13 Steps to make your day more productive

If you are an entrepreneur, you are really hard pressed of time. You have to be the attend the calls, you have to attend the meetings, you have to do the business development, you have to run the office; in short, this is your baby and you have make it grow strong. In this quest, you find that a lot has been done but even more is left to be done. With every passing day, your diary becomes even more chock-a-block and you don’t know how to correct it. Below given is following steps, which will help you to re-arrange your work, life and make it more productive:

1.       Start your day early: Start your day before your network of people starts their day. Be at least one hour earlier than them. It is almost like boxing match, where, if you are on the equal footing than your opponent, first punch will give you the winning advantage.

2.       Put your phone on silent mode for one hour: Since you will spend this one hour for planning your day, you need no distraction and you will agree with me that along with being a big utility tool, mobile phones are big distraction. So, put that distraction away from you for one hour.

3.       Let your network know about your schedule: People may not be aware about keeping your phone silent for one hour and they may call you during that period. If they are informed about your practice, then they may not bother you, unless and until, there is something very urgent.  

4.       To Do List- Your First Job: Your first job in the morning should be to make the list of work to be done that day. Make a bucket list first and arrange it by priority.

5.       Set Specific Goals: While making the list of work to be done during the day, make specific goals, so get the specific results. If you write down that you have to go for a business development meeting, then it won’t give you a clear picture at the time of meeting. You should very specifically about time of the meeting, person concerned for the meeting, objective of the meeting etc. It will help you to set your priorities and points right during the meeting.  

6.       Shoot the work down to be done by others: Yes, before you start your work, you must allocate the work to be done by others. If you put the ball in somebody else’s court, then responsibility to hit or leave the ball will rest with him and you will have time to focus on your strategy. If you engage the workforce in your network in the work as you have planned, then they will be busy in acting according to you and allow you the time to concentrate on your work.

7.       Check your mail quickly within 30 minutes: After doing above points, check your mails and priority wise, answer it within 30 minutes. After that stay away from emails till the evening.

Above 7 points must be done in the extra one hour you have given yourself by starting early. And now you get down to doing your work. But, that’s not all, there is something more for you to adhere to.

8.       Strike down the completed work from ‘to do list’: As you keep finishing your work, keep striking down it from the list. At the end of the day, you will be able to figure out how many of the planned work you have been able for finish.

9.       Write down the result of each work; may be just couple of line: Writing down the result of each work should be part of work plan, so that you will be able to match up the expectation with the result.

10.     Check and respond your day’s mail in last one hour of the day: As the day will progress, you will also keep getting the mails. Don’t let it distract you. Stick to your schedule and answer it in last one hour of your work schedule.

11.   Review your performance: Before pulling down the shutter for the day, quickly review the day’s work. Today’s left out must be your tomorrow’s priority, so that it is not left out forever.

12.   Get somebody to hold you accountable: Common; we are human and we sometime hide inside the cocoon of our incompetency or lethargy. So, we need to pulled out of it by somebody. Get somebody who will hold you accountable for non-delivery of results.

13.   Plan for tomorrow: Now, you will say that from where it is coming. Yes, pre-empt the opposition by thinking that what they will think for you tomorrow. Be pro-active and see the result

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

-          By Mukul