When I first started my career as a marketing professional I sometimes felt like I didn’t accomplish anything at the end of the day. I was in the office, I was at my computer, I was keeping busy… But I still felt unproductive.
Time management is important for professionals, and perhaps even more important for entrepreneurs.
Recently while I was consulting with a massage therapist coach client of mine, she started asking me how I stay productive in my day while juggling multiple clients and tasks.
In this blog, I’m going to highlight 5 productivity hacks that have helped me feel productive at the end of the day and beyond.
1. Plan Your Day in Advance
One of the best productivity hacks I’ve incorporated into my life is planning my day and week in advance on Sunday afternoons. I set a few hours each Sunday around 12:30 PM to write down the upcoming tasks, projects, and meetings I have coming in the next week.
A big part of planning is writing down tasks. I am a believer that when you write something down, you put in place the intention of accomplishing it.
I often write down my most urgent tasks on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday if possible. For me, my energy levels are lower on Thursday and Fridays because I put in a lot of hard work in the first three days. This is also a nice set up for me because it’s very nice to slow the pace down a little towards the end of the week.
2. Schedule Time for Both Strategy and Tactical Activities
As an entrepreneur and owner of a digital marketing company, I know that I need to accomplish the daily tasks needed to be successful. My clients have needs, and my company has needs that I need to work on each day and week.
Where many leaders fail is balancing these tactical activities with the big picture tasks. It’s crucial in your planning time to include time for both. I find myself doing big picture things, like developing strategies for clients, on Friday and sometimes even after my planning time on Sundays.
To be successful, you’ll need to do both of these so be sure to schedule time for both!
3. Accomplish Your Most Important and Most Urgent Tasks When You Are Most Alert
As I mentioned above, I typically write down my most urgent tasks for the week towards the beginning of the week. One of the reasons for this is because I have the most energy and am most pumped up about what needs to get done.
After I’ve written down my tasks for the week on Sunday, I know exactly which activities are needed and which ones are most important. Sometimes in my planner I’ll put a “star” to indicate that it’s urgent. During each day, I’ll do the items that are have “stars” next to them first.
4. Break Big Projects Into Small Bites
Many people I speak with get overwhelmed with the vast amount of work these big marketing projects require. It can be easy to get overwhelmed.
My next tip is to write down the big project in your planner, and then to break it down by all the action steps needed. You can then put check marks next to each tactical step you finish.
Those check marks are so therapeutic. Don’t just take my word for it, try it!
5. Turn Off Unnecessary Distractions
My last productivity hack is to evaluate your day. What are your “time vampires?” Meaning, what are the things that take up your time the most that don’t line up with your business or life goals?
Things like TV, personal social media, and non-vital chit chat are some examples of distractions that probably won’t benefit you while you try to accomplish your goals daily.
I recommend identifying these time wasters in your life and cutting them out ASAP.
Final Thoughts on Productivity
I hope these 5 productivity hacks were beneficial to you! Following these principles have helped me greatly focus on what needs to get done. Writing down your tasks, both tactical and strategic, can be a lifesaver in overcoming that feeling of being overwhelmed.
Thank you for reading my post and I’d love to hear your thoughts or some productivity hacks you’d like to share!
My name is Anthony Bart, I’m the owner of BartX Digital. We help medical professionals grow their practices. If you or your medical practice need any guidance, I’d be more than happy to connect with you!