Want to know how to get shit done?
As entrepreneurs, we start with the best intentions to get things done.
When we see how many tasks still haven’t been checked off the list we can end up frustrated.
Multiple hats are worn and we’re overscheduled.
24 hours never seems like enough time.
In this article, I have put together my 10 top productivity tips for entrepreneurs like me and you on how to plan, protect your time, and achieve more efficiently daily.
Get Shit Done: Productivity Hacks For Entrepreneurs
Nourish Your Body With Regular Workouts
I recommend adding some kind of workout to your daily routine (even if it’s just a 10-minute walk in the morning).
Exercise increases your energy capacity. Every time you push your limits through exercise you gain energy.
Along with uncountable health benefits exercise also has a lot of cognitive benefits, all of which you can expect as a result of incorporating regular exercise into your routine:
- Improved concentration
- Sharper memory
- Faster learning
- Enhanced creativity
- Lower stress
I personally exercise from home and use the BeachBody App to get in workouts. Otherwise, do something that works best for you like taking long walks or riding bikes.
Bonus points if you get your workout done before 6 AM!
In addition to the workouts, you’ve got to improve your diet as well. I recommend meal prepping, as it will help you to be efficient with your food strategy and save you time.
Feed Your Soul And Mind – Meditate & Read
Science proves that meditation provides benefits to our minds.
Regular practice of meditation will increase your concentration power which leads to an increase in productivity.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
The more you read, the more you are open to new ideas.
One way to feed your mind and educate your philosophy is through the writings of influential people.
Prepare For The Next Day, A Night Before
Don’t begin the activities of your day until you know exactly what you plan to accomplish. Don’t start your day until you have it planned.
— Jim Rohn
Make it a habit to plan your day the night before.
Before you head to bed, sit down with your notebook and calendar to map out the next day.
You can also use task management apps like Trello, ClickUp, To-Do-Ist & Monday.com
[You can check out some of my other top online tools also].
Prepping is the best way to get shit done.
Look at your upcoming day and ask yourself.
- “What’s the most important thing I can do tomorrow?”
- “How early can I get it done?”
- “What else must get done tomorrow?”
Your answers to these questions will help you set priorities for the next day.
Remember, a schedule is a plan, not a promise. That’s a crucial distinction, so make sure you internalize it. When life messes with your neat, tidy schedule, don’t get upset.
You aren’t forced to follow the schedule.
it was just the best plan when you made it. Just make a new one for the rest of the day.
Be flexible.
Create A Distraction-Free Environment
In a world of push notifications, emails, and a work-from-home lifestyle we’re becoming more distracted.
As an entrepreneur, if you find yourself bouncing from task to task, consider trying these tips to minimize distraction and establish some order.
- Put your cell phone across the room (throw it if you have to)
- Installing a productivity-boosting “blocker” on your computer like Stay Focusd.
StayFocusd is a productivity extension for Google Chrome that helps you stay focused on work by restricting the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites. Once your time has been used, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day.
- Tools like Pocket let you save articles for later, or you can use Evernote or Google Keep for creating lists of what to check out when you have more time.
- Batch check everything – Check email, instant messages, social media, and even text messages, at predetermined times.
- Turn off push notifications (I have very few notifications come through)
- Use airplane mode (one of my favorite hacks)
- Use noise-canceling headphones if you cannot shut down the noises in your surroundings.
Complete the Most Important Tasks First Thing in the Morning
If you are struggling with aligning your tasks according to their importance level. I recommend reading this book ‘EAT THAT FROG’ by Brian Tracy.
Brain Tracy emphasizes on completing the most important, the most difficult, and the ugliest large (frog) task first thing in the morning.
Maybe you have a long list of important tasks at hand. If yes, ask yourself– which of these things is going to make the biggest difference in growing my business?
Find out that one task and knock it out first thing in the morning.
That’s how we get shit done.
