Is your workday as productive as you would like?
Most entrepreneurs have weak spots in their daily routine. These flaws reduce their overall productivity, making their workdays less successful than they could be.
As someone who understands the importance of implementing and testing new processes, you surely see the value in workflow strategies that could increase your productivity. These six are particularly effective.
1. Wake Up Early
The popular saying, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” has been around for centuries. There’s a good reason people turn to it time and again — it’s true. Adding time to your morning helps you dispense with tasks that won’t directly increase your productivity before your workday officially begins.
2. Keep Task Lists
Many entrepreneurs keep to-do lists. Miami entrepreneur George Otte takes this habit one step further. He creates to-do lists for each task or project, then crosses items off the list once they have been completed. This builds “productive momentum,” as he calls it, and sets the stage for the next small victory.
3. Take Small Breaks Throughout the Workday
The modern workday is not designed with our bodies’ natural rhythms in mind. Research shows that we are more productive and effective when we take short, frequent breaks, as often as five minutes every hour. These breaks could be nothing more than standing up from your desk and walking to the water cooler. What is important is momentarily disconnecting from the task at hand.
4. Delegate Non-Core Tasks and Processes
In a given day, you cannot possibly do everything you would like to do while remaining productive. This is why effective delegation is so important. After all, you hired your team for a reason.
5. Avoid Lengthy Meetings
Meetings can be helpful with sparing use. However, it is important not to over-rely on check-ins and all-hands gatherings. These not only detract from your personal productivity, but your team’s as well.
6. Encourage Feedback, But Limit Your “Open Door” Policy
Like meetings, an “open door” policy can be beneficial for business leaders who wish to improve their workplace culture and streamline internal processes. At the same time, it can easily become cumbersome. To minimize unwanted interruptions, hold “office hours” at the same time every week. Invite employees to share concerns then, and to provide feedback by email at other times.
Every Minute Counts
Successful entrepreneurs know that money is not their most valuable resource. Time is.
This is why you will hear them talk about “protecting [their] time.” Every minute is a precious gift that can’t be recovered. Once a moment in time has passed, it’s gone forever.
As an entrepreneur, you can use this basic truth to your advantage. By implementing strategies that make your workday more efficient and productive, you will increase the value of each minute you are on the job. You will also free up more time for activities not directly related to work, enriching your personal life.
It can be done. Many before you have unlocked the secrets to successful time management. Will you choose to follow in their footsteps?
