Get It Done

Six Hints to Becoming More Productive 

Are you juggling so many things that sometimes you become the busy fool going around in circles achieving very little, rather than prioritising, taking one thing at a time, and most importantly, taking the action to get it done?

Well, trust me you’re not alone… I think 99% of people reading this would have felt this way at some point in their life.  I’ve been guilty of this so many times in both my business and life, (especially when COVID hit earlier this year) but sometimes you gotta say enough and just Get into Action and Get It Done.

After all, we all get the same 24 hours in a day, but the question is; Have you made specific choices (and plans!), that allows you to make the most of every day?

Here are my top six hints to becoming more productive and achieving more…

1. The to-do list. Now I’m not a huge fan of being a slave to the to-do list as sometimes they can have more of a negative effect on your mindset but they have a place and are vital for reducing overwhelm, getting clear, and effectively prioritising all you have to achieve so you can get stuff done. So, in this first step, you gotta get what’s in your head/on your mind, (or on that post-it note on the fridge) into a succinct list of tasks to be done. Otherwise, you’ll just drive yourself crazy (I know…I’ve driven myself crazy many a day until I did this step).
   Your task, at the beginning of each quarter, week, or day (I prefer to do 90-day plans then break them down into monthly, weekly and daily tasks), write on a sheet of paper what you want/need to get done and by when. List tasks according to importance or urgency to plan your day/week and focus your mind.
2. Go for Efficiency. If you know that you repeatedly do the same activity each day that takes up a lot of your time, try and lump it together and deal with it all in one go. We are far more productive when we get into a rhythm with tasks, instead of having to stop-and-go all the time. This goes for trying to figure out how to spend time with friends, family, work, play, etc. Stop trying to balance time between them all, just find ways to enjoy them in a combined manner. For example, if you know you’re taking your kids to the park, invite your family or friends to come along so you’re combining the outing with a catch-up.
3. Review your workload regularly. Is there one task that always ends up at the bottom of the pile? If you find you’re avoiding it, can somebody else do it? Consider delegating whole projects that you don’t need to be involved in or allocate a specific time when you only do your admin, for example. I had to do this recently myself.  While I know how to optimise my website with SEO, I was putting the research off. It always ended up at the bottom of my to-do list so I decided to outsource it so it would get done.
4. Set realistic deadlines for your tasks. Look at your to-do list and estimate the time each task needs to be completed but don’t be overoptimistic. Be honest with what you can achieve in a working day or week so that you don’t feel overwhelmed from the start.
5. Allow time for interruptions. If you need to finish a certain task at a certain time, only deal with urgent queries during this time so you can quickly pick up again where you left off. Resist the temptation to be taken off track by an email or social media notification, just because your phone pings it doesn’t mean you have to respond. Stay focus even for a 90-minute block at a time and you’ll be surprised what you get done.
6. Don’t let your inbox drive your workload. If you get 50 emails per day, this means 50 interruptions to your day. Don’t check your inbox every time a message arrives. Switch off instant alerts if necessary and allocate a time when you will check your inbox. Even have an outgoing message advising people when you check and respond to emails, if it’s urgent they can call you.

I firmly believe there is enough time in a day to do anything we desire it simply comes down to prioritisation. So if a task doesn’t get done or you find you have no time for it, it just means you’ve prioritised doing something else instead…a little extra tip for you to keep in mind. Just be sure what you do prioritise is leading you to the big rock successes.

Thank you as always for reading. 

Here’s to your success!

P.S. If you’d like to be way more productive in your business and discover where your focus should be to achieve your next level of growth then take my free quiz here.