PRODUCTIVITY TIPS THAT WILL HAVE YOU WORKING SMARTER, NOT HARDER
One of the key factors that sets successful people apart from the rest is the ability to work smarter, not harder. This means not just being busy, but being productive. Sure, you can run around doing a million things throughout the day, but if you’re still finding that you’re not achieving everything you set out to do or you’re simply exhausted at the end of every day, then it may be time to rethink your way of working.
Being productive means utilising your time and energy in a way that is efficient and effective so that you don’t have to burn the candle at both ends just to see results. If you’re one of those people who is always insanely busy yet still has problems focusing and actually getting things done, these tips and tricks can help you up your productivity to seriously boost your business.
1. MAKE AN ACTIONABLE TO-DO LIST AND STICK TO IT
The first thing any productivity expert will tell you is to make a to-do list for the day to organize your priorities. Sure, this is a great idea, but how many times have you created a to-do list and not even crossed off half the things on the list? The key to an effective to-do list is to create one list just for work (no groceries, bills to pay, etc.) with your top work priorities and actionable steps that you will take to get those tasks done.
For example, instead of simply penciling in ‘social media’, you may want to write ‘plan Facebook posts for the week’ or ‘promote latest post on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest’. If you have an ecommerce site you may want to pencil in ‘add 10 new products to the online shop’ rather than just ‘products’. It’s all about sharpening your focus and outlining exactly what you need to do so you don’t get sidetracked.
Top Tip: Keep your to-do list handy while you’re working to keep you on track and motivated. It’s also a good idea to allot specific time slots to each task, which leads us to our next tip…
2. USE TIME BLOCKING TO DIVIDE UP YOUR WORKLOAD
Time blocking is the process of allocating chunks of time to certain projects. This helps you to focus on what is important, stay on track and avoid distractions and procrastination. One really great tool that allows you to divide your work into time blocks is Google Calendar, as they have a great layout that divides each day up by the hour, and you can use it on any device anywhere you go.
When using time blocking it is important to be realistic about how much time it will take you to do each task. Don’t try to be a superhero, because you’ll probably only get discouraged when you don’t meet your deadlines. Planning certain tasks ahead of time is also key. For example, you may want to use an hour or two every Friday to schedule your social media for the week ahead.
Top Tip: Schedule email time. It’s so easy to get caught up responding to and sending emails at all times of the day that it seems never ending, we know! Block a specific time every day to deal with emails and only look at your inbox during that time. This will free up the rest of your day for more important tasks and prevent you from getting distracted every time a new message comes in.
3. ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS
Take a look at your workstation right now and just make a mental note of all the potential distractions that are sitting there just begging you to procrastinate. Not so many you say? What about all those books that you keep meaning to read, bills that need to be paid, and that TV running in the background? And let’s not even get into all the tabs open on your computer or your ever-present Smartphone, which probably never stops ringing, tinging or lighting up.
The first step to eliminating distractions is clearing your desk (we need to tidy ours!), as a clearer workspace will help you clear your mind as well. Then it’s on to the major time-wasters: social media and email. Yes, you need email to communicate and social media to help market your brand, but you don’t need to be on them all the time. Try committing to a few hours a day where you are completely logged off email and social media. We promise you’ll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish without tweets, posts and pics flooding in.
Top Tip: If you’re still having trouble cutting out the chatter, try using a time management app like RescueTime. This handy tool tracks how much time you spend (or waste) on various sites and it can even block distracting websites for set periods of time.
4. OUTSOURCE THE SMALL STUFF
Most entrepreneurs can’t afford to hire a whole team, especially if you’re just starting out. However, when it comes down to it, time is money. How much time are you spending on little things that could be better spent on money-making endeavours? It might actually save you money to pay someone else to do the small time-consuming tasks so that you can focus on the important stuff.
Sit down and really review your business and what you are working on. For most Makers, the best use of your time is in your studio being just that, creative. Pinpoint the tasks you can get help with and then find a freelancer to outsource those tasks to. This could be anything from logo design to marketing, copywriting and even grocery shopping. If you’re lucky enough to have an intern or somebody working for you, delegate some tasks to them to free up your workload.
Top Tip: These are some great sites where you can find qualified people to outsource to: Upwork, Fivrr, and Guru for web development and design, graphic design, marketing, writing and research, Constant Content for writing, and Zirtual and MyTasker for virtual assistants.
5. AUTOMATE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
One of the keys to building a loyal following to your website or brand is to publish new content regularly and to promote your business, products or content on a consistent basis via your social media networks. For creative people this can take up a huge chunk of time that might be better spent actually creating. The good news is that there are a number of ways you can automate your processes and procedures to save you tons of time.
One way to streamline things is to spend some time creating a number of blog and social media posts in advance and then schedule them to be published at later dates. If you use a WordPress blog, you can choose what date and time you want your blog posts to go live right in the ‘publish’ box. There are also many tools you can use to integrate your social media networks, post across many platforms at once, and schedule posts for future dates and times.
Top Tip: Some of our favourite automation tools include Hootsuite, Buffer and Sprout Social.
6. MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF
With so much going on it can be easy to forget the most important element of your work, and that is YOU and your family! It’s a proven fact that when you are healthy, happy and relaxed, it’s easier to focus and get more done. If you find yourself getting seriously burnt out or stressed to the max, that’s a good indicator that you need to take a step back from your work and concentrate on you.
Just like you schedule in time for work tasks, you should also schedule in time for friends, family and solo activities, because at the end of the day it’s all about the life-work balance. After all, what good is having a successful business if you have to sacrifice your health, social life and sanity to get there?
Top Tip: Take at least one day off a week where you do absolutely nothing related to work. Trust us—the world is not going to end if you don’t respond to work emails, check your social media stats, or work on that all-consuming project. After just one day away you will probably find that you have a much clearer vision of how to go ahead and way more energy to tackle anything that comes your way
