Recently, I did an informal survey of 250 women entrepreneurs asking
them this question, "What's the number one thing you do to boost your
productivity?"
Listed in David Letterman "Top Ten" order, here are the top ten ways women entrepreneurs boost productivity:
10. Write our your "to do" list the night before.
Don't
wait until morning to make your list. Write your list the night
before. Allow the process to percolate while you sleep. Then, when you
awake it's as if you've had a 12-hour head start on your day.
9. Prioritize your daily list using the ABCD and E method.
A = must do
B = should do
C = would be nice to do
D = delegate
E = eliminate
8. Wake up early and get off to a good start.
Have
an established morning routine and wake up early to set the tone for
your day and allow you to get into the swing of things at an unhurried
pace. Establish a morning routine that is of greatest benefit to you,
not just to your family.
7. Delegate everything possible.
If
it isn't directly making you money, delegate it to someone else. Turn
over data entry tasks, packing and shipping, and answering
non-essential emails and calls to a competent administrative
professional. Not sure if you should turn something over? Ask yourself,
"Can this task be done by someone else, or does it need my direct
attention?" As an entrepreneur, your job is to concentrate on what is
of most value to you and your business success, not errands.
6. Know your energy peaks and valleys.
You
are in control of your business. You get to say when, you get to say
how, and you get to say how long. As an entrepreneur, you aren't locked
into a 9 to 5 workday. You can start work at the crack of dawn. Go to
the gym in the afternoon. Outline a new product idea in the evening.
Schedule activities, family time, and personal quiet time around the
natural ebb and flow of your energy peaks and valleys.
5. Find a way to love what you do.
If
you love what you do then you are more apt to be productive because you
are fully engaged. No matter what you're doing, find a way to love
doing it.
4. If in doubt, throw it out.
Make
liberal use of your waste can. Regularly go through files and throw out
or shred outdated or no longer relevant material. There is no need to
save everything "just in case" you'll need it later. Trust that if you
throw something out today and you need it in the future, you'll be able
to get your hands on it again.
3. Break up projects into tasks.
If
you have something on your "to do" list that's been there for a long
time, realize that it's probably not a task. It's a project. "To do"
lists are for tasks. When you put a project on your list, you'll feel
bogged down and productivity will slow. Many of the women
entrepreneur's surveyed use business strategist Brian Tracy's method
for breaking up projects into easy to do tasks:
• First, list the finished result you want.
• Next, map out every single step of the project.
• Then, put the steps into order, moving the important steps to the front.
• Now, delegate tasks and assign responsibilities.
• Lastly, track the progress of the project.
2. Give 80% of your attention to what is important and 20% to what is urgent.
As
an entrepreneur, your job is to discern the difference between what's
important and what's urgent. To figure out the difference between the
two ask yourself, "Will focusing on this move my business forward and
make me money, or will I be just putting out fires?" Dealing with the
urgent all day is draining. Dealing with the important in energizing.
Want to increase productivity? Make sure you're giving 80% of your time
and attention to what's important each day.
1. Focus on one thing at a time.
The
number one thing women entrepreneurs do to boost productivity is . . .
focus on one thing at a time. Although women are known to be
exceptional multi-taskers, those surveyed said they were able to get
more done when they focused on one thing at a time. Starting and
stopping in the middle of things was frustrating for them and meant
that not much was completed at day's end.
Tip: If focusing on
one thing at a time is challenging to you, have a pen and paper nearby.
That way, it something pops into your head, just write it down the get
right back to your task at hand.
What's the number one thing you do to boost your productivity?
Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert
Susan L. Reid
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