5 Simple Steps to Be More Productive

Guest article provided by: patrickhbowman.com

It doesn’t seem fair that there never seems to be enough hours in a day. Most small businesses and entrepreneurs struggle with managing their time and usually feel overwhelmed. You can’t delegate everything, but you need to get things done. If you want to be more productive, Use These 5 Simple Steps to Be More Productive

• Avoid meetings like the plaque

You’ll get more done with less meetings. Meetings are notorious for taking and killing your time. People show up late, so it’s starts late. Discussions go round-and-round topics without coming to their point quickly. You should hold fewer meetings and when you do hold them have your agenda well thought. Stick to it and you’ll be more productive. 

• Multi-tasking is a myth

You’ve got a lot to do and you need to be more productive, so you try and multi-task. The problem you run into is it’s not “really” possible to multi-task… and be “efficient” because you make many more mistakes. Multitasking can result in time wasted due to human context switching and apparently causing more errors due to insufficient attention. Studies have shown that it is impossible to focus on more than one task at a time.

Mistakes will cost you more time and effort than if you did it right the first time. Human beings are much more efficient when they focus on one thing at a time. You can work on other tasks, but you must do it in intervals.

• Decide when to check email and social media

Business requires communication but if you’re reading your email every time a new message comes in, you’ll never finish what you started. To get more done, choose when you’re going to read email and which ones need an immediate response and which you can follow up on later. Social Media can be a very powerful tool when used right. But if you’re checking it several times a day, all day long then your productivity will be tanking to the bottom. Decide when it makes sense to check email and social media sites and use set times, so it doesn’t become a distraction from getting your work done and you’ll be more productive.

• Prioritize

Make prioritization a PRIORITY! Focus on the urgent things first and let others slide. Block out distractions. Just because the phone rings, it doesn’t mean you have to drop everything and respond right-away. There are times when you need to be able to tune out the world and focus on what’s in front of you. Review what you got accomplished the previous day and think about what appointments you can set today that will grow your business. 

• Start Your Day with Scheduling

Too many of us like to make a ‘to-do list’ which becomes longer and longer as you think of more things that need to be done. Yes, it feels good to tick that box and say “I got something done today”, but don’t let that fool you. Not all tasks are equal and you really want to pay attention to what you need to accomplish…your goals, and not just ticking the box. Instead of writing a “to-do” list try to schedule your day to be more productive. Give yourself just 15-20 minutes at the start of each day to go over your plan for the day and then use step 4. to Prioritize your day’s work. Do the same at the end of the day. Just 15-20 minutes at the end to go over what needs to be accomplished the following day.

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Patrick H. Bowman is a guest blogger who provides coaching to small business owners start and scale up their business. Whether you’re just starting out in business, or starting over, or you’re already up and running, you need to be your most productive. Patrick offers a system that helps reduce stress and get massive unstoppable progress towards your goals.