You will often hear “don’t sweat the small stuff”. When it’s about getting things done, small is the way to go! So, let’s look at nine, simple methods you can implement to be more productive.
1. Notifications Are Not Your Friend
Notifications. The biggest ‘time thief, of all.
How many times have you found yourself distracted by the ‘ping’ from Facebook, Instagram, WhatApp or email?
Notifications stop you from being more productive by interrupting your thought process and concentration. And, importantly, it will take you at least 15-miuntes to get your brain back to where it was before the interruption.
The worst impact is when you get distracted by a post or an email and, somehow, emerge 20-minutes or a half-hour later with no understanding of where the time has gone.
There is a very simple solution.
Turn them off!
I turned the sound off on my phone three years ago. I have had no distracting sounds and in that time and I haven’t missed out on anything important or lost business.
It may not be the solution for everyone; you may have children or other caring responsibilities, which mean you can’t do a blanket ‘switch off’. However, you can switch off when you need to get your head down and concentrate.
2. Do a Time and Motion Study
What do you REALLY do every day?
When it comes to assessing what we do each day and how much we have achieved. we are our own worst enemy.
We ‘think’ we have been working really hard, concentrating, getting on with things but …
Do a time and motion study.
For the next two weeks – with no edits or judgements made – note down what you are doing in 15-minute intervals. At the end of the two weeks, take a look.
How did you spend your time?
- Did that five-minute task actually take 30-minutes?
- How much time did you spend searching for files and documents you ‘know’ are somewhere, but you’re not sure where (more later)
- How often did you get side-tracked by a WhatsApp or Messenger massage?
- Did you spend far too much time creating social media content because you’re really not sure what you should be saying / doing?
This process will provide clarity. It will show you exactly what you do with your time, what you ‘time thieves’ are and, probably, highlight the things you should be outsourcing!
Once you know exactly how much time tasks really take, and how much time you really have, you can create a much more realistic To-Do list.
More below.
3. Have a Daily, ACHIEVEABLE To-Do List
Following on from getting to grips with how we really spend our time, comes the need to use that knowledge to our best advantage.
What do I mean by that?
Don’t be over ambitious
Once you have completed your Time and Motion study you will have a much clearer picture of how much time things really take to achieve. You should also have learned to break tasks down into smaller, bit-sized, achievable chunks.
Plan for want needs to be done and put it in your diary
Not a To-Do list; a diary. Preferably a diary that has sections broken down hour by hour. If your one doesn’t, write them in. This way you will see how the tasks you have to complete each day will actually fit in and around other commitments.
For example, if I know Friday is all about writing and publishing my blog and preparing my weekly email for the following week, these would be the tasks:
- Write the content
- Create a SEO-friendly title
- Assign a keyword / key-phrase
- Find an image
- Write the metadata
- Proof read
- Publish
- Prepare and schedule the weekly email
But Friday isn’t just about blog writing, that’s just one task. I also have my one-to-one business coaching and mentoring sessions with my clients.
So, my diary will look something like this:
- 08.30 – 09.00 : Deal with email inbox
- 09.00 – 09.45 : Rough draft blog content including keyword / keyphrase, headings and main content ideas
- 09.45 – 10.00 : Prep for client (tea)
- 10.00 – 11.00 : Client session
- 11.00 – 11.15 : Notes from client session (tea)
- 11.15 – 11.45 : Tidy up rough draft into first draft
- 11.45 – 12.00 : Prep for client (tea)
- 12.00 – 13.00 : Client session
- 13.00 – 13.15 : Notes from client session
- 13.15 – 13.45 : Lunch
- 13.45 – 15.00 Prep for client session (tea)
- 14.00 – 15.00 : Client Session
- 15.00 – 15.15 : Notes from client session (tea)
- 15.15 – 15.30 : Source blog image
- 15.30 – 15.45 : Write the blog metadata
- 15.45 – 16.00 : Create the SEO-friendly blog title (tea)
- 16.00 – 16.30 : Final draft, proof read and publish
- 16.00 – 17.00 : Create my weekly email and schedule
- 17.00 – 17.30 : Plan my diary for following week (tea)
- 17.30 – 18.00 : Deal with email inbox
I would not get this clarity from a To-Do list!
Yes, and my day would include all those cups of tea (herbal, of course). Why? They keep my hydrated (along with a litre of water each day too) and they aid my concentration.
Final point. Look at the last item on my planner and remember this mantra
“Today ain’t over ‘til tomorrow is planned”
4. Work from a Tidy Desk
Tidy desk; tidy mind
If you can’t see you desk for clutter, that’s how you will approach your day and you will always be on the back foot. Keep you desk clean and clear and you will be able to concentrate more.
Have a space for filing papers and notebooks away. Don’t leave things on the desk overnight.
