How many times have you heard, “It’s all about working smarter, not harder?” Isn’t that what being productive is all about, using your time wisely? Productivity is about knowing what you want to complete and staying focused until the project is completed as planned.
Workday productivity is made up of three important elements:
1. Analyzing what needs to be completed and by when.
The first step to becoming and staying more productive is committing to figuring out exactly what the task consists of and how it can be accomplished in a timely and effective way. From personal experience, I’ve found that if you’re not clear about precisely what needs to be done and by when, you can waste valuable time on things that really aren't all that important. The cornerstone to being and staying productive is knowing how to keep the important things, important.
2. Forming a workable plan of action.
Once you commit your emotional and physical energy to accomplishing a task, the next essential step is to break that task into a realistic and workable step-by-step plan of action. You now can take this plan of action and turn it into daily and weekly goals.
3. Implementing and completing your plan of action within a designated timeframe.
Your weekly and daily goals should now be broken into “bite-sized” pieces. Each bite-sized piece is prioritized so the most important tasks are accomplished first. It is vital that you write out your to-do lists and chunk out quality time so you can stay focused on those activities that will take you forward hour-by-hour and day-by-day.
Let me ask you this: Have you thought about your average workday? Can you say with all honesty that your workday is spent on productive business-building activities?
Here is an activity you can start on today:
1. Write a goal you’d like to achieve within the next four weeks.
2. Are you willing to make an emotional and physical commitment to achieving this goal?
3. Write a workable plan of action for achieving this goal. What steps will you need to do each week to make this goal reality?
4. Break these weekly action steps into a daily to-do list. Prioritize the to-do list so you are working on the most important activities first.
Successful women in business consistently use their time wisely because they know how to stay focused on keeping the important activities important. Paul J. Meyer probably said it best when he said, “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.
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Sharon Recommends
Here is an offsite link to Amazon.com - I'd like to recommend one of my favorite "time management" books “Eat That Frog!” by Brian Tracy – it's short, sweet, to the point and filled with practical suggestions: Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
I'd also like to recommend my Kindle ebook How To Keep Yourself and Your Business On Track. The empowered woman's guide to staying focused on your money making goals. Here's a direct link: How To Keep Yourself and Your Business On Track (Women Empowering Women)
I've purchased this book for myself and my opinions are solely mine. I am also an affiliate of Amazon.com and if you purchase this book through this link, I will earn a commission.
