Increasing your productivity can decrease your stress levels, help your business run more smoothly and as a result, increase your profits.
When you’re running a business, managing your time effectively can be a challenge. It can sometimes feel like we are too busy and no matter how hard we try it can seem like there’s not enough hours in the day.
The truth is, there’s a few simple tweaks you can make to boost your productivity and get more out of your day without extending your working hours or impacting your family or free time. And implementing them may even improve the quality of your work.
Here’s 5 tips and tricks you can use today to increase your productivity:
Stop Multitasking
As business owners with so many things needing our attention, as well as any other life/family responsibilities, it can be tempting to slip into the habit of multi-tasking.
Research on multitasking shows that we are not good at it.
Whilst, we may seem to be getting more accomplished in the short-term, it can actually have a detrimental effect on our productivity.
When you rapidly jump backwards and forwards from one task to another, you’re not really doing two things at once. Instead, you’re switching your focus between each of the tasks. Every time you switch task, you have to re-focus on the new task and this takes time to mentally process the change.
In the long run, multitasking drains your energy and overworks your brain.
You can improve your productivity and the quality of your work by focusing on the single task at hand and giving it your undivided attention.
Research shows that multitasking can reduce productivity
Update your systems and processes
Consider updating your systems and/or processes to make them more efficient.There’s an endless selection of tools, software and apps available to simplify the day-to-day running of a business.
Start by analysing the systems and processes you currently use on a regular basis. Are there any areas that could be streamlined, simplified or automated? What programs or apps could save you time? Could you delegate any tasks?
Automate any regular tasks where possible
Don’t Skip Breaks
Have you noticed that when you don’t get enough sleep, for example, tasks that you usually find quick and easy can take 3 times as long to complete or suddenly become more difficult?
That lack of focus is caused by diminished brainpower or mental fatigue
We all start each day with a limited amount of mental capacity and every decision we make depletes our mental abilities.
Taking regular time off can improve focus, reduce stress and prevent burnout.
Whether it’s a weeks holiday, a ‘work-free’ Sunday, an early night, a lunch break away from the desk or even just a 10 minute walk around the block, these breaks can give our brain the rest it needs in order to re-charge.
Self-care is essential to our mental and physical health
Most Important Tasks
Every day, make a list of your top priorities. Determine which of these are the most important tasks in terms of your business progress, growth and goals.
These are the tasks you need to focus your attention on BEFORE any others. Once they are complete, no matter what else happens throughout the day, you can be sure that you are making progress towards your goals.
I recommend a maximum of 3 MIT’s per day to prevent overwhelm and overworking yourself.
Create an actual plan
Without a plan your action steps are undefined and you’re less likely to achieve your goals. You may find yourself deferring your own business deadlines to focus on client work. Or you might be busy working on your business but not moving any closer to your business goals.
A business plan is your success strategy, a step by step guide to reaching your goals. Viewing your plan every day will give you a sense on focus and direction and as a result, boosting your productivity.
Whether you prefer to use an old-fashioned paper planner or an online project management program, add your projects, milestones and targets to your calendar and schedule the time to work towards them.
Schedule your work (and deadlines) in your calendar to stay on track
Conclusion…
As more and more business owners try to make the most of their time during a busy day it becomes easy to slip into bad habits. Especially when we have a lot to get done and it feels like we simply don’t have the time.
By using the tips and tricks I’ve shared in this post you can start to build good habits that increase your productivity and enable you to get more work done in less time.
And the best news is that you can start using any of them today!
Register for this FREE masterclass recording, where I share the secrets to successful business planning.
Including how you can get better results for your efforts, how to create your personalised plan and how to implement strategies that will increase your income.
We'll also take a look at how you can use the planning process to improve your productivity.