You may think you will come back to the task the following day and just pick up from where you left off; you won’t.
Clearing things away and then brining them back out the following day will allow you to do a mental review of what you achieved the previous day and allow for inspiration to start the next day.
Haven’t got a desk?
I know some business owners don’t have the luxury of a dedicated office space or a specific work-space. Many have to use the kitchen table or even a laptop on their knees!
If you haven’t got a specific space, get yourself a storage box. When you complete a task – or finish work for the day – put everything into your box.
Yes unpacking may take 10-minutes out of the beginning of the following day, but it will allow you to ‘leave work’. And, as I said previously, it will kickstart ideas, innovation and creativity.
5. Have a Filing System
We’ve all been guilty of it.
In a rush, a quick tap of the ‘Save’ button and that incorrectly, or un-named document, image, PowerPoint presentation etc is either assigned to your desktop, or into a random folder.
- Never to be found again?
- Maybe found after hours of searching?
- Time spent recreating it because it is ‘lost’?
Remember, the desktop of your computer is not a filing cabinet (in fact, storing things on your desktop can really slow down the efficiency of whatever machine you are using)
Take time to create a filing system for yourself and, if I can persuade you (but it may be a step too far) a file naming system.
Not your thing? Then why not pay a Virtual Assistant for a couple of hours of work to put this in place for you? For less than £100 you could be saving yourself hours of wasted, unproductive time.
Final point here. Use cloud storage.
There are so many options – Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, iCloud.
Many give you an amount of storage for free and then a pretty low-cost option for lots more storage. This mean you can find your files on any device you use and …
If your computer is lost, stolen or damaged you will not have lost all your precious materials.
6. Deal With Emails
How many emails do you have in your inbox right at this moment? What is the earliest date you have an email in your inbox? More then a week? A month? Maybe a year?
When did an email Inbox become a place to store information? NEVER!
Email is about communication. It is a place to take action. Emails should be dealt with and then deleted.
Worried about not finding that email from that person some time in the future? Use a CRM
Got some important information you don’t wat to lose? Copy and paste it into a document, name the file and pop it into a folder (using the system you created under #6 😀)
Your email inbox is not a filing system. Create time in your diary for dealing with email, do it then delete it.
You have a message to respond to that needs a bit more thought? Fine. Tag it for a day and time you will do just that. And do it
Oh, and as for dealing and deleting. Don’t forget to do some regular housekeeping on your Deleted folder and Sent folder too. Don’t let them get clogged up.
7. One Diary, One Life
One of the easiest ways to get in your own way is to have a separate business-life and life-life diary.
It is so easy to overlook things, double-book and make you life overly complicated.
So, one diary, one life.
Use it to block out everything from family birthdays, vet appointments for pets or car servicing as well as client meetings, social media posting or networking.
Oh, and one final point about diaries and appointments.
If there is travel involved between one appointment and another, please block out travel time. I have lost count of the number of my clients who have overestimated the time they have for tasks by not taking into account it will hake them half an hour to get to (and half an hour to return from) a networking meeting.
8. Learn to Say ‘NO’
Freedom and relief.
That’s what I felt the first time I said ‘no’.
Up until that point I felt I had to be all things to all people; always available, friendly, smiling. Bend over backwards to get things done.
Often at the expense of my own time, comfort and family.
The first time I said ‘no’ to a perspective client I worried I would never get another client again. But I did.
I said ‘no’ because I knew I didn’t have the time to dedicate to them in the way I do with my clients. That’s why I only work with a maximum of 10 people, one-to-one, at a time.
Interestingly, the person didn’t resent it. They understood. Oh, and by the way, I did work with them eventually.
I also said ‘no’ to doing some charity work. Does that sound harsh?
I’m one of the first people to give my time away for free, but I do have to impose limits. Honestly, I could spend 50-hours a week on pro-bono activity. So much so that, a few years ago, I set myself a limit to the number of days / hours per month I could afford (yes, it did come down how much income I could afford to do without).
So, don’t be afraid to put your, your family and your wellbeing first. Just say ‘no’!
9. Get Yourself Some Accountability
So, who keeps you on track? Just you?
How’s that going?
With all the will in the world, without someone in your corner to keep you accountable, you will probably fall back into old ways pretty soon.
So, get yourself someone who will keep you accountable.
It’s a good idea to make sure that person is running (or has run) a business in the past. A good friend may be supportive shoulder to cry on, but if they don’t understand the pressure of having a life and running a business all they will be able to do is sympathise.
What you need is empathy.
If you want to know how I will keep you accountable and help you get the business you want, book a call
What’s Next?
Well, as i just said, why not book a call.
Alternatively, if you fancy discovering new productivity methods and meeting other business people, you can join my Facebook group, The JFDI Club – just click here.
I look forward to saying ‘welcome’.