Below are 10 quick productivity class capsule action steps to be more productive that you can begin RIGHT NOW. Seriously, after reading these suggestions, play a game with yourself to see how many of these action steps you can install in the hard drive of your brain NOW :
Decide on what time of your day you have the most energy. Don't you have one particular time of the day when you are most effective and times when you tend to drag ? Schedule for your most effective time of the day the most critical tasks.
Eliminate the least needed task. If a task doesn't really need to be done, just eliminate it.
Do the most unpleasant items first and as early in the day as possible.
Set a goal for each day. This can be even more effective the night before. Decide what you want to accomplish. Once you have a roadmap ( creating your internal GPS ), you can spend all your time getting things done!
Refuse all communication. Turn off the phone / cell phone, and don't check your email while you're working, and if necessary gang a sign that says, Do not disturb.
Batch similar jobs together. Do all your emailing at one time.Do not look at your email every 5 minutes searching for a response from that last email you sent. Make all your phone calls within a designated block of time each day.
Time yourself. Use your kitchen's egg timer. Even if a task might take hours, starting will seem easier if you simply give yourself a designated number of minutes to get as much done as you can. This is great to help you stay focused.
Set immediate goals . For example, if you have multiple phone calls to return, set an immediate goal that you will not go on your next break or lunch until 4 calls are returned.
Delegate . Find people around you that have the ability to do certain tasks for you or outsource some of these tasks. Are you familiar with a company by the name of Fiverr ? At www.Fiverr.com , you can search for "outsourced" talent that will actually do many things for you . The best thing about them is guess how much most of those "outsourced" tasks would only charge you ? (Here's a hint...read the website address again...)
Honor your deadline. Make that endpoint meaningful where you'll train your brain that when you do meet your deadline, your brain will expect a rest and maybe a reward. That is another way to create a good habit that overtime ( about 21 days) you'll run on automatic drive !
Work faster. Let's face it....all of us can take it up a notch speed wise if we really want to. For example, when i'm getting out of my car outside a pizza buffet restaurant around lunch time, it's amazing how much faster I become if I see other people arriving near my parking place and I know they're wanting to get in that buffet line ahead of me.
OK, now we can play our little game of seeing how many of these tips you can incorporate into your day starting.....NOW!
