Productivity is the secret to success, satisfaction in our work, and more free time. Yet most of us find that being productive incredibly difficult to achieve. This applies even more to business owners who have several people working underneath them and new projects happening all the time.
With this in mind, it’s amazing to think about all that has been accomplished by early businesses and brands with hundreds of employees before the internet and co-scheduling/meeting tools were in place.
At the same time, there are other business owners and project managers who are incredibly “productive” but who suffer from productive procrastination, in which they avoid doing the difficult tasks that matter by spending hours planning what they need to do or clearing out their inboxes. Are these tasks productive? Well, sort of. Yes, they are getting something done, but those tasks aren’t moving their companies forward.
If we want to be successful, healthy, and happy business owners with productive teams, we need to master the art of time management and productivity. Get started by following these seven productivity tips:
1. Eliminate mindless and tedious tasks from your daily routine
There are plenty of tasks we complete every day or week that we should not be doing. Some of these we do to procrastinate from work that’s hard; some of them we do because we genuinely enjoy them. Regardless of the reason we do them, it’s time to let them go.
Make a list of all the tasks you complete each week—from talking to clients to clearing out your email inbox—and ask yourself if a task can be eliminated or delegated, or if it truly furthers your business. If a task is important to your company, then it is still a task you should be doing (at least for now). If it is a task you shouldn’t be doing or can delegate, then it’s time to give it up. An assistant (virtual or otherwise) can be surprisingly affordable if you start with just a few hours a week and hire someone who is self-employed.
If you have employees, make sure you are scheduling them effectively. Are you doing admin work they could be doing for you? Are you spending hours trying to figure out whether you have enough staff and where you need more support? All of these tasks are time suckers, and can be easily managed with scheduling software and mobile applications focused on time tracking.
For small- and medium-sized businesses that have staff working different shifts throughout the week, this type of software can be a lifesaver so you can have more time to focus on what actually moves the needle for your business or pass off the responsibility to another member of staff.
RELATED: 8 Proven Time Management Tips From Top Business Execs
2. Plan your ideal day
Now that you know which activities you need to let go of or eliminate, you can reassess how your time is best spent. Depending on your schedule, plan your ideal day or week and schedule how you will spend your time.
For example, if you travel a lot, then plan your ideal day in the office. You aren’t planning your ideal day because you expect every day to be the same. Of course, you will need to be flexible within your plan, but if you establish a productive routine for your average day, you won’t be wasting time wondering what to do next or what to prioritize.
Also take the time to delegate and outsource tasks and projects to other team members or staff. Your job should be running the business and ensuring everything is being done correctly—not dealing with tedious tasks.
3. Find your perfect personal time management tool
There are many project and task management tools out there, so try out a few and then see which one suits you best and that you will actually use. It’s all too easy to spend an hour or two setting up a tool only to never use it again. So make sure you understand your own habits before you set up a new one, and don’t be afraid to try out a few.
However, don’t confuse the latest top time management tools and solutions with solutions of the past. Today many solutions take advantage of the latest advancements in technology which allow for built-in artificial intelligence, team access to schedules, and the ability to track and manage schedules from your mobile device. They also offer online access and connectivity with their own mobile applications. These features are something you will want to keep an eye out for when choosing a solution that’s best for you and your business.
Also, from a personal standpoint, don’t forget the benefit of writing down tasks on a to-do list. If you don’t like using digital tools, use a paper planner. You can then transfer your list over to your time management and scheduling solution to work on later.
4. Prioritize and value your time
As we touched upon earlier, look back at your ideal day or week and look at the time blocks you’ve created. You’ve likely blocked out an hour in the morning for admin tasks, an hour at the end of the day to get back to vital emails, and other blocks in between. However, just as important as scheduling your personal time is scheduling the time of your employees and team members. This is something every business owner needs to consider when trying to improve productivity across the board.
There are a variety of tasks that need to be completed each day, and each one has its own level of importance or priority. When you plan out your task list for the day or week, block out periods of time for getting your most vital tasks done. These are times that cannot be interrupted. Your staff and team members should be blocking out important time periods as well. The better we understand the importance of task management, the more we will get done.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting A Business
5. Focus on three primary tasks daily
Every day choose just three primary tasks to accomplish. These three tasks should be doable within the day and will help you progress toward achieving your goals. Why just three? How many times have you sat down and listed absolutely everything you need to do, and then ended up becoming overwhelmed and abandoning the list entirely? This is very common and is why it’s important to simply choose three core tasks each day to complete.
These are the tasks you should do first. If you complete these tasks, you can complete other tasks on your to-do list if you have time. But if you reach the end of the workday with your three important tasks completed, you can go home knowing you have been productive. The same holds true for your employees and team members. If they can complete at least three tasks per day, productivity will likely increase across the board.
A quick and simple application that will allow you to take notes and document your daily activities is Google Keep. It’s free to use, and since most of us are already using Google and Gmail, it’s a quick and easy way to take notes without needing to join or log into another platform. It’s also great because it offers a variety of tools for taking notes, including text, lists, images, and audio.
At the company level, you can also apply the “choose just three” rule to set goals for each quarter or even each year—just scale up the goal. If you make your goals and tasks specific (and don’t allow the list to get too long), you will achieve much more than you ever have before.
6. To be productive, be healthy and happy
If you want to be productive each and every day, you need to understand that you are a human being and not a robot. Highly successful entrepreneurs prioritize their mental and physical health by getting enough sleep, eating good food throughout the day, working out, managing their stress, and valuing their time with friends and family.
Schedule time for yourself, as well as your business. Many people try to be more productive so they can fit in more work into the same amount of time. But if you don’t give yourself time to relax and recoup, you’ll burn out, feel stressed all the time, and your relationships with your loved ones will be strained. You have to value your time outside the office, as well as in it, so use any boosts in productivity to leave your work at the office at the end of the day.
7. Be accountable and reward yourself for success
Finally, as the founder or owner of a company, it can be tough to find someone who will be tough on you about completing your own goals or tasks. However, most business owners often have a good work ethic, which is why they are where they are in the first place.
On the flip side, to increase productivity within the workplace, it’s recommended to have fellow employees and team members find a colleague who will be accountable for how they are spending their time. Not only will this help them with the process, but it also can lead to them feeling good when their three tasks are completed.
Lastly, one should also be aware of how to celebrate successes—no matter how big or small. When you complete your day’s tasks, do you find something else to fill your time or let yourself relax? When you achieve a big goal, do you celebrate it? If you never pause to appreciate your successes, you won’t feel like you are making progress or a sense of achievement, and it is this that keeps us motivated and productive day after day.
Business success—one step at a time
When it comes to running a successful business and brand, there is a whole lot that needs to happen behind the scenes outside of just income revenue and profits—many of which have been outlined in this article.
No matter how big or small your business might be, it’s important to make sure your time management and productivity is always on point. With such guidelines and best practices in place, there will be nothing you and your business team won’t be prepared for.
Take the time to run through each of these seven tips and be sure to implement them into your business and project management efforts today.
RELATED: The 6 Biggest Time Sucks for Entrepreneurs—And How to Avoid Them
The post 7 Productivity Tips for Extremely Busy Small Business Owners appeared first on AllBusiness.com
The post 7 Productivity Tips for Extremely Busy Small Business Owners appeared first on AllBusiness.com. Click for more information about Zac Johnson.
No comments:
Post a Comment