Most entrepreneurs wear multiple hats. Apart from leading a business to success, a lot of entrepreneurs are active in different departments of their business. They manage employees, indirectly market their products, attend industry events, actively maintain social media accounts etc. The list could be endless.
Understandably, this sort of juggling can stretch the best of entrepreneurs thin and cause productivity to take a tumble. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs who are at the top of their game know how to achieve what they want without wasting time on activities that may not necessarily improve their lives or businesses.
1. Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman.
“I keep things focused. The speech I give every day is: ‘This is what we do. Is what we are doing consistent with that, and can it change the world?”
One of the most important ways to be successful at what you do is to maintain laser focus on your core business. What makes you stand out? What are you known for? No matter what you are involved with on daily basis, your ultimate aim is to advance your work and your business. If what you set out to do on daily basis does not improve your cause or work, take a second look and make the necessary changes to make sure you are focusing on the one thing you stand for in life and business.
2. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done.
In an interview with Jaime Tardy (who has interviewed over 130 millionaires on her blog) David said:
“What are all the things you need to pay attention to? Getting all that out of your head, it’s really game-changing when you do that. It doesn’t solve your problems, but it makes them evident. It makes it a lot easier then to make good intuitive choices about where you ought to be putting your focus, and where’s it okay that you don’t put your focus today.”
Your memory can fail you when you need it most. It pays to write things down. It gives you a clear picture of what needs to be done at all times. You don’t even have to carry around pocket note books anymore. Your smartphone is one of the most important tools you should be leveraging to handle your schedules, to-dos, appointments, and tasks that needs to be accomplished on daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Productivity apps like Timendo, Sunrise, Any.Do, Mailbox, Evernote and Asana can handle most of your appointment schedules and note taking tasks.
3. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits
“The reason I like having a morning routine is that not only does it instill a sense of purpose, peace and ritual to my day, but it ensures that I’m getting certain things done every morning … namely, my goals.”
Building up a habitual morning routine can help you to start your day in the best way. Research shows that mornings can make or break your day. Do you have a morning routine? Some of your most important work can be successfully executed in the first few hours of the morning.
You don’t have to stick to the same things for the rest of your life but some kind of routine helps. You can experiment and find out what works best for you and stick to it. Find out your most productive time of the day and get your most important task done at that time.
“Force yourself to prioritize so that you know that you will finish at least that one critical task during the period of the day when you have the most energy and the fewest distractions,” says Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project.
Other things incredibly busy people do to be successful
“Successful people take a few minutes at the start of their workday to think about where their career or business should be going“, says Laura Vanderkam, author of “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.”
It’s important to take a break and think through what you want to do this week, month or year. Go through your to-do list and make sure you are headed for the best direction possible. A strategy for what you want to achieve can make things a bit clearer for you.
And finally, super busy people know when to block out daily distractions. There are way too much to do even for the simplest person you know. You could use online solutions like Rescue Time for blocking out distractions when busy working on tasks. The app runs in the background of your computer and measures how you spend your time so you can make better decisions.
If emails are taking too much of your time, analyze your email habits and set up time-saving email guide for yourself to make sure you are not checking your mails every minute.
1 comment
Hi Thomas,
Great post. I’m always looking for new ways to organise my time better. I can relate to this part the most…
“Force yourself to prioritize so that you know that you will finish at least that one critical task during the period of the day when you have the most energy and the fewest distractions,” says Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project
Finishing at least one critical task is a must for me. Otherwise I feel like the day has been fluttered away on emails, social media and updating.
Naomi
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