Personal Productivity Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Managers, Project professionals and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PE-044

Before you join: Participants should have at least six months of professional experience managing email, meetings, deadlines and competing requests.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

High workloads rarely result from a lack of effort alone. Professionals lose time when requests remain in email and chat, projects lack clear next actions, calendars are overfilled, and urgent interruptions repeatedly displace important work. The result is missed follow-ups, late decisions, unreliable commitments and unnecessary pressure. A disciplined personal workflow gives people a practical way to see all commitments, decide what each item requires and complete work with fewer last-minute escalations.

This course teaches a structured workflow based on collecting, clarifying, organising, reviewing and executing work. Participants examine their current workload, establish trusted capture points, convert vague requests into defined actions, organise projects and waiting items, and use calendars and task lists for distinct purposes. They apply the Eisenhower Matrix, Kanban visual management, time blocking, weekly review routines, delegation controls and focus techniques. The course also addresses email, chat, meetings, interruptions, capacity limits and the communication required when priorities conflict.

Instructor-led sessions combine short briefings with realistic cases involving competing deadlines, approval bottlenecks, client requests and cross-team dependencies. Group work, simulations and individual application planning allow participants to test methods against their own roles. Each participant leaves with a personal workflow map, a prioritisation model, calendar and review routines, and a 30-day implementation plan that can be used immediately at work.

The course suits professionals who manage a substantial volume of commitments, information and stakeholder requests. It is particularly useful for managers, project staff, specialists, coordinators and client-facing employees whose results depend on dependable follow-through.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose workload patterns using a commitment inventory and throughput constraints analysis
  • Capture requests and commitments through defined collection points and intake rules
  • Clarify incoming items into outcomes, next actions, delegated work or reference material
  • Organise projects, next actions, waiting items and recurring tasks in a trusted system
  • Prioritise competing demands using the Eisenhower Matrix, impact-effort assessment and capacity limits
  • Schedule focused work using time blocking, buffers, backward planning and daily commitments
  • Conduct daily and weekly reviews that maintain accurate task lists and calendars
  • Produce a 30-day personal productivity implementation plan with measures and review dates

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Reduces forgotten commitments through a defined capture and review routine
  • Creates protected time for important work requiring sustained concentration
  • Improves confidence when accepting, delegating or renegotiating requests
  • Makes project progress visible through clear next actions and waiting-item controls
  • Establishes a repeatable weekly routine for maintaining workload control

For your organisation

  • Improves follow-through on decisions, approvals and stakeholder commitments
  • Reduces avoidable deadline slippage caused by unclear ownership and hidden dependencies
  • Increases productive focus time by reducing unnecessary interruption and task switching
  • Strengthens communication of priorities, capacity constraints and delivery dates
  • Creates more dependable individual work practices across teams and functions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify the commitments, constraints and work patterns affecting their personal throughput.

  • Workload inventory distinguishing commitments, projects, routines, waiting items and reference material
  • Attention residue, context switching and decision fatigue as throughput constraints
  • Personal operating principles translated into explicit availability and response boundaries
  • Value, urgency and consequences separated before choosing work priorities
  • Commitment audit identifies unowned requests, vague outcomes and hidden dependencies
  • Baseline measures for backlog size, response time and weekly planning

Participants can establish reliable capture points for incoming requests, ideas and commitments.

  • GTD collection points for paper, email, chat, meetings and mobile notes
  • Ubiquitous capture habits that prevent mental tracking and forgotten requests
  • Meeting notes converted into decisions, actions, owners and due dates
  • Email inbox zero principles without confusing deletion with completed processing
  • Single trusted system criteria for work and personal commitments
  • Capture triggers designed for interruptions, travel and recurring handoffs

Participants can process incoming items into clear actions, projects, delegated work and reference material.

  • Clarify each item by identifying its intended outcome and next action
  • Two-minute rule applied without using quick tasks to avoid important work
  • Actionable items routed to calendar, next-action list, delegation or waiting-for
  • Reference material, someday-maybe items and trash separated during processing
  • Delegation requests written with deliverable, authority, deadline and check-in date
  • Ambiguous requests converted into observable completion criteria before acceptance

Participants can structure projects, actions and follow-ups for reliable execution and retrieval.

  • Project outcomes defined as completed states rather than activity labels
  • Next-action lists grouped by context, energy requirement and available time
  • Kanban boards visualise work-in-progress limits, blocked items and handoffs
  • Waiting-for lists record counterpart, expected date and follow-up trigger
  • Reference filing uses retrieval rules, naming conventions and retention decisions
  • Recurring tasks structured through checklists, templates and calendar triggers

Participants can make and communicate priority decisions using value, urgency, effort and capacity criteria.

  • Eisenhower Matrix distinguishes importance from urgency when demands conflict
  • Impact-effort assessment compares candidate actions before committing scarce attention
  • Weekly outcomes linked to team goals, deadlines and stakeholder commitments
  • Time estimates calibrated using task history, uncertainty and transition costs
  • Opportunity cost made explicit when accepting new work or meetings
  • Priority decisions communicated with rationale, trade-offs and revised delivery dates

Participants can use calendars to protect focused work, plan deadlines and manage available capacity.

