“Let me get back to that later!”, I told myself. That “later” happens to be five times more that I tell myself the same thing and the task still has not been done. Meanwhile my To-Do list keeps growing and I get overwhelmed because there’s so much to do and with very little time. Sounds familiar?
As my business grows and at the same time managing the kids schooling and housework, I’ve tested out these two methods and have found that my productivity has increased by three times!
#1 Batching
I would batch my work and schedule them up in advance. For example in my business, Monday- Wednesday are the days for me to do my client attraction and lead generation. Thursday is my call day. Friday is my video and interview day. For the family, I help out the kids with their school work from 8 a.m – 10 a.m. and I will cook on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12-2p.m.
This helps me to focus on what to do and not switching between doing my marketing and calls. It also helps me to have all that I need in one place without having to switch to multiple programs or software to get things done which can be energy draining.
Task switching and multi-tasking has shown to reduce productivity by 40 percent!
Psychological Association: http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspxSanbonmatsu DM, Strayer DL, Medeiros-Ward N, Watson JM (2013) Who Multi-Tasks and Why? Multi-Tasking Ability, Perceived Multi-Tasking Ability, Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54402).
So it’s best to fully focus on one task at a time rather than juggling multiple things at once.
#2 I Touch Things Once
During the “batching” mode of a particular task, I live by the principle of “I touch things once!”. That means when it’s email time, I would answer the emails that I opened immediately without putting it in my “later pile”. When I’m writing an article, I would create the full draft of it during time the first round rather than finishing it “later”. It not only reduces your To-Do List but also increases your free time because things are DONE, yeay!!!
Often that later is like a few days after or a few months after and I still haven’t got it done and then kept putting it back in the “later” pile. So it doesn’t get resolved. Once I touch something I commit to completing it even if it’s not perfect.
Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s just got to be done. If I do need to come back to it at least I can tweak something that is already available to make it into a better version rather than starting from scratch.
When you complete something you feel accomplished and successful. That is the best kind of energy to help you move forward and build the momentum towards your goals.
The key to tripling your productivity is that once you touch something you complete it immediately and not put it in your “later” pile!
Dr Izdihar Jamil, Business Coach, USA.
Action Plan
Actions produce results so let’s get into action, Woot Woot! Here are three action plans that can help you to get started:
- Create your “Batching Schedule” for your business life. For example: Monday- Planning day, Tuesday & Wednesday – Client Attraction Day, Thursday- Call Day, Friday- Interview and Video Creation Day
- List one thing that you are going to complete it immediately ie applying the “I touch things once” principle.
- Reach out to a friend, family member, colleague to hold you into account to commit to do that one thing immediately. Don’t get trapped in perfection! Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s just got to be done!
Those are my two strategies to help increase productivity- Batching and I touch things once. It has helped to increase my productivity by 3 times and hope it will help you too. Leave me comment on how two two methods have helped to increase your productivity- I’d love to hear from you!