Top 10 productivity tips for busy Executives and Entrepreneurs for results, impact, and better quality of life

These are tried and tested productivity and effectiveness techniques used by many world-class leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, founders, and investors.

1.    Touch it once.  

It is highly productive to try to finish the task in one go instead of spreading it over multiple time chunks.  

Leaving the task incomplete and then resuming it has got significant switching costs.

To extend the idea of “touch it once” further, some of the very smart people in the world prefer to do one major task per day to avoid switching between projects/tasks/companies/initiatives.

Jack Dorsey on how to manage 2 large Companies (Twitter and Square) at once with proper planning/organizing. He once mentioned,

“The way I found that works for me is I theme my days.

On Monday, at both companies, I focus on management and running the company…

Tuesday is focused on the product.

Wednesday is focused on marketing & communications & growth.

Thursday is focused on developers and partnerships.

Friday is focused on the company and the culture and recruiting.

Saturday I take off, I hike. Sunday is for reflection, feedback, strategy, and getting ready for the week.”

2.     Always write down your plan.

“Our mind if for creating ideas and not for holding them.” – David Allen

If you write down, whatever you have on your mind (preferably with pen and paper), you will get significant clarity. And once you empty your mind, it can conceive a lot more new and powerful ideas.

This is an extremely powerful technique very well explained by David Allen in the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology.

It requires a structured effort over time (ranging from few hours to few days) across multiple dimensions of life.

3.    Set small goals.

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” – Henry Ford

Whatever you are up to, break it down into pieces and then conquer those pieces one by one.

1 kg at a time in a weight loss program, 1 step at a time in a 42 km full marathon, one critical project at a time, and a lot more.

It will take away so much stress out of your life and the probability of success increases manifold.

4.    Plan every day. 

It won’t happen if it is not on the calendar.

The calendar is one of the easiest and most powerful tools we have.

If you don’t plan your day, according to your goals and priorities, others will be very happy to do it for you as per their goals and priorities.

“Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regrets because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.” 

- Derek Sivers  

5.    Avoid overcommitting.

Brutally honest people have a significant advantage in the world we operate. People can rely on them and they can rely on themselves.

Some of the best people and companies I have worked with had a strategy of “under promise and over delivery”.  People like to be surprised on the upside.

You can either believe in “Less is more” or “More is more” but what is critical is to keep your promises.

It is important to keep your promises to others and yourselves by not overcommitting and deliver as promised.

That also helps avoid worry, stress, anxiety due to uncertainty, and lack of trust.

This is not to say that we should not aim high or dream big. 

You can achieve most of the things in life. It is just that keep it professional and keep your promises.

6.    Stop multitasking

There is no such thing as multitasking. There is only task shifting. And this shifting is detrimental towards better results, productivity, and effectiveness.

It is extremely important to focus on one task at a time. 

Even better would be if you can dedicate your life to one cause/purpose/vision. 

For example, in the case of Warren Buffet it has been investing/capital allocation (over 75 years), for Bill Gates, it was software (Microsoft) for 40 years and then philanthropy. 

Such kind of focus and commitment over the long run gives a tremendously unfair advantage and plays a big role in the success of these giants of our times.

7.    Start with the hardest task first

Eat that frog. Do the worst/most difficult thing first. That will free your mind to do better and creative things during the rest of your day and week and month.

On a lighter note, please also remember that you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you can find your prince.  And the dirtiest and most difficult tasks reward you very well because of less competition.

8.    Decide when is the most productive time and work accordingly.

One of the most basic and important things is you should work for your own benefits and not against your own interest. 

You are responsible for your own success and not body else. The best strategy is to collaborate with you and not fight with yourself.

While there is no one size fits all, there are certain guiding principles, which can be helpful.

For example, if you prefer balanced life, 888 guiding principle, that is in a day 8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, and 8 hours for yourself and family, could work nicely and you can get tons of things done.

If you prefer to work more, then 5 am club, 996 (9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week) can work for you.

If you wish to get a maximum outcome with minimum time inputs, then the POMODORO technique works really well as well.

Again, there is no one size fits all. Along with your coach/accountability partner, find out what works best for you and then just do it.

9.    Minimize interruptions

Inbox is a to-do list created for you by others.

You have to decide whether you want to live your life as per other people’s agenda or your own.

“Flight mode” is the most useful button on your phone when no one can bother you at odd times. “Do not disturb” should be used as much as possible.  You can have predefined time slots for calls and other social engagements.

Many professionals are wasting hours on social media, which has got huge costs and unintended emotional bad side effects. 

If you want to do deep work and gain a competitive advantage, you have to learn how to manage social media instead of being managed by social media.

Better still; you can just close yourself in a room, turn off your mobile device and get your important work done.

10. Set time limits

Love the German way of doing things efficiently and effectively. 

Whatever you want to do, decide how much time it is going to take realistically and then get it done within that time frame. 

Work against time instead of along with time. Some people take pride in working long hours. That is okay too (if that is your style) but what is important is to achieve the required outcome and not the amount of time put into getting it done.

Also one has to be mindful of “student syndrome” kicking in. Like, for the majority of students (and also professionals), whether you give them a week or a month for a particular assignment, the quality of output is likely to be the same in both cases since the actual work happens closer to the deadline.

Also when you finally, decide to take up a certain project or initiative, quickly decide on one action you are going to take immediately, to get the ball rolling.

Our time on earth is limited and you have to find out how you are going to make the best use of this limited amount of time.

Note: If you are a busy executive/entrepreneur and would like a personalized plan, systems, tools and solutions that deliver substantial results, please do feel free to reach out.