6 Tips To Help Your Daily Productivity
How do you keep yourself productive during the day?
Productivity is something everyone can use a little help with from time to time. It can especially be an issue for business owners who are pulled in many directions throughout the day. Not to mention those who work virtually, often alone, at a home office or with children underfoot. Let me share 6 productivity tips with you today.
Number One Tip
My number one tip (not listed below) is regarding the business phone line. My suggestion is that you never answer the business line while working unless one of these two requirements are met.
- You are expecting the call
- It is scheduled on your calendar
The phone will always interrupt productivity unless you have it scheduled and therefore are expecting it. I request that clients schedule calls for our monthly strategy meetings that I include with the services we offer. I supply them with a calendar link (via Calendly) and all they have to do is schedule a time that works best for them and is available on my calendar. I’m not saying it will work for you, but if at all possible (unless you have a contract that states you will available to the client at all times). Try this for a week and see how you feel afterward. This was a newfound freedom a few years ago and increased my productivity significantly.
My Tips for Productivity
Number Two:
Minimize Distractions – I have found that one of the best ways to ‘handle distractions’ is to remove them from the room. Distractions are often the number one reason we end up not completing our to-do list. Remove anything that could interrupt you, including your phone, as discussed above.
[I know you cannot remove your children, but how about setting them up at a little table near you and tell them they can help ‘Mommy (or Daddy) work’ and let them color or write on papers near you. They will think it is so much fun to ‘work with Mommy or Daddy’.]
Number Three:
Create Your Lists – you know the ones, the ‘to do’ for your clients, for your business and for you personally. If you do not include all of these things that are a huge part of your daily life, then inevitability something will always come up pushing your other ‘to do’s out of the way.
Number Four:
Calendar Blocking – Do you use an online calendar? I use Google Calendar and have for years. [I spoke about this in more depth during a recent course I did for Freelance University on Business Management.] Set up several calendars within your online calendar (all are created on one online calendar). Create one for your business (Tammy’s Offices has its own) and then I have one for my coaching (Fearless Boss Babes as its own) and I have one for Personal ‘to do’ and events. This is at a minimum, but you can even set up one for each child to have their own calendar. The KEY is to Color Code each calendar you created. So each ‘to do’, child’s game or events show up with a different color. Then as you glance at the calendar you can easily see who has a game or meet today if you have any business meetings, or things ‘to do’ today. Schedule time for your own marketing, reviewing and updating financials, writing content, etc..
Do you currently use Calendar Blocking by Colors?
Number Five:
Other Online Productivity Tools – Project Management (PM) tools are a great help once you begin to manage several clients at once. There are so many on the market but many begin with free trials and depending on the number of clients and/or the number of team members, it may stay free for a long time. Trello, Asana, Basecamp, Podio, and Wrike are just a handful. Simply ‘Google’ the term ‘Project Management Tools’ and you will get so many articles about the best PM tools. My theory, however, in working with PM Systems is that the software must work similarly to the way I work in order to really benefit me. Of course, once you add a team if they do not like it, that is another thing altogether (lol).
Number Six:
Old School – Yes there are many ‘Old School’ ways to manage and help your productivity as well. I know everyone has a favorite agenda book to carry with them. I love the Bullet Journal. Before I began using it, I could not imagine that it would help me with my productivity as much as it has. If you like to ‘check off’ lists this may be a good one for you. There are many others to choose from as well. Just check out Amazon and of course Google.
This was a ‘brief’ summary of some tips I utilize to help me during my daily workday. Now it is your turn to share.
How about you? What tools, software or tips can you share on the topic of Productivity?
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[There may be affiliate links in this article, however, I do not promote or discuss any companies or products that I do not use or believe in.]
