while remaining productive is something all event planners need to sit back and think about from time to time.

Here are our essential productivity tips for event planners.

1. Set your Own Schedule

A key characteristic of events is that they have a fixed deadline – the actual event. With this come expectations from other stakeholders about deadlines for event invitations, layout decisions, menu options and other key elements of event planning. Instead, use your knowledge to set your own schedule and deadlines. Planning something you know is realistic will keep you much more productive in the process.

2. Stick to Deadlines

Once you’ve set your own realistic deadlines for different elements of the event planning process, the highest priority is sticking to them. Milestones such as confirming bookings with suppliers are crucial to both the event’s success and your own ability to continue being productive during the process.

3. Thematic To-Do Lists

Instead of having one extensive task list to plan an event, break it down into different themes, such as ‘food’ and ‘delegate communications’. Breaking everything down into bite-sized chunks helps you focus on one thing at a time – ultimately helping you achieve more.

4. Time Management Tool

If you struggle to organise your task list into the most urgent and important tasks, consider using an online time management tool or app such as MyLifeOrganized. This can help you prioritise the most important tasks, reminding you of your priority actions to help you reach important goals.

5. Find your Happy Place

Take a step back and see if there’s anything in your usual work environment that is hindering your productivity. This may be noise in an open-plan office or too much time spent in meetings that take you away from your desk. Think creatively to find solutions, such as spending the occasional day working remotely or in a quieter part of the office, or sending just one team representative along to non-essential meetings.

6. Use Technology Where it Counts

Identify which technology in your life is a distraction and discover tech options that can improve your productivity too. You may decide to pause push notifications and email alerts for a few hours every day to improve your productivity. Equally, make the technology you have access to work harder for you, as it’s possible to do the bulk of event planning all in one place via CRM or project management tools.

7. Delegation and Automation

Increasing your own productivity also means using the resources you have available to you, so you can do less. This starts with delegating tasks to colleagues to ensure a fair spread of the workload. Also look at what tasks can be handled by automation technology, such as social media posts and emails.

8. Take a Few Minutes

It’s not always possible to take an hour-long lunch break when you’re in the thick of event planning, but even taking a few minutes away from your desk regularly throughout the day can help. Get a breath of fresh air, make a cup of tea or do a few minutes of guided mindfulness or meditation via an app on your smartphone.

9. Plan a Longer Break

Everyone needs a week or two away from work to relax, reset and revitalise. But time away also makes you more productive too. Book annual leave well in advance so you can factor time away into your event planning, as having a treat to look forward to can also spur you on.

10. End of Work Review

It’s a trick that works for people in all different jobs – create a to-do list for the following day before you leave work the day before. It’ll help take your mind off work when you go home and means you can get stuck into important tasks immediately the following morning, without spending any time wondering what to focus on first.

Increase your awareness of these productivity tips and tricks to improve your effectiveness in the event planning process. By doing so, you’ll enjoy feeling calmer and more in control too.