Keys to Unlocking a Productive Day
Keys to Unlocking a Productive Day
Regardless of how many businesses you own, projects you’re starting or events you have on, each of us has exactly the same amount of hours in a day. This fact can either be inspiring or disheartening, depending on the way you approach it. The following four points should be your key to unlocking a powerful, productive day worthy of an entrepreneur.
Setting Goals
Some think that it’s better to just glide through life and see what happens, without setting any goals. Unfortunately, that’s not realistic and it’s not something that entrepreneurs do. When it comes to creating these goals, the S.M.A.R.T method has become extremely popular and for good reason – it works!
- Specific – be clear and direct, there’s no use being vague.
- Measurable – Measure your goals so you know when to celebrate success.
- Attainable – aim high but be prepared to adjust your goals as you go.
- Relevant – create goals which match your vision for your business.
- Timely – set deadlines.
Create Systems
Have you ever done anything more than once? If there’s some task that you find yourself doing over and over again, systemise it. You can’t afford to be spending that time repeating a process over and over again when you could be making headway on a less menial task.
Do you ever feel like you can’t go on holiday or get sick? If you feel like your business will fall apart without you, it might be time to think about implementing some systems. Without systemising, delegating and automating, you start to become the business. It means you’re just making more work for yourself when you could be utilising the resources at your fingertips.
If you leave it too long, you could find that you are the only person who knows how to do a particular task and, when you hit a crisis, the burden will be on your shoulders. Instead, share the load – whether that’s with technology or with your employees – and don’t wait until you hit that crisis, create systems and process now so that they can steer you smoothly through the dangerous waters later.
Time Management
Funnily enough, being productive is not actually a talent, it’s simply a result of being organised. Time management comes under the organisation umbrella and it’s something that very few manage to master.
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.”
– H. Jackson Brown Jr.
There are hundreds of tips out there and, if we’re honest with ourselves, not one of those is going to be the magical solution to all your time management problems. Everybody’s days look different but you need to know what yours looks like to work out how you can improve. Using Google calendars or a similar app can mean that you can see your week at a glance.
Knowing your limits when it comes to your time can also be crucial. If you know when to say ‘no’ to opportunities (great as they may be), it gives your ‘yes’ a value boost.
Support Network
Networking for your business is invaluable, but it will never beat the network you already have. Scheduling time to spend with your family and friends means that you get a great balance in your day and a safe haven away from the uncertain business world.
These four key points are all crucial to creating a week that maximises productivity, moves your business forward and gives you a great work/life balance. Carving out time to put these points into practice could be the jump start you need to create a productive working week.
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