22 WAYS FOR BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY
Time is one of the most valuable of assets that we all have and there is one very notable difference between those who are mega successful and those who enjoy only mediocre success and that is time management and productivity; the most successful 1% in business are 100% more productive, if not more.
If you want to emulate their success and to boost your own productivity and, that of your business, during these difficult time, here are some guidelines that I highly recommend you adopt.
1. Start Early
Most businesses are busy places and for any business owner starting early before everyone else arrives in the workplace, before the 'phone starts ringing and the emails start rolling in, is to start at least two hours before all this kicks off.
For many people, this time of the day can be when the brain works best. The great majority of the most successful say this is the time of the day when they do their best work.
2. Have Your Day Planned & Structured
When you start your day, you should know exactly how your day is going to work. You should plan it the day before and you should have a 'to-do list' already written down. Then when you start, you hit the ground running!
3. Eat The Frog First
As mentioned, for most people, the brain is best at the start of the day and that can be the most productive time of the day. This is the time for your most important tasks of the day.
The first things on your list must be the most important and urgent tasks, that have to be completed that day. You should try to limit these to no more than three tasks to be completed in the first part of the day .
It is important that you do not get distracted by looking at your 'phone or emails first; get stuck into these tasks and get them done quickly, efficiently and effectively.
4. Work Regularly On Development Tasks
Spend at least an hour on one or two tasks that will involve moving your business forward; you may, for instance, decide to have a new product launch in May and have given yourself the month of April to get everything right for it. The early hours should be spent on such a task.
Be adopting this procedure, you are not just doing 'day to day' things in your business but you are performing tasks that will mean developing your business, too. Here, you are 'working on your business' as opposed to working in your business.
Every business owner should have goals and business objectives and this is a good period to work on these, too; by dedicating religiously a certain part of the day, it should ensure you achieve your goals and targets.
5. Schedule Time For Training
Training must be a continual and important process but again, it is wise to schedule it to a certain part of the day. Training could be for yourself to master new skills or for training others for improving the skill base of your overall business.
6. Review Your Company Skillsets
It is good practice to thoroughly review your skillsets, frequently and regularly, to quantify where there might be gaps which could be affecting your productivity and effectiveness.
When short-comings or gaps are identified, you should aim to fill them either by training a member of your team or recruit an external source.
7. Only Work On Projects That Are Profitable Or Move Your Business Forward
It is very easy to get wrapped up in projects that will never be good for your business, long term.
Periodically, you should review everything that you and your team are working on and access the success potential of each. If something is going nowhere, you must be ruthless and ditch it.
You must always think to get a good return on your time and the time of your team.
8. Schedule Meetings For The Same Time Of The Day Or the Week
This is good for your daily schedule but is also good for your team too, as they can plan their days in a more productive way, too; a good time could be an hour or two after lunch for meetings.
Short regular meetings or just talking to your employees is always good, and often best, for boosting production and staff morale.
9. Limit Your Number Of Daily Tasks
It is not a good practice to try to cram too much into your working day; this can lead to stress and tension and often an overall drop in productivity.
It is far better to limit the number of tasks and to do and to complete each task well, and to the highest standard, than to rush things.
10. Be Single Task Focused & Don't Multitask
'Flip flopping' from one task to another can be a hugely inefficient and be highly stressful, but many of us can be guilty of doing this.
It is far better to start on a task and to see it through to the end, rather than to keep breaking off. By doing so, you should maintain concentration levels and you should complete the task more quickly, more efficiently and with less mistakes.
Doing less could mean achieving more!
11. Delegate As Much As Possible
You should reduce your work load to only things that you can and should do.
If a task can be delegated adequately, you should delegate it to one of your team. This should allow you to spend time and energy on tasks that only you can do, such as 'working on your business' and for moving your business forward.
12. Bunch Your Emails, 'Phone Calls & Queries
By bunching all these together and dealing with them in a certain period of the day, such as an hour or two, can be highly efficient.
As suggested, many people are much less productive when they 'flip flop' from one task to another or they keep interrupting tasks to check their messages, for instance.
