Disclaimer: Gabriel Nwatarali, from Tech Help Canada, submitted this entry. The author’s views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Cloud Books.
22 Awesome Productivity Tips for Small Business Owners
In an age where distractions reign supreme, staying productive has become a lot harder to do. This is particularly evident for business owners or entrepreneurs who are responsible for most of their day-to-day operations. These 22 actionable productivity tips for small business owners may be just what you need to take your productivity to the next level.
In truth, many of us try several times to become more productive and fail at it before we got it right. Implementing just some of these productivity tips will be beneficial.
1. Commit to Becoming More Productive
The first step in any goal is to commit and productivity is no different. You have to commit to becoming a more productive person.
You’ll need to be dedicated to your goal and the activities that are necessary to meet it.
2. Focus on Income Producing Activities
What are the activities that can make you money?
Focus on the activities that are needed to generate revenue for your business. Income producing activities may not generate income all the time but you have to be consistent.
Do you need to make cold calls? Can you reach out to potential clients on social media? Should you be sending “InMails” on LinkedIn?
These are only some examples of income producing activities.
Your focus should be balanced. There should be at least 50% focus on income generating activities and the other 50% on everything else.
3. Use The 2-Minute Rule
The two-minute rule crushes procrastination and can help you stick to good habits.
The general idea is that anything that will take 2 minutes or less should be completed right away. Whether it’s papers that need filling or a quick response to an email, you should do it if it will take 2 minutes or less.
Most of the tasks that we procrastinate about aren’t actually as time-consuming as we think they are. The 2-minute rule will help you start and finish tasks that you would normally put aside for later.
4. Set SMART Goals
SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
By setting SMART goals, you can manage expectations and increase the likelihood of being successful.
Specific – Your goal should be well defined.
Measurable – You should be able to measure success in some way.
Attainable – Make sure that your goal can be accomplished.
Realistic – Your goal should be within reason, available resource and time.
Timely – Make sure that you have enough time to archive the goal but never take too much time.
5. Use a Checklist
Checklists are old school but they still work. Before you start your day, make a checklist of the most important things that you need to do that day.
As you cross off things in your checklist, you may find that you get a huge sense of accomplishment. This is a good thing because it’ll make you happier throughout the day.
A checklist should keep you consistent and ensure the completeness of each task.
6. Make Time for Critical Things
This seems simple enough but more often than not, we fail to set time aside for really critical things like taxes. The result is that we end up having to rush our work.
Develop a habit of setting time aside for urgent or critical activities.
7. Create a Plan for Managing Your Time
No matter what kind of business you run, you should have a plan for managing your time. Decide on your day-to-day business operations and manage it effectively to increase productivity.
8. Use Tools to Boost Productivity
Use software like cloud books to help you improve productivity. Software tools are great for increasing the overall productivity of businesses.
Truly productive small businesses use tools to prioritize tasks, communicate clearly, delegate, for invoicing and record keeping. Tools also help employees produce more for the organization.
9. Schedule Things
You should schedule most things and only change your schedule if it’s important. Having a schedule will help you stay on track for completing your most important tasks for the day.
Give yourself some extra time to complete each task because as a business owner, you’re probably in the public eye and people may just want to talk to you.
10. Track Your Results
Tracking your results will help you measure your success and change things that may not be working.
11. Use Email Strategically
Do you need to respond to emails as soon as they arrive? Should you send an email or make a phone call?
Emails can take up a lot of your time if you don’t set boundaries. It may be a good idea to setup a very good auto responder and only check email once a day.
For other business people, it’s a good idea to ensure that you’re not sending out emails for things that can be easily solved by walking to a cubicle or an office.
12. Pick One Thing and Do That
Having a down and out day? Well, we all have these moments once in awhile. On days like this, you need to pick one thing and do it!
Pick the most important thing that you can do for your business that day and focus on that.
13. What’s Your Work Environment Like?
You can’t time manage effectively if your environment invites chaos.
Try to work in an environment that invites creativity and organization. If your work environment makes you feel like working a whole lot, it’s a good thing.
14. Create Sustainable Habits
Pick habits that you can sustain. It’s easy to tell yourself that you’ll be in every networking event in your city but is it sustainable?
When picking habits that will benefit your business, make sure that you can be consistent with it. Many things lose their effectiveness when they’re inconsistent.
15. Delegate Tasks
Delegation is arguably the earliest form of automation. By delegating tasks that are important or mundane, you can create time for the really important stuff like generating business income.
16. Avoid Procrastination
Easier said than done but procrastination can kill a business if it persists. As mentioned earlier, use the 2-minute rule to avoid procrastinating on those small but necessary tasks.
Whenever you feel like putting off an important task for later, remember that time doesn’t wait for you and tomorrow is never certain. This alone is a good enough motivator to start for most people.
17. Take Breaks
This is where many small business owners struggle!
As owners of businesses, we’re so accustomed to working that we often forget to take breaks. Whenever possible, take breaks after each task or set aside time for it.
Breaks can serve as creative fuel, a way for you to step back and give your mind room for more creativity.
If your work involves a lot of sitting down, breaks can help you avoid mental stagnation and being physically inactive.
18. Stay Organized
Organization is very important, especially in business. Avoid spending too much time looking for things by keeping your office space organized.
Additionally, a cluttered work environment can quickly make your mind feel cluttered too.
19. Prioritize Tasks
Prioritization allows you to focus on the most important tasks first. A good rule of thumb is to do the hardest tasks first.
20. Working “On” Your Business vs. “In” Your Business
Are you working on your business or in your business?
For many small business owners, they’re doing both and you may be too. Working in your business is necessary but spend at least 1 to 5 hours a week working on your business.
Working on your business involves making long-term investments. Things like finding ways to make your processes more efficient, developing systems and creating a vision.
21. Set Aside Time for Yourself
A business is a reflection of the owner or entrepreneur and if you’re not happy, it can hurt how you conduct business.
You should make time for yourself. Designate one day of the week where you can go and have fun doing something else. Whether it’s fishing, boating or binge watching your favorite TV shows, do it if it makes you happy.
22. Manage Your Expectations
Finally, you should manage your expectations!
We often want to accomplish a lot of things in one day but the reality is that we can end up hurting our productivity because we lose some focus.
Rushing to complete things quickly, often removes the focus required for it to be remarkable. Remember this whenever you’re tempted to over fill up your day.
Author Bio
Gabriel Nwatarali is a digital marketer and designer. He works as a consultant for businesses that want to improve their web presence. He is the founder of Tech Help Canada, a design and marketing agency. He currently resides in the beautiful city of Ottawa, ON. When he is not working, he is having fun with his passions – SEO, websites and logo design. (more…)