subject: "1" Little Secret for Increasing Productivity [print this page] "1" Little Secret for Increasing Productivity
Its one thing to be busy and another to be productive. The majority of people want to be productive, their intent is to accomplish something, yet projects go unfinished all the time. It's isn't just big projects that end up on the back burner, even little things seem to go undone. There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day! I heard a speaker recently who created an "aha" moment for me. After applying the advice offered I immediately became more productive!
The majorities of people wake up, starts their day, grab their coffee, go through the morning routine, get ready for work, and even at this point, are just going through the motions of life, not fully engaged or focused. They get to work, sit in front of their pc and go to their "inbox". Opps! First mistake.
Your "inbox" is nothing more than a nicely organized system of other people's agendas. Every email in there is either someone needing something from you, or pulls you in 20 different directions. You sit and respond, spending all your time addressing other peoples emergency's, needs, and wants. Or, you scan your emails because you're actually looking for direction - What should I be doing today? What is the biggest fire I need to put out today?
That's called living life in "reaction mode" as opposed to living life in "intention mode". There's no clear direction. What everyone else wants becomes your agenda for the day. And when the day is done, you've successfully moved everyone forward, accept you'.
Solution: Take out an 8x11 piece of paper. Separate it into 3 equal parts.
1) At the top of the first section put "Major Projects". Then, list 2-3 major projects you have going on. Whether it's writing an e-book, redesigning your website, or whatever they are. Then, under each project write "5 things" that need to be done in order to move the project forward. However, these 5 things aren't things you'll necessarily do today, but they are things that need to be done to complete the project.
2) At the top of the second section put "People". Make two categories. One, will be people you need to reach out to today in order to move yourself forward. And the second, people you are waiting on to get back to you. Most people sit around waiting for other people to help them make their dreams come true. But no one is as concerned about seeing your dreams come true as you!
3) At the top of the third section put "Priorities". Then write 10 things that need to be done TODAY in order of importance. "1" is the most important, and so on.
After you've done that, here's the order of the day You don't go to the inbox for direction or focus, you now have YOUR to do' list. Do whatever it takes to accomplish the 10 things on your "Priorities" list. Whether it's sending an email, running an errand, calling someone. Before you respond to anyone else, you get those 10 things done for "you".
Then you make some phone calls. People you need to reach out to, people that you are waiting on to contact you.
Now those two things might very well take up most of the day. Whatever time is left can be spent on your big projects. Only check your email once or twice a day. Why? Because you need to focus on you and not to be distracted by other peoples agenda's.
It goes without saying; there are no perfect systems, nor guaranteed perfect days that allow you to just go through your lists uninterrupted. But not having a system in place and leaving everything up to chance', means you aren't taking "you", and your goals, very seriously. Get serious! PLAN to succeed.
