8 Productivity Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs

How to win over the brutal schedules and challenges in running a business?

As busy entrepreneurs, we have been on that road.

I know how you felt while staring on a blank screen, wishing you had time to hang out with your friends or take your children to the park– but you have loads of things that cannot magically do itself.

It’s quite frustrating how short time is, with a long to-do list, and procrastination is not the answer. I understand how difficult it is to stay ahead of the game if you are close to exhaustion– or maybe you are already exhausted.

Read more: 6 Most Profitable Online Business Ideas in 2020

Maintaining productivity is a real challenge. So, what are the ways you could do to focus on the task and manage your time well?

Here are some of the productivity tips for busy entrepreneurs achieving their goals.

Create a Reasonable To-Do List

It is named “to-do” because you will do it. Do you think you could do 30 tasks a day? I bet you will be overwhelmed with that number. Often, we cannot finish all the tasks because they are too many and complex to do. Create a reasonable to-do list by cutting it in half. Make a “less is more” approach.

Pick and focus on the most critical tasks. It will create a balanced time distribution on each task. Set timelines and estimate how long each of the tasks will take to finish.

Focus on Yourself in the Morning

How you will start the day is a big productivity setter. Start your day by giving it to yourself. Read the news, meditate, do a little workout, have a hearty breakfast– anything you could do that could fuel you for a productive day.

Keep your brain fresh at the start of the day. Avoid checking your emails or anything work-related at the start of the day. Follow your schedule but prioritize yourself to become more productive.

Improve Email Etiquette, Eliminate Inefficient Communication

Sometimes, we spend more time reading and responding through emails during working hours. Emails are often considered as a distraction. Have you ever tried sending emails back and forth to the same recipient? Well, you could eliminate that inefficient communication by sending more efficient emails. Make it clear and valuable so the recipient could understand your intent.

It might take a few minutes to write an efficient email, but it will only take you a reply or two to get a clear plan. Improve your email etiquette by making it precise and straightforward.

Use Automation

Do you find yourself doing the same things over and over? There are some ways you could do to make these repetitive tasks– use automation. You could save more time and energy if you put these repetitive tasks off your schedule. There are a lot of automation tools that you could use to streamline the tasks of your work.

Automation tools help you streamline your emails, day-to-day schedule, and calendar reminders. Also, you can automate message response for customers. Responding to messages is an extra task. You might not notice it before, but responding to customer inquiries several times a day takes up most of your time. You are not only making it easy for yourself, but you are also enhancing your customer’s experience.

Slowly implement automation to your business, and you will feel the simple yet revolutionary changes. Be productive and at the same time serve customers better with automation.

Manage Energy

Being productive is not all about work– it also deals with self-discipline. If you do not have self-control, how could you stay focused? You need to establish a consistent plan to reach your goal– not just the goal you set for your company, but for yourself too. How you cultivate self-discipline will reflect on your level of productivity.

Manage your energy by:

• Setting a clear and detailed goal.
• When you finish a task, reward yourself.
• Share your goals with someone and stick to achieving your goals.

More so, to manage your energy well, you have to be in a positive mental state. Do not forget to care for yourself. Eat healthily, get an optimal amount of good sleep, and do some workouts.

Eliminate Distractions

It will be surprising if your day is not busy. Most entrepreneurs resort to multi-tasking as they perceive it to get tasks done easily. But, in reality, it only slows you down. You are being pulled from focusing on one task. Bouncing from one task to another will only distract yourself from efficiently doing the task. As a result, there will be several open and incomplete tasks.

Let’s consider multitasking the prime distraction, and social media or other procrastinating activity as your secondary distractions. Try cutting these unnecessary things by putting your phone into silent or by sticking to your schedule.

If you stay focused on one task until it is complete, it will give you better results, and you will be shocked by how fast you have done the project. To successfully eliminate distractions, you should:

• Prioritize the tasks set to be completed for the day.
• Avoid unexpected meetings.
• Avoid personal calls or texts unless it is an emergency.
• Turn off your social media and email notifications at work.

Finish a task with focus and determination. Disregard those handfuls of distraction as time is short.

Stop Multitasking and Delegate Tasks

Sometimes, we like to do things alone that we forget there are people around who are ready to help. It is a bad habit to do all things, and we tend to multitask. You are already busy and trying to get one task done, do not add another task on the list.

If you tend to multitask, you are being pulled from every direction leading you to jump from one task to another. As a result, several jobs will be left open or incomplete. Thus, it is best to get things done effectively by focusing on one task at a time and delegating other tasks to your staff or colleagues.

Task delegation is assigning some of your tasks to your colleagues. Some of these tasks are menial and routine, which eats up most of your time. Although you know how to do the task, you have to delegate it to cross some tasks off the list. Ensure that you are giving out detailed instructions on how the task should be done.

Ask for Help

As entrepreneurs, our obligation is not only at work. We also have a home and laundry to attend to. But, these things could hinder us from taking a good rest or doing more important things. Instead, ask people who could do it for you. It will save you time to rest. Call the laundry pickup services or a home cleaning service to help you do your house chores.

These productivity tips will help you avoid mental burnout. If you are efficiently doing the tasks, you will have the time to take a break. Do not be afraid to take a day off and unwind. It is not easy to be active at all times. You have to set back to regain energy and return with a creative flow and impact.

Be productive and allow yourself to breathe– and your mind and soul will thank you.