Pareto’s Law states: Roughly 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort.
When you’re a small business owner that just won’t cut it; you’re either small staffed or single staffed and you need to make every moment count.
As a ‘One Person Show’, I’ve been doing a lot of research on how to be more productive and I’ll share some of what I’ve learned with you today.
Like most things, you’re not going to achieve anything unless you’ve got clearly defined goals (success points) and a plan to get there and this is no less important for daily tasks.
Everyone has their own way of organizing their day be it: a day planner, desk calendar, tasks app, hand written to-to lists or sticky notes; the key is to have a system that works, schedule everything and to remain focused on the immediate task at hand.
What’s the Next Action and is it Actionable?
David Allen suggests this simple decision process for all incoming tasks in his book Getting Things Done. Always ask “what’s the next action towards completing this task and is it immediately actionable?
Actionable in his view is – can I complete the task immediately (in less than 2 minutes)?
- If not, it gets filed. Trash, in a future file or scheduled for the day it specifically requires the action as in meetings or appointments.
- If yes (in less than 2 minutes) as in a simple answer to an email question, just get it done!
- If yes, but requires more time and you have someone to rely on, delegate it or schedule the next step for a later time.
- If yes, but you require input from another source, defer it to that person and schedule the “follow up” as your next step for a later time
- If yes, but it requires more than 2 minutes, schedule it for a later time
Projects can often seem overwhelming with the numerous steps and milestones before they’re completed, not to mention all the emails, meetings and reference material that you’ll receive during each step. This is where your organization and focus come in to play. As you receive something into your inbox, consider the next step, if it’s something you can do immediately, do it; if not, stay organized and schedule the next step farther down on the list. Ensure to keep all reference materials and emails in a project specific folder.
De-stimulate For Better Productivity
Scott Belsky, author of Making Ideas Happen and co-creator of Behance Inc. an online portfolio platform for creative professionals, says that we live a life of “reactionary workflow” – meaning that with the onslaught of stimulating or distracting communications we spend our lives reacting to the last email, phone call, tweet, Facebook post etc. He suggests scheduling a “window of non-stimulation” where you turn off all communication devices; email, phone, Twitter, Facebook etc. in order to achieve maximum productivity on your most important daily tasks will help to make you more productive.
For those who have willpower troubles, there are programs and apps like http://macfreedom.com/ and http://getcoldturkey.com/ that can help you by restricting your access to the internet.
Tim Ferriss in his book The 4-Hour Workweek say that we should only check our email at two scheduled times per day. Combining this with a “no multitasking” principle disables the email distraction.
He also explains that “people distractions” should be kept to a minimum. When someone stops by your workspace, don’t allow them to “Oh, you’re busy, I’ll come back later” have them fully explain what it is they need from you. Then using Allan’s principle of deciding whether it can be done within 2 minutes or not you’ll better decide whether it is something that can be done immediately or not. If it can’t be immediately taken care of, you should request that they send you an email with a full explanation (not a mere “Re: our discussion”) so that you can give it the attention it deserves later.
The Myth of Multitasking
Contrary to popular belief, most of us suck at multitasking. Researchers at the University of Utah conducted a study in which they asked participants to take tests involving memorization and math computational skills. Afterwards they were asked to complete questionnaires about impulsivity and sensation seeking and to rate their own ability to multi-task. 70 per cent of participants rated themselves as above average at multi-tasking, but previous studies have shown only about 50 per cent of the population has been found to have good multi-tasking skills.
Those who demonstrated the highest ability to multi-task were less likely to do it. People with high levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking were more likely to attempt multi-tasking, and those who multi-task more often have greater difficulty in blocking out distractions and focusing on a single task.
Stay organized, eliminate distractions, stop trying to multitask and asking yourself what’s the next action will go a long way to ensuring you’re using your time and efforts wisely when you’re trying to get it all done as a one person show!
What Ways Do You Use to Stay Productive?
Share them with us in the comments below.