Between 2008 and 2011, global pop phenomenon Lady Gaga has created an impressive empire - three bestselling albums, nearly a dozen hit singles, and two of the highest-grossing tours of the past couple of years. On top of that, she's created a line of headphones for the popular Beats brand, is a creative director at Polaroid, a spokesperson for MAC's Viva Glam line, performs advocacy work, and more. And regardless of the length of her task list, she does it all while refusing to wear pants!

You don't have to be a fan be impressed by the sheer amount of output this young woman has achieved. How does Lady Gaga get through this seemingly endless task list, what are some of her productivity secrets, and how can you apply them to your everyday work and life?

Motivation. In any given interview, Lady Gaga always says that she has relentless drive to create. Without a driving force, it can be hard for anyone to stay productive and in action. To feel purposeful, busy people need a reason to do the things we do - for her, it's her fans and a dedication to her craft. For you, it may be a love for the work you do or the desire to stay on top of your projects. Reminding ourselves why we do what we do is essential to keeping us energized and on track, no matter the length of our task list. Make a practice to remind yourself what your own motivation is and your productivity will get a regular boost.

Delegation. Although she's know for her "interesting" sense of fashion, it's not actually Lady Gaga herself who creates much of her clothing - her multi-person Haus of Gaga is the creative force behind many of her famous (and infamous) fashions and hairstyles. It would be impossible, regardless of her motivation, for Lady Gaga to get through her certainly voluminous task lists herself. If you're a busy professional with too many tasks on your task list, you can't possibly accomplish them all - no matter how many time management tips you read. One key productivity and time management technique is learning how to effectively delegate so you can offload items from your task list. When you delegate tasks, you can still be in control of your output, but you personally let go of doing each and every task yourself.

Tools. Regardless of our time management techniques or skills, we all need the right frameworks and tools to stay productive. One of the ways that Lady Gaga was able to record her latest album while simultaneously touring the world was she had a custom bus created that housed an entire recording studio. This bus would drive behind her main tour bus, and after each show ended, she'd board the recording bus and create songs for several hours each night. Of course, you probably don't need a custom bus following you around, but for whatever task or project you're trying to accomplish, make sure you have all the tools you need close at hand, and you're likely to get more done.

Quality of work. In a recent interview, "Now that you have everybody watching, Gaga, you'd better be f***ing great." Especially for business owners, the quality of the work we produce can be a big determining factor in the success of our projects. In my work with clients, I've noticed that busy people tend to get more done when they always keep a close eye on not just the quantity of the work they produce, but also the quality. In our rush to get through our task lists, it can be easy to focus on either getting things done perfectly, or just scraping by. Now, unless you're a global celebrity and have all eyes on you, shooting for perfection probably isn't a needed goal. Rather, create benchmarks for what a great experience - for you or a client - would be, and work towards that.

Clearly, Lady Gaga's career success has depended in large part on her organizational skills and time management. What lessons can you adopt to help you get through your task lists so you can complete your projects?

As someone whose previous career was in the design industry, I know how much of a challenge it can be for busy, creative people to get and stay organized. When you’re faced with meeting client deadlines and marketing yourself to find your next gig, it can seem like getting organized is just “one more thing” on the ever-growing to-do list. But taking the time to get organized can help you – and your business – in a variety of ways:

Recognize the benefits of getting organized. When I work with creative professionals of any stripe, one of the concerns they raise is that getting organized could stifle their creativity. In fact, what I’ve seen with my clients is that getting organized can enhance creativity by letting you focus on what’s important to you – rather than the details of “where’s that important client file” or “under which pile of stuff is my extra printer ink.” Getting organized takes a little time and focus up front, but can save you lots of time and stress down the road.

Set aside time to organize. I know you’re busy with design projects for your clients, but remember, taking care of the administrative end of your business, including managing paperwork, billing, and email, is critical to the success of any endeavor. Unfortunately, your admin and organizing-related work won’t do itself, so schedule time to work on your organizing projects. Once they’re completed, build a regular appointment with yourself into your calendar to maintain your systems. One rule of thumb – it takes about 15-30 minutes each day to deal with that day’s worth of new paper. Make sure you have enough time set aside to process your paper – especially client billing!

Get creative with your organizing tools. When I’m working with designers and other creative folks, I frequently hear this refrain: “but the organizing tools are so ugly!” Unfortunately, it’s mostly true – many of the containers and other organizing gizmos out there are pretty bare-bones and focus on functionality over form. That said, there are ways to make sure that your organizing tools match your aesthetic sense. One technique I like to use is to get clear containers, and then line them with decorative paper from a high-end paper store. By doing this, you can completely customize the look of your storage, rather than trying to find an off-the shelf solution that fits. Look for organizing tools that you can customize in various ways – either by decorating, painting, or using in new and unexpected ways.

Give things a home. One of the most important concepts when you’re organizing is to recognize when your supplies, files, and other stuff don’t have assigned homes, they simply can’t be put away – they have no homes to go back to, and they become clutter (or “homeless stuff,” as I like to think of them). Make sure to take the time to assign homes for each of the things that are around your design studio or office. That way, when it’s time to find things, it’s easy to do so – and it’s equally easy to put things away when you’re done with them.

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Joshua Zerkel, CPO® is a the founder of Custom Living Solutions, a San Francisco-based productivity and organizing consulting firm, specializing in helping busy people save time, space and money by getting organized at home and at work. For more FREE organizing ideas, visit www.customlivingsolutions.com or call 415-830-6345.

© 2009 Joshua Zerkel and Custom Living Solutions. All Rights Reserved.