The best way, by far, is to bunch these into a certain time of the day.
13. Have A Similar Structure Each Day
I have found that if your day is structured, in a similar way each day or most days, that can really help with time management and productivity too. Even have the same structure for each Monday, each Tuesday etc., if your work patterns vary.
This process can be very beneficial and something like this could work well:
6.45am - Start
7.00am - Eat The Frog Tasks
9.00am - Development Tasks
11.00am - Emails and messages
1.00pm - Lunch
2.00pm - Meetings or Training
4.00pm - Self Development Hour
5.00pm - Plan next day
5.30pm - Finish
14. Have Your Team Structure Their Day
For your whole business to achieve better time management and productivity, you should enable, train and encourage your employees to structure their workdays too, using the same methods outlined, above.
By doing so, each should feel more effective, more fulfilled, more inspired and more happy in their work, too, which should lead to work performances improving significantly along with a higher degree of employee satisfaction and a better overall work culture.
15. Set Time Limits For Each Task Of The Day.
Being time limited for each task is a good way to boost your production rate.
This process ensures that tasks are completed when they should be, and this can stop you 'flip flopping' and ensure you put your focus where it is needed.
16. Create & Use Good Habits
We all have bad habits and these are easy to form, often, but good habits are more difficult.
Developing good keystone habits such as healthy eating, exercising, getting plenty of sleep, better use of work and leisure time are all good habits.
One way to improve time management and productivity is to become conscious of your daily habits and try to eliminate your bad habits, such as checking your 'phone every five minutes, and to be disciplined in developing more good habits that should help your work load.
Get into the habit of good habits!
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17. Work From Home Rather Than Your Workplace
By working from home, you will save time by not travelling to your workplace and it could force your team to deal with 'day to day' things rather than troubling and disturbing you.
You could try to do this one or two days per week and on regular days, but don't be distracted by what you have at home!
18. Have Regular Self-Development Time
Having an hour for reading and for self-improvement can be really beneficial for yourself.
Developing your own skills is an imperative, if you are to advance yourself and your business and a dedicated hour for reading a book or relevant business articles, for taking an online course, or watching inspirational TED videos is time well spent and a good investment in yourself.
It can also be a good way to wind down from your day.
19. Have Regular Breaks
Between each part of the day, it is good practice to take yourself out of the office and maybe have a short break in the fresh air, even if just for ten minutes.
Connecting with nature and the outside world is great way to rest your mind and to get your thoughts ready for the next part of the day.
Having an hour's lunch break, away from the workplace, is also crucial for keeping your brain fresh and working well, and to keep your energy levels up.
20. Plan The Next Day Before You Finish Your Day
Planning the next day and creating a 'to do list' is essential so that you can keep repeating your high production rate, day after day.
This process also allows you to fix in your mind the tasks for the coming day, then you can get started immediately when you arrive at work.
The best in business say such a practice can really boost time management and productivity.
21. Be Well Organised & Be Disciplined
The penultimate way is to be well organised with everything in your working schedule and to be disciplined to do things when they should be done.
It is very easy in a busy schedule to put certain things off but that can lead to unnecessary stress. The answer is to organise your tasks in terms of priority and importance, doing the most urgent things first, followed by the less urgent, etc., and being disciplined enough to do the tasks that you enjoy doing less - very often, they can be the most important tasks.
Even something simple as having a tidy desk and a tidy workplace can improve your level of organisation.
22. Do Something Everyday That Makes You Happy
Your day should not just be about work.
For many of us, finishing the working day, feeling that we have accomplished good work and feeling we have been productive can be very satisfying, but we all need a balance to our lives and good down-time with the family or friends or having quality leisure time can be the icing on the cake.
This mix can re-energise the mind and the body, boosting your levels of personal time management and productivity.
Please Contact Me, If You Have Any Comments Or Questions About This Blog Article. I Would Be Pleased To Help You
Robert Viney Is An Award-Winning Business Coach
Top 20 Entrepreneur Coach 2022, Awarded By The Coach Foundation
