Productivity is defined by the effectiveness of productive effort measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.
Need to read this again?
Essentially, how much you can get done with the same input.
We are constantly interrupted by tools, notification, emails, social media – you name it. It’s nearly impossible to focus prioritizing tasks and being productive.
Do you feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day to finish everything? Have you started snapping at anyone who tries to interrupt your day yet?
It’s time to go back to a place of freedom, control and efficiency.
In this blog, you’ll learn time-saving tips that will make running your business a little easier.
So, are you ready to jump-start your productivity?
How Time Management & Productivity merge?
Productivity isn’t being able to multi-task and work on different projects all at the same time. And it is also not a matter of doing things faster.
The secret to productivity is being able to focus 100% of your attention on the most important task at any given time.
So before we figure out how to focus 100% on the mot important tasks, we need to learn how to manage our time and how to effectively break goals into smaller bites.
There are a few different reasons why it’s hard to get focused, so let’s briefly discuss them:
Priorities are not ranked
When we add items to our to-do list, we don’t take the time to rank their priority. We randomly add items to the end of the already long list without weighting its importance.
The truth is that only a handful of tasks are responsible for the majority of your results. Have you heard of the “Pareto Principle“?
The 80/20 principle states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. For instance, if 20% of your customers are driving 80% of your sales, you may want to focus on those customers and reward them for their loyalty.
The point here is that you should focus on the tasks with the biggest impact and not let “others” tasks get in the way.
How to solve this: Ask yourself the following questions:
- How important is this task to your big goals?
- What would happen if you didn’t do this task?
- What is the one thing on your list that will make everything else easier?
We are too distracted
Between text messages, email notification, Facebook messages, likes, follows, pings and more, we are constantly being interrupted and start moving from one incomplete task to another.
Trying to fully eliminate distractions is simply not possible but you can certainly minimize them using these recommendations:
- Turn off alerts & notifications – get rid of every single ping, ding, buzz and flash that could be a source of distraction. Don’t forget to turn off the ringer on your phone when you are working on a project.
- Stay away from all social media platforms – you need to be able to use your social media wisely without getting stuck in the rabbit hole
- Direct all messages to one place – create a short key code that allows you to automatically redirect the person to one specific email, eg. [email protected] (see template below)
- Remove unnecessary apps – remove any games or unnecessary apps that are eating away your attention
"Hi! Thank you for getting in touch. In the interest of keeping all my information in one place, this is an automatic reply to request that messages be sent directly to [email protected]"
Fear of missing out
Our inability to remain focused is linked to our desire to make sure we are keeping up with everything and everyone.
FOMO is the uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you’re missing out – that your peers are doing, or in possession of something better than you.
The problem is that everyone else is trying to find the answers too.
If you believe others have the answers, you won’t stick to your own path and build your own success story.
Stop paying attention to how others around you are doing. I know.. easier said than done…
But remember, when you are tuned in to others, you lose your authentic sense of self.
Believe it or not, if you are not feeling so great – whether you realize it or not – and turn to social media to make you feel better, it will actually make you feel worse.
Accept that some people will be ahead of you, but one day they were exactly where you are today.
Build your own path.
Time Management Strategies
Ok, now that we know what can hold us, let’s talk about how to apply time-saving strategies to our lives.
Time management can help you take back your time and bring more mindfulness into your daily routine. Instead of letting your to-do list dictate how you manage your time, you can use time management strategies to set priorities and stablish a focused goal.
One of the easiest ways to build your time management skills is to incorporate a tried-and-true strategy into your daily routine. However, not every time management strategy is effective for every person.
So let’s cover different strategies and tips that you can apply today in your business.
Unsubscribe from Email Newsletters
Unsubscribe from any newsletters that aren’t useful or worth the time it takes to read each each.
Pay attention to the difference between getting value and creating noise to your life.
You might be thinking that you are learning by reading lots of content but unless the information aligns with your goals, you are wasting precious time of your day.
Organize Tasks by Level of Priority
Sometimes you are so worried about working on the URGENT tasks that you forget to work on those that will make the biggest difference in your business.
As I mentioned before, we add a task to our to-do list because we believe it’s important. But how much will it impact your business?
Next to each tasks, try to estimate how much revenue those tasks will bring to your business and it will help you narrow down the ones you should be working on.
It does not mean you won’t do the smaller tasks, inevitably, you’ll have tasks that shift priority or a deadline, so having clarity on what needs to be done will help you prioritize what drives your business forward.
Avoid Meetings that Could be an Email
This one is simple, if you have ideas that need to be exchanged, have a meeting.
But if it’s just information, use email.
Time Blocking
I know, you’ve probably read this a million times, but you’d be surprised how many people still don’t follow this simple strategy.
Time blocking simply means sectioning your available time into blocks of time that are dedicated to specific tasks, or groups of tasks.
