How to Get More Done – Three Steps for More Productivity and More Money
Have you ever thought, “man I wish that I could just get more done?” If you’re like most of the other entrepreneurs I work with, then I’m sure the answer is yes. We could all use an extra two hours in every day.
But what I’ve noticed is that the people who are complaining about not having enough time are often the ones that are getting the least amount done. When I look at high-achievers like CEO’s, professional athletes and political figures – they seem to manage to fit quite a bit into their busy schedules. I just watched a video on President Obama – he fits in a workout every morning and still has dinner with his family every night. And he’s running the country!
So what’s the secret here? Well, I’ve learned a lot over the years about increasing productivity, staying focused and being consistent. It’s one of the fundamental reasons I’ve been able to grow quickly and consistently. I’m always watching time when I’m working (and ignoring it when I’m playing).
Here are some of my favorite practices to make sure that I honor my time and that of others. It also ensures that we hit our income goals.
1. Focus on the RIGHT things on your to-do list. Take your to-do list. Take three things off of your to-do list that will actually meet your goals for this quarter. Do them first. Don’t just randomly go down your to-do list and cross off the easiest items. I know it is very tempting but it’s not very lucrative!
Here’s how this works. Say you are doing a workshop in 60 days. Your goal is to get 20 people into the workshop; currently you have 10 people in it. You know if you could get 20 people into the workshop, you would win more sales conversations and more clients (or sell more products). This would directly lead to more revenue for the year, which is one of your goals.
On your to do list – you could either: update your website or call 3 people who might help you fill the workshop. It is easier to update your website. But you should be calling the 3 people who will help you fill your workshop.
It might literally take you sitting down and putting a timer on and working through your fears to get this done – but it’s totally possible.
The more you sort your to-do list by importance – the more likely you will be to get the most important activities done.
2. Focus on one thing at a time. I’m always using a timer and when I put the timer on, I can’t be distracted. No emails. No Skype. No food breaks. No Facebook. Just focused effort on what I have in front of me. This helps me get through all those activities that bring up fear and concern. Often I get these tasks done ahead of schedule when I use a timer and focus on just getting something done!
And yes – I’m using a timer right now!
3. Delegate ahead of time. The truth is that most of us can’t get through all the things that need to get done on our to-do lists alone. It’s impossible. But often we don’t delegate early enough to get help.
For example, say you are working on a PowerPoint presentation for your next webinar or speaking event. You notice that you could really use some pictures or formatting.
Scenario one – you are working on the PowerPoint at 10:00 PM the night before the webinar – there’s no way anyone can help you search for pictures. So you are up until midnight trying to format the thing yourself – and it doesn’t even look that great!
Scenario two – you know your webinar is in two weeks. You open a PowerPoint and put basic words on each slide and think through what pictures and formatting are needed. This takes you about 45 minutes. You put notes on each slide with they types of pictures and formatting you want. You hand it off to an assistant or sub-contractor that you hire from www.upwork.com.
Then two days before the webinar you open up the formatted PowerPoint and spend a few hours really crafting a great story line and teaching. And it actually looks good!
The lesson here is what can you give away to your team ahead of time? How can you look at what needs to be done and recruit their help or the help of some subcontractors ahead of time?
Remember – Isolation is the enemy of wealth!
Use these tips help to increase your productivity and focus.
Oh and leave me a comment below and let me know how it’s working for you and what you think. It gets lonely over here without your input!
