Wrike-Up Wednesday: Wrike Tip Jar! 💡✨

The most impactful tip I've learned is time blocking. To-do lists are longer than the day, but if you block time on your calendar for each task, you'll have an accurate picture of what you can and will get done that day. Bonus tip: if a customer asks for something but you don't have time right now, you can block time and then tell the customer, "I'll send you the response by ZZ date". 

Wrike Tip - Custom Item types. These make the work feel like what it is, and allow some powerful filtering. We can create meeting minutes, survey results, and projects all in 1 space and keep them all clean and separate with custom item types. 

Nothing beats the achievement of converting a Detractor to a Promoter

Time Blocking for sure!  Not sure how anyone gets anything done by memory..  Not only do I add everything to my Google/Outlook calendar (some times a big wall one with event jotted down) but I time block everything that hits the calendars. People think they have so much time to get things done but when you lay it all out you realize how tight of a schedule you can have. I actually find it insulting when people "forget" about plans/events everyone should use some form of calendar and time blocking is recommended!

Now if one of you can convince my husband that he should time block.  =) 

Self care not only benefits you, but everyone around you. Taking time to look after yourself improves your mood and thus your interactions with others.

Similar to Mike Fank, mine has to do with calendar blocking. But mine is specifically designating working time. I began blocking out time on my calendar when I have significant project deadlines that need work and encouraging my teams to do the same. We can't just expect there to magically be enough time in the day, we need to ensure the needed time is there. This way, folks will see that you're unavailable to meet and therefore won't try to schedule things with you. Even got my wife to start doing this!

Go to sleep early - we all need more sleep!

I second Mike's most impactful tip.

I personally categorize the work by colour so I know where to book it once I am at the end of the week!

Best tip I give people is to have a stable work-life balance. 

Empower others with what you've learned. When it comes to Wrike, show what's possible and invite them to adapt helpful tools and patterns to their team's situation.

The Two-Minute Rule! If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, do it immediately.

The feature to pin a task in the timesheet view! Instead of go looking for a specific recurring task, now I can find it on a weekly basis, pinned!

Excel templates for importing projects to Wrike may sometimes be very useful. 

Wrike Tip: If you're the Wrike admin on your account, then surely you get TONS of requests to change/update things, create new ones, etc.. Create a request form to collect these requests and put a link to it in your messaging app's personal message (i.e. Teams, Slack, etc.). That way, when someone opens your chat, they'll hopefully see the form and be inclined to use that instead of sending you the request via message on whatever platform you're using! If they still message you with a request, you can (kindly) ask them to fill out your form :) 

This has helped us collect our requests IN Wrike, instead of having requests scattered as we typically get them over Teams, email, verbally by the water cooler, etc.! 

My tip is for those fearing the sunsetting of List View...set up your table view so that it closely mirrors list view's layout. It's not 100% due to some functionality changes, but you can get table to look very much like list. It makes adoption of the table view easier as you'll develop your new table habits in a more transitional way. And then you'll start to see the benefits!

Put your "big rocks" in the jar first. Essentially, this is a prioritization metaphor. Decide what your priorities ("big rocks) are and make time/space for them first. Then you'll have space for the smaller rocks. For me, my big rocks are exercise, time with family, and work obligations. Those get put on the calendar first, so they don't get preempted by other things. 

I highly recommend blocking time each day for "Focus Time" and not allow anyone to schedule meetings over that time so you can actually get some work done. I typically allot my mornings for meetings and my afternoons for the focus time. It sets boundaries.

Real Work Tip: Have one “Today List” ...not 10 apps, 50 tabs, and 100 sticky notes.

Here’s the move:

Every morning, grab a pen and paper (or open one note on your phone) and write down the 3 most important things you need to get done today. That’s it. Just 3.

This is called “clearing the noise.”

Why it works:

• You focus on what actually matters.

• You stop reacting to everyone else’s chaos.

• You finish the day with progress, not just motion.

Life: Try to spend as much time doing things with your kids as you can. Before you know it they are off on their own.

Wrike: Write it down! Our minds are cluttered with work, life, responsibilities, etc. Eliminate the stress of needing to remember the small things that need to be done. Make a to-do list, an ongoing list of small things.  Plus it feels good to check them off as complete!

The best tip I have is "Write it down!" Very few people have perfect recall and the act of writing it down helps cement it in my memory. Now, where did I put that note? That's where Wrike comes in. We've got custom item types for Meetings, Documentation, Administrative Tasks, and more - all so we can more easily find where it got written down.

Use the Time Blocking technique to protect your focus.
Block specific times in your calendar for deep work, emails, or breaks. It helps reduce distractions, boosts productivity, and brings more balance to your day

Wrike tip: Building a dashboard for teams/departments using the filter Assignee = "Current User" is such a game-changer! This gives them a better visual of their workload rather than using the default "My to-do" feature in the left nav bar. A bonus with this is creating a "Done" tab so team members can track what they've completed in the last 30 days to use the info as talking points with their managers to celebrate wins and share learnings.

Maya Angelou's quote, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," emphasizes the lasting impact of emotions in human interactions.

I enjoy reading all of these tips! What a great idea!

My tip is have a list of daily to do's then a list of longer strategic items. This will allow you to see your success daily and from a higher level.

Using Wrike's import function streamlines the process of adding bulk tasks that aren't part of a blueprint. Once your Excel spreadsheet is properly set up and formatted, importing is straightforward. Save even more time by creating and modifying import templates for future use.

For creative teams, I really love this feedback approach style: https://i-am-brennan.medium.com/the-10-50-99-approach-to-feedback-e32157865c50 

We've implemented this at our work and its saved time and egos. 

TL;DR 

Only give feedback on where its at in the procees

10% done — Basically not done at all

50% done — Where the core components are coming together

99% done — Where we are double checking spelling, grammar, etc.

COMMIT!
It takes real strength (and yes, it's tough) to fully commit to something you truly want to achieve—whether it's a big goal or a small habit. But that commitment is where change begins.

Here are a couple of personal examples:
✅ One I’m succeeding at – Drinking more water daily and taking time to stretch and massage my muscles throughout the day.
❌ One I’m still working on – Getting better at remembering people’s names.

What’s one thing you’re ready to commit to?

Someone once told me life, and especially your professional life, is a marathon not a sprint, so treat it as such.

Work: Under promise, overdeliver 

Life: Remember when you wanted everything that you have right now  

Personal Tip: Always choose kindness—you never know what someone might be facing behind closed doors. This is a lesson I often share with my children, especially when they come to me upset about a friend who seems distant or unkind. I remind them that everyone has difficult days, and sometimes a little grace is all they need. It’s okay to take a step back, but we should always lead with kindness, understanding that their bad day might have a reason we can’t see.. 

General advice: Never be afraid to over-achieve. Just because something is not in your "job description" or "above your pay-grade" does not mean it is outside of your wheel house. Strive for greatness in all you do.