How do you power-up productivity? When was the last time you purchased a program that was supposed to increase your productivity and make your life easier? Did you actually unzip the package and start reading the information? How far did you get to, and how much of it have you applied to or in your business?
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Simple Productivity Strategies
What about that app which everyone was marketing, and the Sales Page promised would save you hours and increase your productivity? Have you installed it, or are you so confused that you gave up after the second or third try? Or, perhaps you haven’t even tried to install it yet because you’re waiting for when you have time to study the material!
I can relate to both of these scenarios because they’ve happened to me.
How would your life and business be different if you were to become more mindful rather than impulsive? Let’s look at seven ways you can power-up productivity in your business.
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Practice Mindfulness
When you practice mindfulness it means you become more aware of your present situation and are consciously making decisions that will impact your life. When you’re making deliberate, conscious choices, it prevents you from doing activities unconsciously, based on self-sabotaging habits that you have created over time.
Be realistic about what your strengths are and what you may need to outsource in order to achieve maximum productivity.
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Stop the Endless Cycle
If your hard drive looks like a collector’s wall with endless courses and programs, it’s time to stop!
It is virtually impossible to put all of the courses you’ve purchased to good use if you continue buying new ones. There are only so many hours available to you to study and learn new things.
Starting and never completing any of them is a disservice to you and only makes someone else happy that you purchased their training.
At the same time, because you’ve not studied the training, you cannot give the vendor a good testimonial on how well the training helped you.
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Plan Your Schedule the Prior Evening
Planning my day the evening before has worked well for me. What works for you? I find that when I plan my schedule the prior evening I’m able to hit the floor running the next day. I know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing and I avoid wasting time trying to figure out, at that point, what my priorities are.
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Make Notes
Ever wondered how some speakers are always able to come up with intriguing stories that grab your attention and hold your interest? They take time to make notes in everyday situations and look for opportunities to record examples, challenges, illustrations, mistakes, quotations, ideas, etc. All of these can be re-purposed in different forms and formats later on.
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Prioritize – Do Your Most Important Task First
We all have them at some point. The tasks that we wish we did not have to do.
Identify your most productive time and do those tasks that are the least pleasant first, as well as the tasks that are most important.
What I’ve found is that when I put off a task that I don’t want to do by procrastinating, it weighs heavy on my mind. I keep thinking about it so that it absorbs a lot of my energy.
Therefore, even when I’d rather not do it, I try to prioritize and do the most important or unpleasant task first.
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Create a Standard Operating Procedures Manual
The first time I suggested to one of my coaching clients that she should create a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual, she actually thought it was a crazy idea as she is a company of one. After explaining the value of creating checklists and templates for recurring tasks, she understood and saw the wisdom in doing so.
Document steps as you go along and then create a document, whether you write it or type it and place it in your SOP Binder. This is helpful for you the next time you’re going to take action on the same task. You can more quickly follow all the steps until they become second-nature. Also, when you hire someone to assist you, instead of having to take the time to train them personally, you can give them a copy of the document so as to ensure consistency.
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Schedule a Power Nap
In full disclaimer, I do not schedule a power nap because, after years of trying, I find it hard to sleep during the day. On the other hand, more than one business associate has shared with me that this is something they do on a regular basis. In fact, one associate said she schedules 2:00 – 2:30 pm daily for her power nap and it makes the world of difference to her and her business. She is a lot more creative after her power nap, she’s less stressed and more relaxed in her day, and she gets more done as she’s not tired. Have you tried it? What has been your result? If you have not, why not give it a try?
Now that we have considered how to power-up productivity with seven simple strategies, how many of these are you going to implement in your business? Remember to set a deadline for when you will start because if you leave it to chance, it may never happen and nothing will change by becoming more productive.
