Key Strategies to Improving your Productivity

So you’ve got the blues. Your energy level is so low that it’s on red alert with just the thought, both in your personal and business life, of the things that must be done.

In finding balance in your personal and professional life, one of the struggles most people are faced with is in the area of productivity. How you wish you could have more time, energy and focus to juggle and balance the demands of your personal and professional life! In your desire to get things done, your are actually unconsciously draining your energy level.

Let me introduce to you two concepts: “incompletions” and “tolerations.” Incompletions are things, like the relationships we have, our perspective on things, that drain our energy. It may be as simple as having a pile of documents left in your desk, that’s waiting to be filed. Seeing it everyday and not having the time to do it, is already a drain in your energy.  You need to have a plan to address those incompletions.  On one hand, toleration is a conscious decision.  At some point you did decide not to work on something and to leave it to the side, but thereafter, it moves into the subconscious level where it becomes that energy drain.

How do we address these barriers to our productivity?  Here’s a simple and effective strategy:

1. WRITE IT DOWN

Make a list of all the things that you need to work on to get it out of your head.  Stretch out your list so you do not miss out on anything, no matter how petty it may seem.  Often times the urgent things of our business gets first notice and we tend to overlook the simple ones such as making a call to a client who expressed interest in our product and service.

2.  CATEGORIZE

With your list in hand, separate your personal tasks and your professional tasks. Now here is the tricky part, which task do you prioritize in the list?

Breakdown your list further into sub categories and to smaller doable chunks.  

Category A:  These are the tasks that you could do something about. You have the means and the resources to do it. Category A may also be called “tolerations.”

Category B;  These are the things that deal with other people. There is a dependency piece on them. In your dealings, at the onset, set boundaries set your expectations in terms of time and communication so the other party would be aware of your needs.

Category C:  Refers to things or situations that no money or person can change. You have to accept it and not give any energy or attention to it.  Let the situation stand.  Acknowledge it and wait for the time you are ready to resolve it.

Go over your list once again and identify which ones you are most motivated about. Act on it and remove from the list.  

Each time you finish off a task, it increases your energy level.  You’ll notice that your confidence improves, as well as your energy level, resulting in a more productive ‘you’.