Consistently putting less important tasks further down on your to-do list will make a tremendous difference in your business growth, revenue, and engagement with clients and teams.
Give Up Multitasking – Focus On One Task At A Time
You might think multitasking is a great way to get a lot of shit done at once.
But it’s not.
But research has shown that our brains are not nearly as good at handling multiple tasks as we like to think they are.
Some researchers suggest that multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%.
Also, doing so many different things at once can impair cognitive ability.
Be aware of the times when you’re multi-tasking. There’s a good chance you might do it so much that you don’t even notice when you’re doing it.
Doing one task at a time may help you become more productive and it may make each task more enjoyable.
Get Comfortable With Delegating Tasks That Others Can Do.
There is a saying:
“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”.
Where this may stand true for the odd task here and there, it’s not relevant philosophy for most busy entrepreneurs trying to complete multiple tasks in a given day.
As entrepreneurs, we all want to be productive.
To do so, the ability to learn to delegate and allow others to assist and share in the completion of tasks is important as it saves you both time and energy.
Being involved in every decision will hurt your productivity as an entrepreneur.
I recommend using platforms like Fiverr and Flexjobs to find people to help you with virtually everything. You don’t have to train them. Find the right person and outsource it.
Once you have found the right person to outsource work to you can assign them projects and manage them using project management software like Clickup and Monday.com.
Manage Your Emails Well
The McKinsey Global Institute found that the average interaction worker spends an estimated 28 percent of the workweek managing e-mails.
This is one area that tops the list of time-killers for many small business owners.
Because an email is an ongoing form of communication, and we don’t have complete control over the incoming flow, we need to work on improving our productivity in how we receive, organize, and reply to emails.
The tips below will help you create a system for managing your email in a way that supports productivity instead of eating away at it.
- Turn off email notifications.
- Schedule your responses with an app like Boomerang
- If it takes within 1 minute to reply, reply to it immediately and archive it.
- Unsubscribe from things you don’t read
Avoid Commuting To The Office – Get Shit Done From Home If You Can
The worst thing about commuting is often traffic in big cities. The average American commute is now nearly 30 minutes.
According to one study, remote employees work 1.4 more days per month than their office-based counterparts, resulting in more than three additional weeks of work per year.
That much time on the road means workers are spending more money on fuel, not to mention maintenance and repair costs due to the wear and tear on their vehicles.
According to researchers, the average remote worker saved more than $4,500 on yearly fuel costs.
Additionally, it helps the environment by decreasing the number of people taking cars, trains, and buses to and from the office.
One of my favorite perks of entrepreneurship is the ability to set my schedule and work from anywhere.
No matter where I’m working on any given day, my home office is my base of operations.
Take At Least One Day Off From Your Business Every Week
Research shows you’ll do better work if you take more downtime. More hours spent working does not equal better work.
This one has always been a hard pill for me to swallow, as it defies logic.
But a growing body of scientific evidence explains what many of us have learned from unpleasant experiences: Push yourself through too many hours or days of work and your brain starts to push back.
Ideas that once flowed easily dry up, and tasks that you should be able to perform quickly become extremely difficult.
Or even worse, it could lead to anxiety – you could even end up in the hospital if you push yourself too hard.
That’s completely counterproductive–you need to give your brain and yourself, some rest. You might want to equip yourself with time clock software, just to make sure you’re taking enough downtime.
Along with getting a day off, getting to bed at a regular time, and consistently affording yourself a full night’s sleep is equally important.
Summing It Up: Get Shit Done
If you are serious about being productive, this post is everything you need.
Ten productivity tips, spelled out in great detail.
All for you.
To help you get shit done like a boss.
So go through it, take notes, implement the tips one by one, and make progress forward. I’d also recommend seeing with the American Psychological Association has to say about productivity.
If you want to check out my other top online tools be my guest.
Small adjustments can lead to more lasting changes, but those may take time and discipline.
What are your favorite productivity tips as an entrepreneur?
