Productivity Formula: Entrepreneurs Can Make This a Habit
Do you have a productivity formula? Entrepreneurs tend to work best with funnels, systems, and formulas. I thought I would share my own productivity formula with you so you could incorporate my habits into what will work best for you.
My productivity formula for success as an entrepreneur begins with a good night’s sleep, followed by a morning routine I have used for years. Yes, both have changed a bit over this past decade but the basics remain the same. Before I end my work for the day I make sure I have everything I intend to do the next day in place and written down on my “dynamic to-do list.” Then I can release those tasks and activities from the part of my brain that tends to obsess on such information.
While I was a classroom teacher I dreamed of being able to stay up until 11 or midnight and still be fresh for my next day at school. But It was not to be and instead I went to bed by nine or nine thirty each school night, and not much later on the weekends. Well, it turns out that schedule works well for me as an entrepreneur, allowing me to rise at four thirty or five at the latest each morning.
Another piece of my productivity formula is to only focus on four areas within my business. Those are writing, creating, marketing, and mentoring. This enables me to improve my skills in each of these areas and to allow others to serve me by doing the other tasks and activities required as an author and online entrepreneur. Here is a further breakdown of each of these:
- Writing includes articles and blog posts such as this one you are reading, sales copy for my products and courses, eBooks, short reports, social media updates, emails to my community, and my full length books.
- Creating is the word I use to describe the ideas I harness and turn into products, courses, live trainings, and workshops.
- Marketing has been my passion since coming online and describes what I do every day to get my name and information out to the world. I play with the strategies and methods I use and there is no telling what I might do to market my books, products, and courses. I learned that being outrageous as a marketer is an enviable skill from my friend Joe Vitale some years ago.
- Mentoring is the special time I have with the people who have chosen to work closely with me. I take them under my wing and empower them to sprout their own wings and fly.
It seems that every successful author and/or marketer has their own productivity formula, rules, hacks, and tips. I will encourage you to experiment with what is working for you around time management and productivity and to share your results, first with those in your Mastermind, and then with others you communicate with on a regular basis. This could even become the basis of a blog post or a book.
I want to share what Cindy Bidar included in her recent post, “39 Powerful Productivity Hacks to Make 2020 Your Best Year Yet” – these are my favorite 3 from what she shared…
Take one tiny step. Instead of thinking about the blog post you have to write or the slide deck you have to create, think in terms of the very next step. All you have to do is open a new document. Once you’ve done that, take the next tiny step and give it a title. Promise yourself that you can stop at any step (that will help you get past the hurdle) but what often happens is that first tiny step triggers a cascade of activity and before you know it, the blog post is finished!
Remember that done is always better than perfect. If you spend 6 weeks writing a book, you could easily spend another 12 weeks tweaking every sentence and rearranging paragraphs in an effort to make it better. Instead, let the world see your less-than-perfect work. Most of them won’t notice those little areas that could have been improved anyway.
Use the two-minute rule to keep your to-do list clean. You’ve remembered that you need to make an appointment for a haircut, or a team member needs a password reset, or a client has asked you to re-send that file they’ve lost. All those tiny tasks can clutter up your mind and your to-do list, so don’t put them off for later. Instead, decide ahead of time that if a task is going to take two minutes or less, you’ll do it when it crosses your desk rather than putting it off until later.
How may I serve you as you strive to develop a productivity strategy of your own? What makes a difference in your level of productivity? What are you doing to increase your productivity? I would be honored to work with you in this area so you would benefit from the results you would achieve.
I’m bestselling author, marketing strategist, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and I would love to connect further with you to help you to achieve your goals. If you are interested in learning how to optimize the syndication of your content, please take a look at my popular Syndication Optimization training course and consider coming aboard to increase your visibility, credibility, and profitability.
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