How
To Get More Done In Less Time
The
Best Trick I Know To Improve Your Productivity
From
the desk of Timothy A. Gross
Gee,
isn't being your own boss great? You can do stuff when you
want to, there's nobody cracking the whip to make you work
and get things done, you're free to...
Piddle
Away Your Time Ineffectively
And Not Get Stuff Done Like You Should!
A
huge percentage of people have a terrible time getting motivated
to get work done without a boss or some actual deadline
for when they need to finish something.
With
twenty different things that need your attention and feeling
overwhelmed with so much to do, what happens is that you
get less done because you lose your focus.
Setting
Artificial Deadlines
The
first trick to making yourself productive is to
set written deadlines for yourself on projects
(or on getting pieces of a project done) even if there are
no "real" deadlines you need to meet.
The
second trick is to create real deadlines
by announcing a launch date for a product you're working
on. Nothing forces you to kick your own butt in gear like
putting out an announcement to your list saying, "On
March 1st I'm going to be releasing my new product on __________,
stay tuned for an announcement on how you can get it at
a special pre-release price of 50% off."
...And
then start freaking out as the deadline gets closer and
you're not done.
The
result? -You work harder than you would have to
meet that announced deadline.
The
third trick - And this is the one I consider to
be the most crucial - is to break your day into finite sections
of time, each section focused on a specific project or topic,
and use a timer to adhere to your schedule.
It
won't work unless you get a physical count-down timer
with an alarm (preferrably a digital one that doesn't
"tick" to distract you).
Here's
how you do it:
First,
never work more than 45-50 minutes at a time without
a break, no matter what. So if you plan on working
on one project for 2 hours, break it into 2-3 sessions.
Even
if you're in the middle of something, when the timer
goes off, STOP. Take 10-15 minutes off as a break...
You deserve it, and more importantly, you need
the psychological break it gives you. |
|
Maybe
this is your potential workday:
If
you've never tried working with a timer, I think you'll
be very surprised what it does for your productivity.
Don't
use a stopwatch that just tells you how long you've worked
on something. Use a countdown timer with an alarm
that counts down to your break.
Psychologically
it re-orders things in your head so that an enormous amount
of work is "chunked" into easy to handle pieces,
and the forced breaks make it feel like you're not
even working that hard...
But
the BIG TRICK is that by forcing yourself to take 10-15
minute breaks every hour, you'll get way more
done than just trying to work non-stop for hours
on end.
It
might not make sense, but try it for yourself and you'll
see. You'll be amazed at the results!
To
your success, Tim Gross
P.S.
- If you work a job during the day and do entrepreneurial
work at night, everything still applies. Just start your
time-clock at 8 p.m. (or whenever), give yourself specific
tasks and time frames, and have it. It keeps you on-task,
keeps you focused, and keeps you productive.
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