Maximizing Productivity & Time Management Strategies
Have you wondered what the best ways are to manage your time and be the most productive you’ve ever been? If you have been feeling like you need a boost in your life to maximize your time and workflow, this blog post covers some of the best advice and tips on ways you can work more efficiently and make sure that you are spending your days doing activities and tasks that move the needle in your business.
Tip #1: Analyze What You Are Currently Doing
A mentor of mine emphasized the importance of analyzing the work that you do and brought up an activity that you can do to track how you are spending your time. He introduced something called Time Study to me. It’s when every 15 minutes, you record exactly what you are working on and then, in the end, categorize these tasks into things such as strategic work, executional work, personal time, and more. By doing this, you’re able to reflect on what percentage of your time and day is spent on a certain activity.
From here, you can identify energy boosters and drainers! My mindset coach, Helen and I, worked on this exact exercise where I determined the energy boosters and drainers in my life are things in my day-to-day life that I shouldn’t be attending to or working on. Organizing the tasks I have been doing into these two areas allowed me to establish boundaries on what I am available and not available for going forward. So for example, if there was a task that I didn’t necessarily need to be working on or things that others would ask of me that I knew I wasn’t going to be available for, I learned to say no and make sure that I was focussing on things that were necessary for my workday. This is important because being able to have a prepared “no” response on work that you know is not essential to you allows you to plan your workload in a more efficient and time-conscious manner. Keep in mind that you don’t want to be overwhelming yourself, especially with work that will be an energy drainer in your day!
Tip #2: Plan The Workload You Have
A tool that I love using for myself and the Recloseted team is ClickUp. This tool helps you strategically plan out and organize all the tasks that need to be completed in the day and upcoming weeks or even months! This tool will allow you to plan and be realistic about what you can and can’t accomplish by laying it all out– and you can customize/organize it to how you see fit for you and your business.
Another thing you can do is set goals for your business. Specifically:
Yearly goals
Quarterly goals
Monthly goals
Weekly goals
Daily goals
This will help you outline exactly what you are striving for short term and long term. By doing this, you can commit to these specific goals at hand so that you aren’t experiencing “shiny object syndrome” where you can get distracted with other tasks and goals that you don’t necessarily need to be putting your time toward. Only focus on the things that will make an impact on your annual, quarterly, or monthly goals!
As you get more experienced, you’ll know exactly how long things take and you can time block in your calendar to rundown how much you can realistically get done in a day, week, and month. Be mindful when setting deadlines to ensure that they’re realistic and you don’t discourage yourself if you’ve taken on too much.
Tip #3: Plan Around Your Menstrual Cycle
After reading Alissa Vitti’s In The Flo, I learned that women have two different systems — the circadian rhythm which is when we sleep and wake up, and the infradian rhythm which is the menstrual cycle. Did you know, that during various parts of a woman’s period, they can be better primed to do certain things? Interestingly, the fertile period is the best time to be social! This can mean it's the best time for you to be attending meetings, execute negotiations, and more. I like to track my period using the app Clue which outlines my cycle for me and I can track my workflow accordingly. Give this cycle tracking a shot and see if it works for you.
Tip #4: Calendar Tips
Something that works for me is batching my meeting days. Knowing in advance when my meetings will be, allows me to stay organized and make time to get work done. Additionally, if you don’t have a secretary, setting up a calendar scheduling tool such as Calendly will help save you time when booking meetings so that you don’t have to go back and forth deciding on a time that works for you and the person you need to meet with. Once I’ve planned out my meetings and important dates, I like to solidify three “thinking days” every month. I take this time to strategize and think about the things I want to be doing going forward. This is a great way to reflect– especially during those hectic weeks and months.
Tip #5: Set Yourself Up For Success
Lastly, figure out a self-care, morning, and night/sleep routine that works best for you. Having this system in your day will ensure that you don’t burn out, which is so important to protect both your physical and mental health. You don’t want to constantly be tired from non-stop work! Make sure that you are setting aside a good routine that will help energize you and motivate you each day to strive toward success and happiness in your work life.
