Every business owner at different points in his/her week or month wrestles with how to be more productive. It’s the human struggle that’s even more pronounced in a business owner – wanting to get 25 hours out of a 24 hour day.
Here are a list of 19 things to help you grab the bull by the horns and make this a week of #GSD’ing (getting sh!t done):
- Get clear on when you are most productive. First thing in the morning, in the evening when everyone else is asleep, after you’ve had your coffee. Once you’ve nailed this down, do the hard things first during this time when you’re most productive.
- Take 10 minutes at the very beginning of the week to determine the big tasks to accomplish for the upcoming week. Going into a week without a plan is like one of your members coming into your gym without a clearly defined workout. Stuff will get done, but not purposeful.
- Make a plan and then work the plan. Not having a plan is a massive time suck. Making a plan, and then not executing on it is, well, silly.
- Knock out the worst thing on you task list, so you can put it behind you. Things that hang over us that we’re not looking forward to doing just weigh us down. Go ahead and just get them done.
- Print out your goals and refer to them often. We are a visual people. Out of sight, out of mind. Make your visual fun. Be creative. Make it something you enjoy looking at, and organized/displayed in a way that motivates you.
- Make a to do list. Go out and pick up a fun notebook, that has a spot for a pen. And carry it with you wherever you go (or leave it in your car). Keep a running list as things come to mind.
- Touch something once. Respond immediately – to a text, email. If you aren’t planning to respond, delete it.
- Give yourself a chunk of time to complete a project. Set a timer and do as much as you can in that amount of time. Then walk away, and pick it back up tomorrow.
- Create agendas for every one of your meetings this week. For all scheduled phone calls, face to face meetings, or video meetings, have a clearly formed agenda of what you want to cover and what you hope to be the outcome/s.
- Get out of your head. A lot of times things are overwhelming because they just live in our brain. Talk about your ideas to others to clear your mind.
- Allow yourself to check Facebook, email, or Instagram, etc. only after you’ve completed something. These things are the biggest time suck of your day. Put some discipline around when you allow yourself to open any of these.
- Implement the two-minute rule. I heard about this and loved it. The rule is any action that can be carried out in two minutes or less is completed right away.
- Overcome procrastination. We all procrastinate. Whether it’s on the big things, or just the little things. Gathering the info to complete tax returns. Planning out our week. Calling that person back. Writing another blog. If you are serious about hitting your goals, take the steps needed to become a do-it-now person.
- Clean up the mess. You know as well as I do that mess creates stress. Clean out the clutter in your office to get more done.
- Bring a book with you everywhere you go. This way, when someone is late for an appointment, or you’re in standstill traffic, you’re still learning.
- Focus only on the things that you can control. Don’t waste time worrying or thinking about things you can’t control. The negative energy and time spent is a huge time waster. Instead, focus your time on the things you can control that lead you on the path to achieving your goals.
- Constantly be looking to better refine your processes and systems. Or begin right away documenting those processes, if you don’t already have them written down. People like and need order.
- Don’t say yes to every request. Give yourself permission to say no. As much as you’d like to, you can’t do it all. So, it’s ok to start saying no to things that don’t excite you or move the needle forward.
- Add accountability to your week. Left to our own, we may or may not get something done. Add in a layer of accountability where someone will ask us if we got it done, most likely it gets done.
None of these 19 things are game changers in themselves.
The true game changer is you and your mindset.
But, if you truly do want to make your day one that makes a difference, check yourself on these 19 things above and begin implementing the ones that work for you, one thing at a time.
Make this a week where you begin to finish the stuff that really matters to you. Good ideas are fine, but they don’t really do much for you accomplishing your end goal. This week make it a week where you go from a bunch of ideas…. to completion.