Entrepreneurs need to be jacks-of-all-trades, and at least somewhat adequate in all of them. While no one can realistically expect to master everything there is to do in a start-up, some things just need to be done. And as everyone who’s been involved in any kind of major undertaking knows, you won’t have enough hours in the day to do everything you need to.
Or do you? Many entrepreneurs have their own sets of productivity strategies that help them make the most out of a given workday. See if the strategies below work for you.
1.) Get out of bed earlier
Not everyone who is successful is a morning person. However, there are many good arguments to be made for starting your day early. For one, daylight primes our bodies to be awake and alert, and being able to harness daylight throughout your working day to boost your productivity can be a huge consideration. Waking up before everyone else does also gives you some quiet time to meditate, exercise, or to do some productive work before other people start to take up your time.
2.) Stop using your phones and answering emails in the morning
It’s not enough to wake up earlier in the day. Starting your day right is essential too. And starting it by looking at your phone and emails first thing in the morning is probably a bad idea. Using your phones at the start of the day can prime you to be reactive rather than proactive, which often means you spend precious mental resources putting out fires rather than building your business.
Of course, it would be impractical for any entrepreneur to swear off smartphones and emails entirely. However, try to only use these tools later on in the day, after you have done some real work in the morning.
3.) Keep your workspace and workflow optimized
This is a different idea from keeping your workspace tidy, though a tidy space may often be more efficient than a messy one. Instead of superficially cleaning up your workspace, what you should do instead is to analyze how you actually work and see if there are small everyday actions that you can do better, or faster.
This can mean optimizing your workspaces ergonomic, getting organizers for different sets of documents, setting certain important apps to launch on startup – whatever allows you to concentrate less yet still get the same level of productivity.
This can be especially important as you may find that your mental energy can easily be sapped by these small tasks. These small everyday tasks can easily take up as much time and mental energy as a critical decision, so finding ways to make them less of an issue whenever you can is one of the better time-saving habits you can make.
4.) Delegate routine tasks
An entrepreneur should ideally spend more of their time looking at the big picture and making important executive decisions. While it may be necessary in the beginning to do many of the small things like manning the POS, writing marketing copy, or delivering items, at some point these tasks will just take up more time and distract you from what’s really important.
A better way to save time while ensuring these tasks still get done is to outsource them. Sites like Smalljobs.ph connect you with freelancers and other professionals who can do the dirty work while you and your own teams handle more mission-critical activities.
5.) Give yourself plenty of alone time
Set aside at least a few hours of uninterrupted time that’s solely for you to temporarily unwind or work on important tasks. Having some time alone is important for several reasons. While active collaboration is important, many entrepreneurs find that only by working alone can they be at their most productive. Alone time will also help you better reflect on the priorities of the day and help you better assess productivity.
What other productivity strategies do you have? We’d love to know!
