Who doesn’t want to become more productive? And it’s not a mission impossible as you may think. Check these 5 tips I have for you.
I like to share my goals with others to build accountability. But each time I set a new objective for myself, I know I’ll have to do extra work to achieve it. Since I’m already a busy person, it means I’ll have to find ways to be more productive with the time I have.
One of the mistakes a lot of people make about being an entrepreneur is that you have all the time in the world in your hands. It’s almost like the wrong image of staying at home moms only having their kids to look after, nothing else.
Women, in general, have more than one occupation.
Even though a lot has changed in the past years, we still accumulate functions such as:
- employee
- mom
- wife
- babysitter
- caretaker
- teacher
- student
And that’s just to name a few.
So unless you develop a schedule, you’ll live constantly under pressure, overwhelmed and stressed.
When I left the corporate world, it took me some time to realize I wasn’t using my time as wise as I used to. It was then that I started to implement a more productive approach to the way I planned my days as an entrepreneur.
Develop a consistent schedule to become more productive. #coaching #planning Click To Tweet
Why should you care?
There’s a major difference between being busy and being productive.
Chances are:
- Your days are packed.
- You feel exhausted each evening.
- You’re so stressed at night you can’t fall asleep.
Unfortunately, you aren’t an exception. In fact, my clients and most women I know have the same complaints.
They want to invest in their career, start some physical activity, or simply spend more time with their family, but they just can’t figure out how to do it without adding more stress to their life.
Besides, they feel guilty when they think of using the little free time they have to take care of themselves.
The challenge is real and not always one has a support system backing them up.
While a day only has 24 hours and no one can change it, with a change in mindset, you can become more productive with the time you have in your hands.
How you can become more productive
To make it simple for you, I put together a list with 5 things you can start doing today that will help increase your productivity on a daily basis.
- Set Your Goal
- Write Down Your Day As-Is
- Track Where You’re Wasting Time
- Evaluate Where You Can Save Time
- Create A Plan That Will Get You Closer To Your Goal
1. Set Your Goal
Before anything, I want you to define THE reason why you want to become more productive:
- How would your lifestyle change if you were more productive?
- With what activities do you want to invest your time?
- How would you feel by accomplishing this habit change?
These are basic questions you must be able to answer before proceeding.
This exercise is not directly related to planning itself, I know it.
However, unless you have a clear picture of why you want to become more productive, you’ll give it up at the first struggle.
2. Write Down Your Day As-Is
It’s time to start with the preparation work.
Before you can improve your schedule, you must know how it exactly looks like.
This will help you understand what’s going on in your day, where you’re using time well and how you are wasting it.
At this point, the layout shouldn’t be a concern.
Just make a list of all your activities during the day, in detail.
Ideally, instead of writing “cooked dinner”, be specific:
- Cooked pasta.
- Made sauce.
- Grated cheese.
This way you can clearly differentiate it from just cooking noodles, for example.
3. Track Where You’re Wasting Time
Make sure you aren’t only tracking your activities, but also the amount of time you spend with them.
You can do it on a sheet of paper, with an app like RescueTime.
Soon you’ll realize that those quick online searches aren’t as quick as you thought. And those cute videos that might relieve some stress take longer than just a couple of minutes.
The more detailed you are with your list of activities, the easier it’ll be to track them.
4. Evaluate Where You Can Save Time
Once you have your list in hands, you’ll be able to spot where you are wasting away your time versus when you’re using it well.
If you’re checking your social media way too frequently throughout the day, maybe it’s where you should start.
After making notes for an entire week, for instance, you may realize you can count down your trips to the supermarket in half, as well.
5. Create A Plan That Will Get You Closer To Your Goal
Now you have all the information you need. It’s time to create a plan that will help you become more productive.
If you feel attached to your schedule as-is, take a look at your goal again. Leaving the comfort zone may not be an exercise that excites you, but the benefits you’ll get from it do.
Some questions that can help you in the process are:
- Where do you waste most of your time?
- What activities can you combine?
- What can you delegate?
- Which ones can you eliminate?
Regain control of your days by defining a productive plan.
Let’s work!
As you can see, the path to becoming more productive can be followed by doing 5 things.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel or anything. However, you must have a system that will support your efforts. That’s why I created the Planning For Productivity course.
Instead of trying to figure out what you need to do and how to do, I give you all the guidance you need to start planning your day efficiently.
You get immediate access to more than 1 hour of videos and a workbook that will guide you step by step on the processes of:
- Mapping your day.
- Identifying areas of improvement.
- Follow up.
Check the 5 things you must do to become more #productive. #coaching Click To TweetStep-by-step, at your own pace, you’ll be able to build a balanced routine that will support a lifestyle stress-free.
Read the other posts in this series:
- How To Set Goals To Become More Productive
- How To Make Lists To Become More Productive
- How To Track Time To Become More Productive
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