How to be more productive: 10 tricks for time-poor traders
How to be more productive: 10 tricks for time-poor traders
For business owners, time is the most important commodity after money, so the phrase “time is money” is especially true for marketers and since there are only 24 hours in a day, it is crucial that you learn how to use the hours in your day more efficiently, save time and hopefully make more money.
There is a lot of information out there on how to be more productive, most of it aimed at the general public. However, in this article we present you with the top 10 productivity hacks for marketers, which you can put into practice immediately to get measurable results.
Start early and adopt good habits
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What do Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and former US First Lady Michelle Obama have in common? They all start their day before dawn, and have thus discovered one of the key secrets to being more productive. Hundreds of studies have shown that waking up early increases productivity, and so do hundreds of entrepreneurs around the world.
One of the reasons why starting your day early improves productivity is because your willpower is greatest in the early hours of the morning. According to an article published in Entrepreneur, willpower is a muscle that fatigues with overuse. As you deal with difficult people and decisions throughout the day, your willpower becomes depleted. This explains why many people find it easier to hit the gym in the morning than at night.
List the pending tasks to be completed
When you're trying to multitask, you're likely to forget something unless you write it down. To-do lists are a cornerstone of entrepreneurship, allowing you to see exactly what tasks need to be done and how to prioritize them.
The reason many successful entrepreneurs claim that to-do lists have saved their lives is because they work. There are many ways to organize a to-do list; some people prefer to start with the most difficult and leave the easiest for last. As you begin each day, write the most difficult and pressing task at the top of the list and get it done before moving on to the next task on the list.
Another method is to list them in order of importance. What task would really affect your livelihood if not done today? These could be seemingly small tasks, like paying your internet or electricity bill, but if not done, your business will not be able to function.
When making to-do lists, it's important to break down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks so that the list can be effective. Just like when writing goals, it doesn't make sense to say, "I want to run a marathon in six months." Instead, you should break that goal down into smaller goals, such as how many miles you'll need to run each week, and what days you plan to run them if you want to reach that goal. If an item on your list isn't a specific, actionable task, break it down into smaller parts that can be done in sequence, and you'll find that you'll get more done that way.
Eliminate the clutter
It's hard to focus on the tasks at hand when there's clutter around you, so keep your workspace organized, whether it's a desk for your ecommerce business or the product displays in your brick-and-mortar store. Cleaning up your workspace and keeping it organized is one of the quickest and easiest ways to improve productivity. Clutter leads to a scattered mind; it's impossible to complete a task when your desk is covered in papers.
Likewise, if you're an online merchant, digital clutter can be just as damaging, so make sure your computer desktop is tidy and your files are organized and easy to find. When it comes to your online store, your customers should be able to navigate it easily and your website manager should be easy to use.
Image credit: Happy Body Formula
Avoid interruptions
Although smartphones are one of the most useful gadgets ever invented, and many people admit they can't live without one, they can also be a huge source of distraction. And I'm not just talking about social media and Candy Crush - calls, texts and emails are equally distracting.
So, to optimize your productivity, it's best to avoid checking your phone and email inbox until the end of the day. A survey conducted by Deloitte on mobile consumption in Spain found that more than 50% of mobile device users check their phones during the first fifteen minutes of the day. The problem with this, according to Psychology Today magazine, is that you're conditioning your mind to stay in a reactive state, which can easily lead to a bad start to the day.
During the day, don't answer phone calls and let them go to voicemail. This way, you won't lose track of your most important activities that can actually generate revenue for your business. When you're focused on your most important tasks, consider putting your phone away, where you can't see it and won't remember it's there. After all, even the slightest buzz of a phone on vibrate can be distracting. In short, it can take time to get used to not checking your phone the minute you wake up or ignoring unimportant calls during the day, but it's a habit worth practicing.
Focus on one task at a time
Getting things done can feel like a chore when your to-do list is long and every time you cross off a completed task, two more are added to the list. You may not even know where to start, so you end up trying to kill several birds with one stone. But if you want to learn how to be more productive, that means you have to learn how to focus on one activity at a time.
Experts say that multitasking can be counterproductive and that entrepreneurs in retail should focus on finishing one task at a time. This may mean spending two hours solely working on inventory and then taking an hour to focus on staff work shifts, as there is no way to finish staff schedules efficiently while devoting part of your attention to inventory at the same time.
Controlling your attention is about dealing with distractions effectively, to generate faster and better quality results.
Use a time management system
Managing time efficiently is a skill that takes time to develop, so it may be wise to seek help when you're just starting out as an entrepreneur. In this regard, there are a variety of time management apps and software that can help you exercise conscious control to avoid switching from one task to another. Some time management systems, such as the Pomodoro technique and the Eisenhower system, are very popular among entrepreneurial entrepreneurs.
Automate and forget about it
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If you run your business alone, there's no way you can remember everything you need to do, or have the time to do it. That's why automation can be a great ally, as it can help you schedule repetitive and time-consuming tasks in advance so you don't have to deal with them yourself. There are many processes that merchants can automate.
For example, social media is an essential marketing and advertising platform for any marketer, but who has the time to tweet and post to Facebook and Instagram multiple times a day? There are plenty of tools out there, like Hootsuite and Buffer, that will help you manage and schedule your social media channels. You have to pay for some of these services, but it's better than waking up on a Thursday and realizing you haven't posted on Twitter in two weeks.
Outsource and delegate
As an entrepreneur, trying to do everything yourself is unsustainable, even if you automate a number of tasks. Therefore, one way to learn to be more productive is by eliminating tasks from your list of responsibilities, plain and simple, which is why it is vital to outsource and delegate as many tasks as you can. Activities such as data entry and customer service can be outsourced at affordable prices. If you run an e-commerce site, but do not have the technical expertise to develop or redesign your website, hiring someone who can does it translates into a better use of your time.
You can add some free time to your day by hiring freelancers or contractors who can perform some of these tasks. Not sure where to start? Read our guide on how to outsource tasks for your retail business.
Take a break
Learning to be more productive also means slowing down, as counterintuitive as that may seem. To be good at what you do, and enjoy it, you need to take breaks. This doesn't just mean vacation days or sick days when you need them, but also taking short breaks throughout the day, too. An article in Fast Company magazine suggests that you view your workday as a series of short, quick sprints, rather than a marathon.
“It is better to work with full concentration for short periods of time, with breaks for rest, than to be partially focused for long periods of time,” the article states. “You can push yourself to the limit for short periods of time, as long as you know when to stop. And after a break, you can start running again.”
Never schedule meetings without having a clear agenda
Meetings can often be a huge waste of time and leave you feeling like nothing has been accomplished. That’s why it’s important to set a clear agenda in advance of each meeting and make sure that at the end there is a list of tasks and actions you need to take next.
Finally, make time for yourself. You have family and friends who want to see you, or perhaps children or a partner who wants your undivided attention. Entrepreneurs often feel like they should work as many hours as they can – after all, if you don’t work to meet your goals yourself, no one else will. But that approach isn’t the right one. Spending time away from the business allows you to rest your mind, so when you return you’ll be motivated to continue working hard.
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Original article written in English by Michelle da Silva