We had another great discussion a few weeks ago at our biweekly Coaching at The Corner. The subject was How to Double your Productivity…
Here are some of the tidbits that came out of the discussion:
Plan ahead.
Sometimes it sounds like a no-brainer, but if you want to double your productivity it’s very useful to plan ahead. When you are in a crisis mode and not thinking things through, you will probably end up spending much more time on something than you had anticipated. My mother had a great expression, “Leave your time at the other end, Marsha!” What she meant was to do things first instead of waiting to the last minute, so that you can give the right amount of time to the task at hand, and avoid last minute pressures.
Group like tasks.
Another way to be very productive is to group similar things and do them in the same window of time. Examples include returning phone calls, paying bills, running errands, prospecting, writing thank you notes, etc. etc.
Minimize interruptions.
Interruptions are very costly. It is not only what is interrupting you, but the fact that you are interrupted. It takes you time to recover from every interruption so if you want to double your productivity, minimize those interruptions! Close your door, go to the library, close down your computer screen, put your phone on do not disturb, or just don’t answer it…
Manage digital distractions.
Digital distractions have become the primo interrupter of our age. Turn them off! Take the reins of your digital delivery and receive your digital notices when YOU want them, not when they show up.
Schedule “me – meetings”
If you really want to double your productivity, setting a time where you can be very focused on specific tasks can be very useful. I like to call them “me meetings.” As with any other meeting that you would attend, you can’t answer the phone, you can’t get other work done, you can’t be interrupted. By setting up a “me meeting” you essentially have declared to yourself that you are going to spend 100% focus on the task at hand. No interruptions allowed! You’ll be amazed at how much you get done.
Defer – defer – defer.
Some things just don’t have to be done immediately. Many of us have a tendency to want to respond immediately to those requests that are asked of us. It is human nature to want to give good customer service, and to please those who need help. Sometimes instead of saying “no,” it’s useful to say “not now.” “Not now” means that you will get to it, but you will get to it in its appropriate time. By organizing your work, and fitting the right tasks into the right time slots, you will be able to be more productive. Deferring, in and of itself, is not bad – it’s actually a sign of excellent organizational skills.
Delegate.
Just remember, you don’t have to do it all. Whether you delegate to people who work for you, whether you assign tasks to your children at home, whether you outsource, another way to get things done and be more productive is to have others help you.
Don’t do it.
And finally, there are some things that just don’t need to be done. These are the “C priorities,” and the world will not suffer if the task does not get done. Sometimes it is very healthily to decide to NOT do it, rather than to just let the task fade away. It almost feels like you have checked something off of your to do list! Yes, this is a strategy for doubling your productivity…
