15 Productivity Tips Successful People Use To Maximize Their Time

in HiveHustlers2 years ago

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We all have the same 1440 minutes in a day. Some people just use it more wisely than others. The idea that 'I just don't have time to do XYZ like so-in-so' is an incredible false statement that people tell themselves. People that say that really don't use their time as well as they should and they are just trying to give excuses for not being more successful.

They have the same amount of time during the day that someone like Elon Musk has, he doesn't live on another planet yet, therefore is still subject to the same 1440 minutes that everyone else is. He just uses his time WAY more efficiently than others.

In my experience, research, and conversations with people that have made it where I want to go, I hear allot of the same core principles. So I have compiled them into these 15 tips that can help you maximize your time to be successful!

Time is the most valuable resources

I have talked about this at great length in other posts, but it is true that time is your most valuable resource. You can always make more money if you lose it, but you cannot get back 1 second of any time you waste. Once it is gone, it is gone.

Time is the most finite resource we all have. And yet, we all have the same amount each day, so how are you spending your time? Are you trying to achieve your goals so that you can have more time for yourself later on, or are you filling your time with nonsense and getting nowhere in life?

It's extremely funny to me that people value material things or their social image more than their time on this planet. You get out of it what you put into it.

Most important task first

This is one common theme among productive people I have talked to over the years. Figure out the most important task you have to do, and get it done! Why wait? When you know you need to get something done, and you knock it out first, you can then keep tapping out smaller goals from there. Once the biggest thing is done, then the rest will seem like a breeze. This really goes with our next tip...

If You Can Do A Task In Less Than 5 Minutes, Do Tt Immediately

Really, why wait! After you get your most important task done first, then it's a good idea to see what tasks you can knock out quickly and just get it done! This will help you drive through the small and easy stuff quickly so that you can spend more time on the more complicated and difficult tasks that you have to get done.

This also helps your motivation as you feel like you are getting more accomplished during your day. It makes things harder and more stressful when you focus on the biggest and most difficult task first, then have a bunch of little things pile up on you. Knock out the little stuff first then you are good to really zone in and focus on the harder tasks.

Work From Calendar, Not A To Do List

I heard somewhere that over 40% of the things that are written down in a to-do list are not done. How many times has that happened to you? You think you are being productive and creating yourself a list, but you get side tracked and the next thing you know the list is still there with unfinished items that never get done.

Instead working from a calendar shows you what you need to get done that day, at a certain time, putting you in the hot seat and making yourself accountable to a deadline. You never see corporate executives putting your appointment on a to-do list, no, they make a calendar appointment. This is an extremely handy concept for the budding entrepreneur, and really does help!

Beat Your Future Self - Overcoming Procrastination

We have all done it, the alarm goes off and you slap the snooze button to squeeze out just 5-10 more minutes of sleep. Well, that's time you are wasting. What many productive people will do is keep their alarm clock or phone on the other side of the room, which forces them to get up and turn it off. This gets your butt out of the bed and on your feet, so you have no excuses for getting going.

Another idea is for when your 'inner-whiner' (I like another word than whiner, but I try to keep these professional, haha) is telling you that you don't want to get up and go work out and get your body moving, is to go to bed wearing your exercise clothes, clean ones are better for this method, lol, and have your sneakers waiting at the end of the bed. This way when you have to get up to turn off your alarm, guess what? You are already dressed for your workout, so put on your shoes and get at it!

There are all kind of ways you can prepare yourself for the next day to help you maximize your time.

There Will Always Be More To Do

Have you ever really had a time where you had nothing to do? We say that at times, but most often we are avoiding something. Especially if you are an entrepreneur, there is ALWAYS something to do. So basically you need to pick your work hours, and stick to them so that you can also address other aspects of your life.

Many people will get stuck in focusing on a task and wanting to get it done, only to come back to see that there is something else to do. So do your best during the work time you allocate for yourself, and let that be it for the day. Come back tomorrow and get more done! Don't stress over it if you don't get as much accomplished as you had hoped. Just realize what got in your way and overcome it tomorrow!

Always Carry A Notebook

You never know when inspiration strikes and you want to have a way to jot down your ideas. Not only that, you may see things that you want to research later on, and need a way to remember them.

Most people in today's time will just rely on their smart device for these purposes, which is cool, but what happens is that many times, you will never go back to those notes or they get deleted. They get lost in the data feeds of your life.

Having a physical notebook is different. It forces you to take written notes which has a different connection with your memory than just typing something. Plus, what if inspiration strikes and your battery on your phone is dead? Or you lose it or it breaks? This is where having a notebook or a planner with a handwritten calendar with notes is extremely important as a back up.

Richard Branson, the founder and CEO of the Virgin empire, swears by his little pocket notebook. I have also heard this same thing from other successful entrepreneurs and executives.

