Three (3) Practical Ways to Increase Your Productivity, Today!

·         By Austin Roberson

·         — 2 Jan, 2014 

I’d bet that almost 97% of entrepreneurs have never applied these tips before…

If you are at all like me, you’ve likely been through a phase (or more like a fog) where your productivity drastically decreases or takes a turn for the worse.

Simply put, life happens. It’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that. I know what it’s like to have a huge, massive, ginormous list of to do’s … and get none of them done.

So, I figured I’d take a moment and hopefully light a fire under your feet while guiding you and giving you 3 practical tips to drastically increase your productivity.

Since it’s likely that you’ve got things to do, I’ll keep this one short.

Productivity Tip Number 1: Prioritize Your Priorities

Oh, geez! Right? It seems so repetitive. But when you’re running your own business it can be difficult to figure out which items on your to do list are the most important.

So here’s a quick tip: prioritize your priorities. It’s easy. Just grab two blank sheets of paper. On the first one, list off all of the things you have to accomplish. Now pull out the second sheet of paper and number it 1 through 10.

This is the important part…

From the first sheet of paper, choose only 10 of the “to do’s” and write them out in order of perceived importance. After you do that, be sure to set a deadline and write down what you will reward yourself with if you accomplish this entire list within the given time-frame.

Be sure to actually write all of this out. In my personal experience, I’ve noticed that when I write out my goals, I am more inclined to accomplish them. I know pens and paper are so old fashioned, but just trust me, and do it.

If you have more than 10 things to do, just repeat this exercise for the rest of your list.

Productivity Tip Number 2: Tell Your Subconscious to Shove It

Do you ever have days where you constantly struggle to justify your reason for accomplishing nothing? (Wow, that was deep!) But really, think about it. My most recent experience came on New Years. From the time I woke up, until 3 in the afternoon, I had convinced myself that I didn’t need to do anything, because it was “a holiday.”

Now, with that said, I do agree that we must learn to step back. We need to be able to enjoy our lives while building our dreams, but as entrepreneurs — we’ve got stuff to do. And too often we also have excuses.

Even though I knew that I had many things I could be doing, I chose to sit around, all day, watching my favorite TV series on Netflix. Then at 3pm in the afternoon, I finally decided to get up and do something.

So what’s my point? Quit listening to your excuses. Negativity (and excuses) live in your subconscious and they will kill your productivity. (Yes, even the guy writing this article about productivity struggles with it. Like I said earlier, life happens. But mastering how to overcome any and every obstacle is what creates a success story.)

Bottom line: quit listening to all the negative, self-doubting thoughts and excuses that go round and round inside your head. Pick up a personal development book, read a few pages, and get things done.

Productivity Tip Number 3: Calculate Your Hourly Wage

This is my absolute favorite. It’s so genius, yet I’d be willing to bet you that 97% of all entrepreneurs have never done this before.

This tip is responsible for nearly 57% of my productivity in any given day. Not only is it a practical solution to solving your lack of productivity, but also a great way to inspire you to keep reaching and dreaming for an even bigger picture of your life.

Figuring out your hourly wage …

This is very simple. Take your desired monthly income and divide it by 9 times 30. We are assuming there are 30 days in the average month and that you would be willing to work at least 9 hours each day.

• So if you’re income goal is Tsh.30,000,000.
• Take 30,000,000 divided by 9 times 30 or (270)
• That comes out to be Tsh.111111.11/hour.

Be honest with yourself. Are you putting in Tsh.111111.11 per hours worth of work when you are actively accomplishing your goals? Or are you on Facebook and Twitter half of the time?

Here’s what I’ll leave you with today (besides a reality check). Every time you do something unproductive (i.e. log-in on Facebook while working, take a 4 hour nap in the afternoon, disappear from the office for an entire day) ask yourself, “Would someone who wants to make my desired income level do what I am about to do?” I can guarantee you that you will begin to increase your productivity, almost instantaneously, because you will grow to become more aware of your distractions.

All three of these practical productivity tips are a product of my accomplishments and failures. Some of them were passed on to me from mentors, while others were created by me and my colleagues.

Anytime you learn something, I encourage you to teach it to someone. If you can help people solve their problems with practical, simple and easy solutions, then you need to get out there and tell the world what you know.

It’s likely that nearly one hundred percent of the people who read this post will only practice these 3 tips, once, or maybe twice. I encourage you to print this article and keep it with you so that you can visually remind yourself of how to drastically improve your productivity. I hope that I lit a fire underneath your feet so that you will begin to dream bigger and accomplish every goal that you desire.