This strategy is best carried out by looking at your days or weeks in advance, identify what’s on your task like, and then assigning those tasks to the time you have available to get them done.
Here is what I want you to try:
- Create a list of what needs to be done during the week.
- Head over to your calendar and assign a specific time to those tasks. Go through your entire day blocking slots to get it done.
Why this works?
You need to learn how to use your time wisely in order to avoid spending too much time on tasks that should have taken 30 minutes to finish before your perfectionism get in the way.
Tip: Don’t go crazy and add 15 tasks a day with 30 min block each. Hit 3 to 4 BIG things you consider more important. If you finish early, than add more as time allows.
You have a choice in life. You can either live on-purpose, according to a plan you've set. Or you can live by accident, reacting to the demands of others.
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Eat the Frog
Tackle big and complex tasks first before working on your less important or less urgent work.
The idea is that if you start your day by tackling your hardest but most important tasks, you will have accomplished a lot.
Each morning we start our day filled with an X amount of self-discipline, and as we go about our day, this energy tends to drain out.
If you start your day with mundane tasks, you will waste your reserves and get to the end of the day feeling unaccomplished.
Once you’ve eaten your frog of the day, you can move on to the rest of your work.
Say No or Delegate
It is not always easy to say “no” to work but when you have clarity of what is priority it will make it easier for you to decline the “extra”.
Keep in mind that delegating doesn’t mean the task isn’t important, it simply means you do not have to add it to YOUR to-do list.
Delegating certain tasks to someone else will ensure the work is being done by the best person for that particular job.
Schedule and Batch Tasks
Batching is basically saving up tasks of the same type and scheduling time in your calendar to complete them all at the same time.
Working on tasks of the same type on a period of time will make you more productive and effective because repetition will shorten the time it takes you to get a task done.
Every time you switch between tasks, your brain has to adjust and find the relevant context for that new task and put it into action.
It can take up to 64 seconds for us to get back on track. Sure it doesn't sound like much, but if you are constantly going from one task to another, you are making your brain work overtime.
To avoid that productivity mistake, try grouping similar tasks and working in batches.
You can group tasks like writing, social media post content creation, brainstorming, paying bill, pitching, etc.
Contrary to what people believe, multi-tasking isn’t very efficient.
Templates for Everything
You should build templates for everything you do repetitively and similarly.
By putting in some work in advance, you can pull from the templates you’ve created, tweak appropriately and you’re done!
Think about the most common questions or requests you get from leads and customers. Create templates and the next time you need to reply, quickly personalize and send.
You think it may take only 60 seconds to reply to an email that you already know the answer, but multiply that by the number of times you actually write that same email in a year. I can guarantee you’d be terrified to learn how much time you are wasting.
Some people think that you can’t have personable emails when you’re creating them from a template, but you absolutely can.
All you have to do is add the person’s name and any other specific information to the body, and you’re done!
Create a contract for every single service you offer, set up a structure for your blog posts and save templates for all of your social media graphics, Pinterest, newsletter, or other content you often create.
Things get done so much faster when you don’t have to start from scratch every single time.
Talking about template, grab the one below and create an welcome email sequence for your next lead magnet.
The First Impression Counts
Make sure to welcome new leads with these email templates ready for your to copy, paste and personalize it!
Automate What You Can
Automating basically means to make a process consistent, turn-key and put it on auto-pilot when possible.
There is a lot you can automate nowadays without having to be a tech expert.
Automation is a big part of simplifying your life as an entrepreneur. The more tasks you can delegate to technology, the more time you have to take care of things that move the needle of your business and only you can do.
Take a look at my blog post on 4 Automated Systems to Scale Your Business.
I am dedicated to automating anything and everything. It might take a little bit of time and work to set it all up but once it’s done, you’ll no longer deal with those time-suckers tasks.
Figure out what activities you have to constantly perform and find the right tool that can make you life easier.
Final Thoughts
As you continue on your entrepreneur journey, you’ll find new strategies and ways of running your business that work for YOU and your processes will evolve.
While it’s very important to have organizational infrastructure in place, it is also important to take steps and adjust as you go.
In other words, it’s ok NOT to have it all figured out right away!
Building habits in your business is crucial for your long-term success.
These are just some practices you can implement that will make you work life much easier.
What I hope to inspire you today is by encouraging you to approach your business with a mindset of organization and efficiency.
It takes time and dedication to get where we want to be productivity-wise. Start slow and choose one or two things to start with and work down the list until you’re working smarter.
Which strategy are you going to choose to apply today?
Hi, I'm Bianca!
I’m a productivity specialist helping overworked and overwhelmed entrepreneurs ditch the long and repetitive to-do list by optimizing systems and simplifying the way they run their business. Learn how to get rid of steps or tasks that don’t contribute to your business bottom line.
Let's have some fun!
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