5 Simple Time Management Strategies To Increase Productivity & Accelerate Your Growth

One thing that constantly amazes me is how quickly each year passes. The days, weeks and months seem to roll into one, and before you know it 6 months has passed. You’re left wondering ‘where did the time go?’

Now that’s okay as long as you plan your year out. However, most people spend more time planning their holidays than planning THEIR YEAR AHEAD.

If you plan  -  you get more done, much more done. If you fail to plan and set goals it’s surprising how little you’ll accomplish.

All the high achievers and successful people in this world identify planning and goal-setting as a major contributor to their success.

Why? Because in addition to giving them a clear roadmap, it also helps them plan their daily/weekly/monthly schedules and with effective management of time it enables them to get a huge amount of work done.

For example, many people who have observed me will say ‘how does Steve get so much done?’ It’s true, I get more done in a day than most do in a week. It takes discipline, but there are some proven tricks and strategies I use to achieve very high levels of productivity and that’s what I want to talk to you about today.

Effective time management is something that isn’t often associated with growing a business, but effective management of your time is a very potent weapon (and conversely poor management of time can be a real business growth inhibitor).

The good news is that it’s not that difficult to massively improve your output if you follow my simple ‘5 Key Time Management Tips For High Performers’. Like everything I will discuss with you in this newsletter, none of these things are difficult or even earth-shattering, but they do make a significant difference as long as you start using them! So here are my key Time Management Tips…

 

Proven Strategies To Help You Build A Better Business

 

Implement these Time Management strategies & create more time to get stuff done!

1. Planning: 

Plan each month and then each week and then each day based on your goals. The key here is to establish what you need to do each month to accomplish your goals. Then break these tasks down to weekly and then daily tasks. You must always prioritise these ‘goal orientated tasks’ above ‘general tasks’. You’re probably thinking—this will take a lot of thought and time to plan out. You’re right. It does. That’s why so few people do it. That’s why so few people succeed in life. Do not underestimate the power of carrying out this first step—it is the key to your success.

 

2. Work During Your High Performance Times: 

You’ll get much more done in times when your body is alert and active. For many this time is 6am-1pm and 8pm-11pm (but you’ll know when you’re at your best). The worst times are generally after eating! It’s during these high performance times you should carry out your ‘Goal Orientated Tasks’. This one step alone will improve your output significantly—so make sure you only allocate this time to the important tasks! Use the less productive times for ‘general tasks’ and meetings. Here’s why…
 

(1) Since our minds are more active and fresh we can get more done.
(2) Concentrating on the task at hand is much easier.
(3) Our creative juices are flowing when our minds are more active and alert.

 

3. Block Out Your High Performance Times: 

Next make sure you block out your high performance times and under no circumstances let other things get in the way. Again this is key to your success. Treat your high performance times as compulsory appointments (in other words, you can’t cancel them). If you have a secretary or P.A. make sure they understand these ‘appointments’ are never to be broken and replaced with anything else.

 

4. Resist All Distractions:

During your high performance times turn off your mobile, take your office phone off the hook and don’t open your e-mail programme. Even one interruption can set you back an extra 15-30 minutes not including the time of the interruption. This does take a high level of discipline. In the early days you will find the temptation of leaving your phone or email programme on hard to resist, but I promise you, this will slash your effectiveness by at least 50%. Once you force yourself to reduce your distractions to zero, you’ll find it very liberating!

 

5. Tell Staff (and family):

You must explain to staff and family that unless it’s an emergency you are not to be disturbed during your high performance times. 

By adhering to these 5 key time management tips I guarantee you’ll get so much more done. This translates to greater income and more success—worthy outcomes don’t you think?

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