  • Time blocking reserves protected capacity for priority work and recovery
  • Calendar entries distinguish appointments, deadlines, focus blocks and reminders
  • Backward planning maps milestones, dependencies and preparation from fixed dates
  • Buffers absorb uncertainty, handoffs and travel without displacing critical commitments
  • Meeting agendas, decision rights and close-out actions reduce calendar load
  • Daily planning selects realistic commitments from current capacity and constraints

Participants can protect concentration and complete priority work despite predictable interruptions.

  • Pomodoro Technique structures focused intervals, breaks and interruption recovery
  • Implementation intentions specify cue, behaviour and location for difficult tasks
  • Distraction controls manage notifications, open tabs, devices and office interruptions
  • Batching rules reduce switching across email, approvals and routine administration
  • Energy mapping matches analytical, relational and administrative work to peak periods
  • Start rituals and shutdown routines protect continuity between work sessions

Participants can maintain an accurate personal workflow through daily, weekly and project reviews.

  • Daily review clears capture points, confirms calendars and updates next actions
  • Weekly Review reconciles projects, waiting-for items, priorities and calendar commitments
  • Project reviews test outcome relevance, stalled actions and dependency risks
  • Metrics track overdue actions, backlog ageing, completion rate and unplanned work
  • System failures diagnosed through root-cause questions rather than tool replacement
  • Review cadence adjusted for role volatility, deadlines and team coordination

Participants can control communication channels without losing accountability or responsiveness.

  • Email triage applies decision rules for action, delegation, reference and deletion
  • Subject lines and first sentences state purpose, action and deadline
  • Chat channels managed through response windows, mentions and escalation rules
  • Meeting requests screened against objective, attendees, preparation and decision authority
  • Shared task boards establish owners, due dates, status and handoff notes
  • Status updates report progress, blockers, decisions needed and next commitments

Participants can create a practical implementation plan for applying the workflow in their role.

  • Personal workflow map connects capture, clarification, organisation, review and execution
  • Current backlog processed into projects, next actions, waiting-for and calendar items
  • Workload risks assessed through capacity, dependencies, deadlines and stakeholder expectations
  • Boundary scripts prepared for renegotiating scope, deadlines and meeting requests
  • Thirty-day implementation plan sets habits, measures, review dates and support
  • Peer accountability arrangements specify check-ins, evidence and adjustment decisions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Personal workflow map
  2. Commitment inventory template
  3. Eisenhower Matrix prioritisation worksheet
  4. Time-blocking calendar template
  5. Weekly Review checklist
  6. 30-day productivity implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Managers — need reliable control of competing commitments, decisions and follow-ups
  • Project professionals — must coordinate actions, dependencies and deadlines across multiple workstreams
  • Executive assistants — manage high-volume requests, calendars and stakeholder communications
  • Team leaders — need clear priorities and dependable personal follow-through
  • Specialists and analysts — require protected focus time for complex individual work
  • Client-facing professionals — must respond consistently while balancing delivery commitments

Skills and tools covered

Workflow designPriority managementCalendar controlFocus managementEmail triageWeekly review

Tools and standards

Getting Things Done workflow, Eisenhower Matrix, Kanban, Pomodoro Technique

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each workflow component, followed by cases involving overloaded inboxes, competing deadlines, meeting requests and stalled handoffs. Participants work in groups to diagnose workload problems, make priority decisions and design practical controls. Simulations examine email triage, delegation, calendar decisions and review routines. Individual application planning translates the methods into each participant’s own role, tools, work patterns and immediate commitments.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least six months of professional experience managing email, meetings, deadlines and competing requests. They should be able to describe their current task-management approach and bring examples of typical work commitments. No prior productivity course, formal project-management qualification, specialist software or advanced digital skills are required. The course works with paper, spreadsheets, calendars and common collaboration platforms; participants select tools appropriate to their employer’s policies.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience managing normal professional workloads, including email, meetings, deadlines and requests from others. No previous productivity training, project-management qualification or specialist software knowledge is required.

Bring a laptop or device you normally use for email, calendars and task management, if permitted by your employer. You should also bring examples of current commitments, recurring work and common sources of interruption.

It is designed for professionals who manage many commitments and need greater control over priorities, follow-ups and focused work. Managers, project staff, assistants, specialists and client-facing employees will find the methods directly relevant.

This course focuses on the individual workflow used to handle daily requests, projects, calendars, email and review routines. It complements project-management training by improving how an individual captures, prioritises and completes their own assigned work.

Participants build a workflow around their existing calendar, email, task list and collaboration tools. They leave with named templates and a 30-day plan for introducing capture, prioritisation, review and focus practices.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from workload diagnosis and capture through prioritisation, focus, communication controls, review routines and personal application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.