Productivity is a challenging but vital skill to develop for any business owners. With so many tasks, responsibilities and requirements, it is easy for everything to become a top priority. When every tasks is the most important it actually means that no task is the most important.
Business owners are inherently good at managing many tasks, but even the best multi-taskers will run out of time and energy. Understanding how to be the most productive and focus on the right tasks can help the bottom line, and has the added bonus of making you feel like you accomplished more.
We’ve gathered some of the best tips and tricks to help you maximize your productivity.
5 Productivity Hacks to Get Your Head in the Game
1. Get Your Sweat On
It’s important that business leaders take some time to get their blood pumping and their sweat dripping. Working out is actually a great way to stay productive.
You can’t afford to get sick. And staying active keeps the body in the best possible shape so it can fight off those nasty germs.
Similarly, blocking off time during the day to get moving is a great way to get the mind off the stresses of work. This way, the post-workout leader can come to the table refreshed and energized about the work they’re doing.
2. Automate Your Emails
Another way to stay focused and motivated is by automating emails. Business leaders can’t read and respond to every email.
They also can’t expect their team to do so either. So, integrating intuitive email automation technology can open up the door for more growth opportunities, giving teams more time and energy to focus on other, more pressing tasks.
MixMax is a great tool for automating emails, streamlining customer service support and keeping overall operations running smoothly. The application, seamlessly integrated with Gmail, allows you to offer a great level of personalization while still emailing at scale. For example, the application can integrate with your CRM so you can send personalized emails to prospects based on data like industry, likelihood to close, or last interaction. Automating smart emails may help you stay on top of relationships and out of your inbox. While these automations will help you save time, rolling email automations out to the entire sales or customer service team can lead to huge gains as a business.
3. Make Time for a Nap
This is another tip that all business leaders should be happy to hear. With the crazy hours that these positions entail, it’s almost impossible not to want to pass out on a futon around 3 p.m.
But, napping can actually boost productivity by giving the mind and body a much-needed rest. SietApp is a great tools to help entrepreneurs get those short naps in to boost productivity. The app monitors your sleep time and wakes you up at just the right time.
Managing a company is a 24-hour job, but a 20-minute power nap can actually break up the day and give leaders the chance to come up with a truly remarkable business growth idea during this downtime.
4. Keep a Short Checklist Handy
Checklists are a great way to stay organized and on-task, but you don’t want a checklist that’s a mile long. Organization is vital for productivity. Keep one list that has all of your tasks and then a smaller version that has just the most important tasks. Complete one important tasks every day to get momentum and save the less important tasks for later or delegate them. Evernote is a fantastic app that can keep you to-do lists organized by category and priority.
Making these lists gives leaders something to work towards, ensuring goals are met with ease and efficiency. Keep lists to only a few items to stay clear of overwhelming yourself or your team.
5. Manage Your Team Calendar
This one isn’t so much a hack as it is a business-must. Team calendars are a great way to keep everyone on the team on-task and productive. Rather than let meetings run your day, mark space to get tasks done. If you need time to prepare for a meeting, put that time on your calendar so it doesn’t get eaten up by other tasks. Calendaring can also be a way to timebox activities. For example, if you find you easily spend too much time in email, set a 15 minute event on your calendar. Only go through emails for that time before moving to more important tasks.
Employees can also see their leaders’ schedule to better adjust meetings and briefs for when they’re available. This saves time sending unnecessary emails, and it encourages an atmosphere of collaboration and communication that benefits business in the long run.
Hack Your Way to Productivity
It’s important that business leaders stay motivated, productive and energized.And with these simple tips and tricks, you can be sure your productivity will trickle down to the rest of your team.