5 Easy Ways To Increase Your Productivity & Manage Your Time

Please, for the love, stop wasting your time on unproductive activities. Your time is the most valuable resource that you have. It’s time to increase your productivity and manage your time like a productivity rockstar.

Are you finding that you're not as productive as you'd like? If so, don't worry – you're not alone. Many people struggle with managing their time and getting everything they need to do. However, there are some things that you can do to increase your productivity and better manage your time. This post will explore five easy ways to do just that.

One: Plan Your Week and Days.

The best way to manage your time is to focus on the most important tasks first. Yes, I’m talking to you self-proclaimed procrastinators out there. If my sister reads this, she knows I’m talking to her.

I’m not going to lie; this can be difficult because you’ll have thoughts that will try and talk you out of doing the hard things.

Yep, you will prefer to do the easy tasks instead of the important activities that will make a difference in your life and business. Those are the ones that push you outside your comfort zone and into looming failure. That's okay; do it anyway.

First, do a mind sweep to identify the tasks that are hanging around in your mind.

David Allen provides a mind sweep list in the book, Getting Things Done. He also has a YouTube video walking you through the prompts.
Here is the link.

Once you have a list, schedule a time on your calendar to complete it.

Make a deal with yourself that it’s not a negotiation. If you struggle with this, I recommend you check out The Life Coach School they Monday-Hour One training which is amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

In the blog post, How Do You Manage The Busy In Your Life, I talk about scheduling the big rocks; here is the link.

Essentially, you first add all your big non-negotiable items to your calendar, the big rocks.

Followed by the tasks that must get done that week. Each task is assigned a day and time that will be worked on and completed during that timeframe. This is where your mindset comes into play right here. You will believe what you tell yourself; believe that you can.

These focus blocks allow you to manage your time by setting a non-negotiable deadline.

The goal of focus blocks is to ensure that you complete your tasks on time. If you find that you procrastinate and struggle to complete your tasks on time, do this.

I speak from experience with this one friend.

I’ve always put my tasks in calendar blocks, but what I didn’t do was tell myself it was possible to finish them in this focus block of time. That’s a game-changer.

Two Set Goals.

You may be wondering why I suggest you set goals to Increase Your Productivity & Manage Your Time. Setting goals help you to stay focused on the things that matter most to you.

Let’s say you’re working to grow your online business organically by creating new long-form content for your blog each week.

You’ve scheduled this first thing in the morning. A reminder has popped up for you to write your blog post.

At that moment, your mind attempts to rebel; you can get it back on track by asking yourself if you would rather honor your commitment to growing your business or sit on the sofa, drink coffee, and read your book.

This may or may not be a real-life example.

Which choice will make you proud, and which choice will leave you with regret? It’s your choice, so own it.

Three: Where Do You Waste Time

Do you have a good idea of where your time is spent?

If you get to the end of the day and look back you have no clue what you accomplished, you need to do a time audit. Hear me on this, in order to increase your productivity and manage your time, you need to understand all the little time wasters in your day.

Seriously, who knew it could take ten minutes to open up the door and let the dogs outside?

It can; I’m not even teasing you.

Where are you losing those ten minutes throughout your day? Figure out your time wasters and have the plan to either not engage Hello Instagram or have a timer set to avoid getting lost in time.

I’ve heard of this referred to as time blind. It has to be real if it has a name and research behind it, right?

Four: Create repeatable workflows

In the past, I’ve created fancy Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) they work great.

What I’ve found easier for my team and me is to create repeatable workflows.

I use Clickup for this; however, Asana and Notion are perfect options to increase productivity.

The simplest way I’ve found to create repeatable workflows is by screen recording as the work is done, having it transcribed, and then creating a template in a project management system.

It is nice that all the conversations and questions the team has on the process can be asked inside the project management system, so you’ll know exactly what they aren’t picking up and what you’ll need to change.
Repeatable workflows allow you to always know the next step and approximately how long it will take you to finish it.

What else does a workflow help with you’ll never miss a task because you have all the tasks in front of you? In turn, you'll be less likely to make decisions or backtrack, resulting in increased productivity.

Five: What are you able to delete or delegate?

Really, are you the only person that can do the task? Be honest with yourself.
If you want to Increase Your Productivity & Manage Your Time, you ought to answer this truthfully. So often, when I work with business owners, they think they are the only ones that can do the work. I hear excuses such as training someone will take too much time. Or it’s just not possible I’m the only one that can do it. I think business owner holds on to things they should let go of for far too long.

If a repeatable workflow can be set up for a task, it absolutely must be delegated. Think of all the extra time you’ll have to focus on the creative work or your clients.
When you review all the tasks on your list, ask yourself if you’re the best person to do that job.

Would you be able to hire someone for $20 an hour to do the work? How many $20 tasks are you doing?

When learning to manage your time, you should track how long it takes you to do the work. Multiply all that time by the amount you'd receive if you work one-on-one with a client. You'll quickly discover that the math does not add up to success in your online business.
Is this task necessary? Maybe this is a task that you’ve always done. Make sure to question if it is still necessary.

As your online business evolves, so should your tasks. Understand why you’re doing the task and how it affects your productivity, time, and small business's bottom line.