If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. — Bruce Lee
I think we can all relate to this quote. There’s nothing worse than just being unable to get anything done, especially when you’re faced with a mound of tasks. We’ve all been there on the couch or in our bed, knowing what’s good for us, but seemingly unable to do it.
What is productivity? Is it how you spend your time? Is it dependent on the outcomes of your time spent? Can you control it?
Entrepreneurs are known for marching to the beat of their own drum. What this means is you’ll have to answer the above questions for yourself. A productive day for you will look distinctly different than someone else’s productive day. Part of productivity is finding out how you how you tick and using it to your advantage.
Ever hear of operant conditioning? It’s a term coined by renounced psychologist B.F. Skinner and gives some insight to why we procrastinate in the first place. Operant conditioning refers to how we are subconsciously trained to avoid or pursue a task based on its outcomes in the past. If something causes you to feel happy and relaxed, you would probably do it more often compared to a task that leaves you feeling stressed.
This gives you an insight why it’s so hard to do things you know you have to do. Making cold calls may be perfect for your business and lead to bigger opportunities for you, but it can make you feel nervous, rejected and maybe a bit sad while you’re doing it. The next time you think about cold calling your subconscious brings up these feelings and deters you away from the task. You find all sorts of excuses not to do it, despite the potential rewards.
Is this a defensive mechanism? Is this our ego’s way of trying to protect us from perceived danger? Whatever it is, it’s unacceptable when you’re running your own business. If you desire success in your business, you’ll need to take a focused, disciplined approach to getting things done. Here are some tips:
Just Start
Simply just starting a task will make it easier to keep going. Spend a focused 30 minutes just starting a task that you’ve been procrastinating on. You’ll notice when you think about it later; there will be less anxiety associated with your thoughts. It will be a bit uncomfortable at first, but just starting a task will subconsciously spur you to keep going.
Get Some Exercise
Plain and simple: exercising will make you more productive. When done consistently, exercising promotes healthy blood flow to your brain, which makes you sharper. Regular exercise improves your mental health and increases the production of serotonin, which is a chemical that makes you happy.
Exercising regularly will help you better deal with stressful situations and better control your emotions and your mood. Exercise makes you more alert and gives you the energy to perform at your highest level.
Small changes help you be more consistent. Even if it’s just 5 or 10 minutes a day, try and spend some time getting your heart rate up. Cardio or aerobics are the most beneficial types of exercise to promote healthy blood flow and help you stay alert. If you can commit to 2 consistent weeks of exercising, you’ll notice a spike in your productivity levels. Try it!
Pinpoint Distractions And Get Rid Of Them
You can’t afford to be distracted by instant messaging or social media and expect to get things done at the same time. Whatever your poison is, you’ll need to identify quickly it and take steps to eliminate it. Things like leaving your phone in a different room, turning on airplane mode and only checking your email at specific times will help reduce the number of distractions your brain is exposed to.
It’s also important to change your mindset regarding your distractions. Don’t fall into the instant gratification trap. Remember that all the things you enjoy distracting yourself with will be available during your breaks or once you’re done your work. Try not to think of yourself as “not being able” to enjoy the things you like, but instead, you will enjoy them during the time you have set specifically for relishing those things. Balancing the time you’ve set aside for work and play is key to achieving productivity in your business life.
Try and think about the biggest thing you can do to increase productivity and move your business forward. From here you can decipher what’s getting in your way and map out a plan of concrete actions for yourself. It’ll be easier to avoid distractions when you’re working towards a clear and focused goal.
Spend One Day A Week Doing Administration Work
The anxiety that leads to procrastination can be curbed with planning. When you plan your months, weeks and days, you’ll find that they go smoother, and you’ll have fewer concerns about what needs to be done. When you don’t have a plan, you move haphazardly and spend most of your day putting out fires and reacting (instead of responding) to situations. The clearer your end goal is on a daily basis; the more apparent the tasks you need to accomplish will be.
An administration is a common area that stifles the productivity of a lot of entrepreneurs. Menial tasks such as invoicing, taxes and organizing business documents are tedious but they must be done if you’re business is to keep running.
Setting aside one day a week for administration work will help you chip away at what’s required of you on the business end. Having all your administration needs in order helps your business run smoothly and frees up time for you to work on money-making activities.
Protect Your Time
If you’re not careful, meetings can be a vortex for your time. Sometimes meetings don’t have a clear focus, which makes it a waste of time for both parties. It’s also common to have to endure “the meeting before the meeting”, which could’ve easily been done via phone or Skype, this can waste your time if you’re not careful.
One way to alleviate this is to schedule all your meetings on the same day. This will help you save time and give you more opportunities to work on your business. For example, if you’re looking to hire people you can schedule 1 full day of interviews where you meet everyone at the same coffee shop. Not only will you have a productive day, but you also won’t have to worry about travel time or confused meeting objectives.
When you set aside specific times for specific tasks, your time can never really be wasted. Even if someone doesn’t show up, your schedule for that day isn’t thrown off. This goes to show the importance and usefulness of planning. Instead of running around to meetings all week, consolidate it to one or two days a week. This is part of time management, which is key to productivity.
All in all, eliminating productivity has a lot to do with understanding operant conditioning. If you perceive a task to be negative, you will subconsciously make it hard for yourself to start even. Being productive can feel different every day, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. If you can master your outlook on what you have to do each day, you can avoid falling into the procrastination trap. Flexibility and self-discipline will be your best tools for controlling your time.