Optimize Your Productivity for Future Success

Optimize-Your-Productivity-for-Future-SuccessTo-do lists are a mixed bag for me. On one hand, they’re great for getting organized and prioritizing your daily tasks. On the other hand, if you’re not using them properly (like I’ve seen many entrepreneurs do) you run the risk of derailing your entire day.

Luckily, I’m not the only person who thinks this. I read a great article on Forbes that discusses “Organizing Tomorrow Today”. In his article, Jason Selk discusses the many benefits of planning for the future, something I’ve discussed in my previous posts. I encourage you to read the full article, but here are the two most important points I was able to take from it:

Your To-Do List Is Wrong: Like I mentioned, most people tend to make a massive to-do list full of both important and unimportant items. Simply listing off what’s on your plate is a waste of time. Instead, organize your list in terms that makes sense to you. Selk encourages that you list off your top three tasks of the day, followed by lesser tasks. What I do personally is organize my most important tasks of the day, and then group my lesser tasks into a separate category called “end of the week”. Whatever method you use, the main thing to remember is that you have to start off your day with your most important task, instead of tackling the less important items first. Otherwise, you’ll fall into the trap of constantly completing your simple tasks first, and never getting around to actually finishing what matters.

Take The Time To Plan Ahead: Arguably the most important thing that Selk says in his article is that no matter what, take the time to plan ahead. Don’t leave all of your future planning to the morning of said day. Take ten to fifteen minutes the day before to figure out what needs to be done first, what can wait until throughout the week, and what you can delegate. Selk summarizes this point nicely: “Highly successful people do not get everything done each day, not even close. They have learned to get the most important tasks completed, and then to do their best to get the rest done.

All in all, the most successful entrepreneurs know the importance of prioritizing their tasks, and they also know the best method to complete them. Let me know how you tackle your important tasks and we can discuss it in detail in the comments below.

Making goals is easy – Sticking to them is the challenge.

The beginning of the year can be hectic for entrepreneurs. Once the year has settled in, it becomes far too easy to lose the focus and determination you had at the beginning of January. As I mentioned in one of my recent blog posts, I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, yet I still find myself being more focused at the beginning of the year. It takes dedication to keep that focus going, and it becomes more difficult as the months pass by. Anyone can stay determined for a month, but it takes a lot of strength and willpower to stay determined for an entire year.

There are many things you can do to stay focused on the goals you’ve set for yourself, and these are just a few things I do on a regular basis to stay focused.

Making sure that you have clear goals for yourself is very important, but it’s also important to be realistic about them. Instead of telling yourself “I’m going to reach a certain goal by the end of the year”, break them down to weekly or daily tasks. Doing this is an easier way to keep yourself accountable to your long-term goals, and it’s also easier to check things off when they come up instead of auditing yourself at the end of the year.

An important part of staying focused is also making sure that you’re taking the necessary time for yourself to unwind. I’ve been talking at length in the past few weeks about how I have been unwinding with some close friends on my beer league team of the Screaming Eagles. It’s important to find a past-time that you not only find entertaining, but that also lets you completely escape and forget about the stress that was brought about from your work.

Another way to de-stress is to simply unplug yourself from your smart phone and e-mail for about an hour or so before you go to bed. While that may seem challenging to those of us who are constantly checking our e-mails, and may also seem counter intuitive to staying focused, but no one can operate on a 24/7 basis and over-working yourself is one of the traps that entrepreneurs fall victim to that makes them lose sight of their goals.

These are just a few ways that you can stay focused this month and, in reality, for the rest of the year. Now that the first month of the year has passed by, this is the time where you can prove to yourself that those goals you made for yourself weren’t just for show – now it’s time to attain them.