How to Super Turbo Charge Your Productivity!

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What’s the number one thing that holds most entrepreneurs back from truly being successful? Procrastination. And even those that don’t procrastinate may have bad habits that lead to poor productivity and a general waste of time.

Remember, if you’re not working on a tangible project that can lead to a profit, you’re not being productive. Reading a new marketing how-to guide, or spending three hours in your email box do not count as productive activities.

So, for every marketer, entrepreneur or home-based business owner out there with a habit of finding anything to do other than income-producing activities, here is a list of productivity boosting tips:

* Start Early and Plan Your Day

• Start waking up earlier and planning your day. If you are a night owl, that is fine too, but make sure you start your day comparatively early. For example, if you wake up at 10-11am every day, don’t start working at 9pm.
• Get your day started immediately when your brain is freshest and you have the most energy.
• Have a clear plan every morning for what you’ll do with your time. A good rule of thumb that I’ve always followed is to outline the tasks I absolutely need to get done – tack on a time frame for that, and then give myself three times as much time to get them done. This way, I ensure the necessary tasks are taken care of, and there is plenty of bonus time to work with.

* Schedule in Blocks of Time

• When possible, work in blocks of time at least 1 hour long.
• Work in places that are quiet and where you cannot be distracted or interrupted.
• Spend your block of time on ONE task
• Use blocks of time for households things as well, such as running errands.

* Do What You Need to Do Using The 50 Minute Rule

• Work 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break.
• Focus on a single task for the whole 50 minutes, and step away from the computer for the entire 10 minutes. It’s not only good for your brain, giving it the break it needs, but it’s good for your body, especially if you’re on the computer 10+ hours a day.

* Minimize Time in Your Inbox

The biggest time sink I’ve seen for marketers and other entrepreneurs is the email inbox. Here are a couple of tips to avoid spending hours in your email:

• Set aside specific times throughout the day to check your email. If you can get away with it, wait until your vital tasks are completed to check your messages for the first time.
• Check your email once a day, writing out all responses at once. You’ll be shocked by how much time you save.

* Stop Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking is a big part of every entrepreneur’s life… especially women but consider whether it’s actually working for you. Most of the time, multi-tasking actually results in getting less done because you change what you’re doing too much.

Focus on one task at a time and invest as much of yourself into it as you can. I find that when I do this, I get so much more done and the quality of work is much higher.

• Know when to multitask and when NOT to multitask.
• Think of activities on your master list where you can kill two birds with one stone.
• Use your car as a mobile university and listen to conference calls while doing household chores.
• Do not check your email while on a phone call.
• Do not multitask when it comes to your family.

* Get Away from Distractions

Want to waste time? Then sit at home and try to work with your family running around you constantly. It may be a little sad, but if you cannot find a space in your home to get away, you may need to get an office or hit up the local Starbucks with your headphones. Whatever best relaxes you should be used to avoid distractions and focus on your work.

* Create Boundaries

• Have work time be for work and family time be for family.
• Create office hours.
• Eat dinner with your family at the table when possible.
• Have a “family meeting” so that everyone is aware of your goals and what it will take to reach those goals.
• Ask your family or friends to help you keep your boundaries.

Running your own business is a task heavy endeavour. Even the simplest task can require a dozen different things that need to be done. So, it’s hard to narrow your focus, put aside distractions and get the real work done.

If you follow the above tips, you should be able to not only turbo charge your productivity, but hopefully get more out of the hours you spend working and feel happier with your output.

Always ask yourself if whatever you are doing is necessary for your success. Be more than productive. Be proactive.

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