In my last blog we put productivity into context, by trying to put a value on our time. Once we know what each hour we spend doing things is worth, we can then understand the true cost of not getting the right stuff done; the high payoff activities.
If you’ve followed my blogs so far, you will know the value of each hour you work, or if you’re like me, every minute. But now I want to look at the unproductive attitudes that might hinder your ability to get to grips with managing your time more effectively.
Now bear with me, it’s a big topic. The first area where problems may exist is your attitude towards planning and goal-setting. Our programmes ensure participants develop new actions and behaviours to guarantee a permanent change in the way they approach life and work, but this requires a shift in attitude.
It’s important you concentrate your valuable time on high priority activities. Sounds obvious I know, but the quickest and most effective way to increase your personal productivity is to spend time doing stuff that gets you closer to your goals.
See, not only obvious, but simple too. Spend time on work that matters, or you will get swamped by trivial stuff that although often enjoyable, will ultimately not bring your goals closer. It’s true you might be able to solve the problems and challenges you face within your business, but someone whose time is less valuable than yours, might also be able to find the answer.
By concentrating your efforts on high priority activities, the marketing plan or sales meeting, rather than designing a new email footer, you will also benefit from empowering your team as you delegate more tasks to them. Added responsibility will help you see the next generation of leaders within your team and potentially find genuine sources of concern that requires training to address.
This is not passing the buck. We all know that sometimes it’s quicker and easier to do a job yourself, than explain to someone else how to do it. But that’s not the point, you might only have to explain it once, so you never have to do it again. And the person you empower with this responsibility, might just work out a better, cheaper, quicker or more efficient way to complete the task too.
Of course, passing tasks on and delegating to your team requires self-discipline. It will be tough at the start, but the more you delegate, the easier it becomes and the more focus you can devote to stuff that matters.
Once you know what it is you must do, don’t let distractions or interruptions destroy your concentration. You must be disciplined and only give activities the time they deserve, before you move to the next one, or pass it for completion to another team member – you know, once you’ve done the hard bit!
In many respects, your new mantra should be ‘good enough will do’. Don’t strive for perfection and waste a lot of time with minor details, when you had it about 90% right within the time you had allowed yourself to complete the task. If you are a perfectionist this will be both scary and liberating.
That’s enough to think about for now. In the next blog, we will look at the ways you can guarantee to get more tasks completed, just by starting them and how you become a real goal-setting ninja. If you want a chat about any of the issues I’ve covered in my blogs, please get in touch.
In my last blog we put productivity into context, by trying to put a value on our time. Once we know what each hour we spend doing things is worth, we can then understand the true cost of not getting the right stuff done; the high payoff activities.
If you’ve followed my blogs so far, you will know the value of each hour you work, or if you’re like me, every minute. But now I want to look at the unproductive attitudes that might hinder your ability to get to grips with managing your time more effectively.
Now bear with me, it’s a big topic. The first area where problems may exist is your attitude towards planning and goal-setting. Our programmes ensure participants develop new actions and behaviours to guarantee a permanent change in the way they approach life and work, but this requires a shift in attitude.
It’s important you concentrate your valuable time on high priority activities. Sounds obvious I know, but the quickest and most effective way to increase your personal productivity is to spend time doing stuff that gets you closer to your goals.
See, not only obvious, but simple too. Spend time on work that matters, or you will get swamped by trivial stuff that although often enjoyable, will ultimately not bring your goals closer. It’s true you might be able to solve the problems and challenges you face within your business, but someone whose time is less valuable than yours, might also be able to find the answer.
By concentrating your efforts on high priority activities, the marketing plan or sales meeting, rather than designing a new email footer, you will also benefit from empowering your team as you delegate more tasks to them. Added responsibility will help you see the next generation of leaders within your team and potentially find genuine sources of concern that requires training to address.
This is not passing the buck. We all know that sometimes it’s quicker and easier to do a job yourself, than explain to someone else how to do it. But that’s not the point, you might only have to explain it once, so you never have to do it again. And the person you empower with this responsibility, might just work out a better, cheaper, quicker or more efficient way to complete the task too.
Of course, passing tasks on and delegating to your team requires self-discipline. It will be tough at the start, but the more you delegate, the easier it becomes and the more focus you can devote to stuff that matters.
Once you know what it is you must do, don’t let distractions or interruptions destroy your concentration. You must be disciplined and only give activities the time they deserve, before you move to the next one, or pass it for completion to another team member – you know, once you’ve done the hard bit!
In many respects, your new mantra should be ‘good enough will do’. Don’t strive for perfection and waste a lot of time with minor details, when you had it about 90% right within the time you had allowed yourself to complete the task. If you are a perfectionist this will be both scary and liberating.
That’s enough to think about for now. In the next blog, we will look at the ways you can guarantee to get more tasks completed, just by starting them and how you become a real goal-setting ninja. If you want a chat about any of the issues I’ve covered in my blogs, please get in touch.