How smart are you working?
There is much to be done these day in all our businesses in order to flourish. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or to spend time on the wrong tasks. Here are some great ideas for smart organizing and staying productive.
- Keep your eye on the prize. It’s important to have a vision of the big picture in mind as you work. When you do this, it’s easier to let go of the little details that do not matter.
- Plan in writing. This tip covers everything from having business and marketing plans to writing out a daily and prioritized to-do list. The time spent on committing your plans to paper is time spent on making your business dreams come true. If you are not willing to write it out, it isn’t really a priority. As you work, keep lists and write things down as you think of them. Spend some time to get tasks onto your calendar to make sure they get done.
- Start with the hardest or the most important. The first thing to do every day is the item that will make you feel most like you have accomplished something. Even if you do not finish that item in a day, you will feel good for having made progress and your business will benefit.
- Create deadlines for yourself. There’s nothing like time pressure to get work cranked out. When you creat a short timeline, the more there is to get done, the more you will do. This only works if you have a way to hold yourself accountable though.
- Monitor and eliminate what isn’t working. Don’t just do something because you always have. Keep results in mind and eliminate those things that are not contributing to your business. Look for time-wasting tasks in your business and eliminate them.
- Prevent distractions. Stay logged out of social media. Don’t answer your phone when you are focusing. Keep only necessary windows open on your computer. Don’t multitask.
- Learn brevity. Use short bursts of focus to maximize productivity and be sure to build in breaks for the attention lags. Use a timer. Learn to break things into small, manageable tasks. Keep you emails short and sweet.
-Janet Slack