Are You Productive Or Busy? 10 Tips To Work Smarter And Scale Your Business

According to research,?the average worker is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes in an eight-hour day. The rest of the time is spent roaming around without really achieving anything significant.

Even with tools that help us stay on track, many employees and organizations?promote the wrong concept of productivity.

Set-ups that base the salary on hours and presence alone are still standard. More frequently than any manager would like to confess, we award?watching Netflix at work?more than achieving something efficiently.

Instead of getting too caught up in the hours you and your team spend working, let’s look at how you can work?smarter?to grow your business.

1. Accept: It’s Impossible To Be Productive 24/7

If you’re working all day long, start by accepting that you probably aren’t as productive as you think.

Research indicates that the?maximum number of hours most people can concentrate at work is five to six.

Overworking yourself beyond that time can drastically reduce the outcome.?You will spend more time than you should?and?achieve less.?We’ve all been there. Trying to re-read that paragraph again and again. Suddenly, after a night’s sleep, it makes more sense than cheese + wine = ??.

Studies show that staying within the range of 5–6 hours helps you manage stress, get tasks done faster, and improve your work-life balance. Remember this next time you’re thinking about skipping that break.

2. Ask: Can This Be Simplified?

If you’re ambitious by nature, is easy to make tasks unnecessarily complicated in the strive for perfection. I’ve struggled a lot with this in the past (well, between the two of us, it’s still a struggle sometimes???).

You know what I’m talking about…

Instead of making 10 extra tweaks that no one will notice on that article, overplanning a project, or overdoing a presentation:

• As Greg McKeown preaches in his life-transforming book?Effortless, ask yourself: can this be done in an easier way? Hint: Often it can.
• Don’t overthink decisions. If you get stuck, take a walk, ask someone else for input, or take an?objective approach to weigh the pros & cons.

3. Track Time Spent vs. Outcome

Do the time you spend on certain tasks match the outcome they contribute to? Are you spending time on clients that aren’t a fit for your business? Are things taking longer than they should?

Many time management tools can help you to get an overview, such as Rescue Time, Focus Keeper, and Toggl. What tweaks are needed to improve your productivity?and?results?

• Stop doing tasks that don’t contribute to your long-term goals.
• Removing notifications, regular screen-free time, and meditation are a few tricks that make it easier to avoid distractions and focus.
• Learn when you perform at your best and schedule your important tasks during your peak hours.

4. Focus On The Right Stuff (And Find Your Flow)

Stephen Covey once said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”

Every time you choose to do something, you’re also choosing not to do something else. A night out or working on your business? There is no right or wrong answer, just remember what you chose when “you don’t have time”.

Productivity starts with intention.

If you have a clear overview of your goals, tasks, and why you want to achieve them, it’s easier to focus and get into?a flow state. With flow comes efficiency, fun, and a sense of purpose. This is when work feels effortless, we lose track of time, and our productivity level reaches higher than?Burj Khalifa.

5.?Plan Less, Do More

Sometimes we spend so much time developing our skillset, researching, and preparing “the last details”. Instead of reading 50 articles today about that thing you want to excel at, 10 might be enough, followed by?some?action?

Things change quickly and extremely. Instead of getting stuck in planning every detail for years ahead,?prepare for change.?Approach planning as a continuous activity. Even the most perfect plan is useless without action.

6. Remember: Others Might Do It Better

You are not always the best person for the job. And even if you're great, your time might be better spent elsewhere. Know when to reach out to others, ask for help, employ more talents, outsource, and team up with experts.

When I started my business 5 years ago I did everything myself. It can be tempting to "save". However, investing in expertise from someone who actually knows their stuff will often reduce costs more in comparison with you (or me) trying to figure everything out! Even if you’re good at something, always ask yourself:?where is my time best invested?

7. Re-use And Automate

The number of tools to increase your productivity level and make your life easier is bigger than?the population of Bangladesh. Embrace it! Solutions like; Asana, Trello, Zoom, Airtable, Teamwork, ProWorkflow, Slack, Wrike, and more are available for free or?kinda free.

The amount of software designed to make the collaboration and performance management of distributed teams more efficient is?only expected to increase. Can something be re-used or automated? Then it probably should!

?8. Team Up With Others Who Complement You

A problem that may take you days to figure out, could get resolved in just a few hours when others add their perspective and expertise. Teaming up with others that complement you helps boost creativity and productivity.

If you’re working alone, you can go to co-workings or schedule productivity sessions with others who also are focused on crushing their goals.

9. Stop Questioning Healthy Routines Daily

If you’ve committed to healthy habits and routines, let’s not waste precious time on re-considering those decisions every day.

For example, if you’ve decided to meditate every day, waking up every morning wondering whether you should meditate today doesn't do much for you.

Just meditate — you’ve already made up your mind.

If you want to ask yourself something, ask positive, motivating, questions. Such as “where should I meditate today?” instead of “do I really have to?”. The same goes for workouts, and whatever else you struggle with.

This requires practice but will help remove resistance and save you time.?

Note: It’s fine to re-consider habits, just not daily due to laziness.

10. Give Yourself Deadlines

Just like?Parkinson figured out?while your parents were still wild and free, avoid spending more time than required to get tasks done.

How??Deadlines.?Follow up using your favorite project management tool to avoid procrastination and overdoing it. Plan in advance, map out the steps and set off the time and resources needed. Take action. Celebrate those milestones.

Nothing is impressive about being busy with the wrong things. It only drains your energy. Instead of trying to tackle too many things at once, set the right focus for yourself, and move forward in the most important direction.

That’s it! Now, the only thing left is to figure out what you’re going to do with all this extra time.

Would you add anything to the list?

This article was first published at?www.samiraholma.com.