Control Your Messaging Inbox

This is crucial to keeping your time in check. Your email and other messaging systems can be a drain on your time. Many successful people limit their email time to only certain parts of the day so that they do not get sucked in and waste time.

Learning to use spam filters is also crucial to help you automatically filter out our inbox to only show the stuff you are wanting to see. This happens sometimes automatically but you have to train your email server to know what is junk and what isn't. If it is junk, mark it as junk and DO NOT delete it from your JUNK or SPAM folder. This folder creates the filter for your email system. Many people will clean out this folder which basically resets that filter.

Keeping any social media messaging to a minimum is hugely recommended. This is unless your business is built around these actions, but you can still benefit from these tips.

Schedule And Attend Meeting As A Last Resort

Team meetings and appointments can be a huge time and productivity killer. Many times, they are wasted time that is spent chit chatting back and forth and not getting anything really done. Most information that happens in a meeting can be better expressed through a memo or email.

Spending less time on the phone is also a good thing. Many minutes spend on the phone is spent breaking the ice with someone and getting absolutely no productivity done.

Say No To Everything That Doesn’t Support Immediate Goals

This one is pretty simple, but one of the hardest to do. You have to learn to say 'No'. If it gets in the way of your progress and is not supporting your immediate goals, you have to say no. You cannot be a truly successful person and be a 'Yes man'.

You cannot worry about who's feelings you are going to hurt by saying no either. You only have 1440 minutes in a day and you only have so many of that do get your work done, so focus on what you need to focus on to succeed, then if you have time remaining, you can take on other tasks the people may need your help with.

Follow 80/20 Rule

When it comes to our own productivity, the principle of the 80/20 rule can be applied in that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. The trick is to discover what that 20% is so we can apply our most effort to that 20% and eliminate as much of the 80% that does not produce the results we want. This is also more formerly known as the Pareto Principle.

Focus On Unique Strengths and Passions

You have to first be passionate about what you are doing. If you are not, then your interest will eventually fade you would have wasted allot of time. Every entrepreneur needs to find their edge and what drives them. Focus on those things that drive you and the unique strengths you have so that you can get the most out of your time and achieve your goals!

Batch Work To Theme Days

I have heard this allot from many successful entrepreneurs and attempting to work these concepts into my own life and businesses.

First you need to have your focus days. These are the days that you spend trying to accomplish the biggest and most important tasks to get your going in the right direction. These are the days that you have your head down and on the grind. If you are a content creator, this could mean that you spend a couple of days a week producing all the content for your week so that you can then spend other days focusing on other non important tasks.

Then you need buffer days. Buffer days are the days that you use to get caught up on the lesser important tasks like answering non emergency emails, and getting any other tasks done to complete your work.

Then there are free days. These are your weekend days where you don't focus on work, you focus on you and what you want to do. Everyone has to have a rest day or you will completely burn yourself out.

Routinely Use Morning To Strengthen Body Mind And Spirit

Many successful people will tell you that the first part of their day, usually the first hour or so is spent on them. This is when you need to get up and exercise, meditate, and get a good breakfast in you to help fuel your day.

The idea is to not look at your phone, email, or any outside detraction for the first hour of your day. This hour is for you. If you don't take care of yourself, how do you expect to take care of business?

Productivity Is About Energy And Focus, Not Time

Productivity is not about the time you spend on a task or a group of tasks, it's about the energy and focus you put into the time. Again, everyone has the same amount of time, it's how you use it is what matters. The more energy and focus you put into each minute, the more productive you will be and more tasks you will knock out. Say you have 2 people given the same task. Person 1 jumps in with both feet and puts all focus on the task and has it done within a few minutes, while person 2 takes their time, gets distracted during the process, and get's it done in far more time, therefore not able to get more done in the day.

Person 1 is now able to get more accomplished in the same amount of time than person 2 because they put all their energy and focus into the task at hand.

In Conclusion

You can see now how successful people have an edge in life, because they focus on getting things done with the finite amount of time they have instead of sitting around and wasting life.

This doesn't just apply to entrepreneurs, this applies to anyone doing any task in life. So I hope these 15 tips help you to better understand how you have probably been wasting allot of your time, and how you can improve and become a success not only in business, but in life!

Until next time my hustlers...

Keep calm and Hustle on!

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Our great grandmothers did "theme" days. The old chant was "Wash on Mondays, iron on Tuesdays...and rest on Sunday." !BEER

 2 years ago  

It works, it has changed up the way I do things for sure.

The notebook thing is not working for me, only because I never write anything down.
Still, I keep them near, in case I ever change my ways.
!PGM

 2 years ago  

It's one I have had trouble with myself, but trying to make myself use it more and more. I have been writing down my trade info in it lately so I can go back and review it anytime.

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