Entrepreneurship is not easy, in fact, I’m sure most small business owners will agree. As a small business owner, you can often find yourself wearing all the “hats” of the business. By this I mean you are ultimately responsible for every role that would ordinarily be filled by specialist people, things such as finance and accounting, sales and marketing, research and development,
Of course as your business grows, the people grow with it and you will eventually acquire specialists for these roles, nevertheless, as a business owner, you will always need to have a “hands-on” approach.
So how do you balance all these tasks and stay on top of your business?
Needless to say, you have to maximize your productivity. Here are 3 daily things that every entrepreneur should do to help maximize their productivity.
1. Optimize your brain
Life, in general, comes with its distractions and having the right focus at the right time is imperative to your success. For example, according to an article by the Independant, the average British attention span is just 14 minutes long. The harsh reality is if you have a short attention span, the odds are stacked against you. In entrepreneurship, you need to be able to focus.
Have you ever been in the middle of typing a lengthy email reply when your phone rings and it is a call you have to take, only to realize that you have a meeting to attend in 5 minutes? Keeping a proper track of your tasks and workload is a daily challenge for any entrepreneur. It is not just a case of having the right systems to manage these things, but also a case of being able to maintain your focus.
So it turns out that there are a bunch of plants and herbs that can help improve important things like your mood, memory, and focus. If you have ever seen the film Limitless, this is the sort of thing I am talking about. These compounds are known as nootropics and by definition, they are used to enhance your memory and other cognitive functions.
Collectively, there are a ton of different natural nootropics and synthetic smart drugs. While any compound that is identified as being nootropic will have a positive effect on your brain, each one has its own set of nuances and works in different ways.
Scientists have identified different frequencies that your brain can operate at. Each one of these frequencies is associated with a different set of behaviors. For example, delta brain waves are typically associated with deep REM sleep.
Nootropics can help change the frequency of your brain to put you in a mode where you experience heightened awareness and focus, feeling “switched-on”. If you’d like to find out more information you can read this ultimate guide to nootropics.
To improve your memory and focus supplement with a good all-round natural nootropic supplement, first thing in the morning to help catapult you into that delta brainwave frequency to become more productive.
2. Clearly Define Your Schedule
It is a well-established fact that business owners encounter no end of ad-hoc things to do, as well as a myriad of other unforeseen/unplanned tasks. When you are faced with a ton of different things to do, it is absolutely easy to end up doing a little of each without ever actually properly finishing any of them in a timely manner.
This piece-meal approach is just not effective and as an entrepreneur, you have to be consciously aware of not falling into this type of mismanagement. The key to being efficient is properly and thoroughly planning your time.
Make yourself a schedule and allocate certain days/times for each task accordingly. You will have to be disciplined because you are your own boss and no one will be there to tell you what to do, but if you don’t get stuff done – you are solely responsible.
Of course your schedule may change, and you may not always be able to adhere to it, but for the most part, make sure you do. In the long run, you will be more productive and this will pay off financially.
3. Make A To-Do List (EVERY NIGHT)
This may well sound like one of the simplest of tips, but do not underestimate the power of a to-do list. Once you have a working schedule in place, compiling a to-do list the night before is imperative for your next working day’s productivity.
Here are several benefits of creating a to-do list:
Creates Order
A to-do list helps bring structure and order to your working day. You can better manage projects using a to-do list by breaking each task up into smaller sequential milestones which makes sign off much easier and helps make the whole project management more seamless.
Improves accountability
To-do lists also improve accountability because they create a time-bound record of which tasks you delegated to who. Whether you have an internal team or are outsourcing to an external team, you absolutely need full accountability of each task.
Ensures continuity
How many times have you had the realization that you need to do something, only to get interrupted? I sure know when that when this happens to me, I almost always end up forgetting what it was I supposed to do. Making a to-do list means you have less information you have to hold in your head. You have a reference point right in front of you and you won’t ever forget it.
To-do lists aren’t just for writing on scraps of paper, yes, by all means, write your list down as you are thinking of it, but then take advantage of google sheets. Input everything into a sheet that you can share with your staff. You can even add in drop-down menu’s to track the status of a task at any given time.
Conclusion
If you follow my 3 daily tips, you will become a better entrepreneur, have an easier time running your business, and probably make more money. Perhaps you already do some of the things I suggested, or maybe you have some top tips for me? Either way, I would love to hear from you, so now it’s your turn – what are your favorite productivity tips and how have they helped you?
