How is it that some people can get 3x the amount of work done in one day as someone else? We all have the same amount of time in a day, but some people are productive machines that just know how to maximize every second.
“Focus on being productive instead of busy.”
– Tim Ferriss
One thing we cannot get more of is time. Time is your most valuable asset and simply cannot be wasted if you want to get the most out of life.
It's time you start feeling that sense of accomplishment everyday after being incredibly productive, while also having more time to spend doing the things you love.
15 Ways To Turn Yourself Into A Productive Machine:
1. Do the most dreaded, productive task first
Procrastination may not be an actual disease, but it seems to plague all of us some of, if not all the time. To combat this, you can do what many successful people do and get rid of your dreaded tasks first.
Once you get this task done, you will notice a more positive outlook towards the rest of your day. A lot of times, these dreaded tasks are the ones that are the most productive.
If you put them off all day, you could easily find an excuse not to do it and keep putting it off.
This not only keeps you from being as productive, but also keeps your outlook on the negative side because you are dreading having to do that task in the future.
Read more about procrastination and how it works here.
2. Don't put things on hold
If you are going to read an important email, respond to it right away. If you listen to an important voicemail, call them back right away. It takes more time out your day when you give your attention to something, stop, and then wait to give it more attention later.
Instead of putting off the inevitable, act on important emails, phone calls, questions, etc. the first time you receive them. This will save your valuable time and get them out of the way quickly.
3. Don't multitask
It has been proven that multitasking is a lot less productive than doing one thing at a time with your full focus. Multitasking is actually kind of an oxymoron because you really aren't getting two things done at once.
Instead you are doing two things slower, with less quality of work because your focus is divided. Learn to maintain complete focus on each task that must be done to complete them more efficiently with higher quality work.
4. Use technology for more production
Technology can either be good or bad, depending on how you use it. It can be distracting and lead to you wasting time checking Facebook, looking at the news, etc.
Or, it you can use it to filter emails for just the important ones you need to see immediately, help you keep track of business numbers, help you organize business ideas, set appointments for you, etc.
There are thousands of helpful extensions, apps and softwares you can use to automate certain tasks to make your day more productive.
Here are my top 25 Google Chrome Extensions for business productivity.
5. Say “No”
If you really want to be a production machine, you have to learn to say “no”. And I don't mean variations of “no” that seem nicer.
According to research from the University of California in San Francisco, the harder it is for you to say “no”, the more likely you are to be stressed out, depressed or burnt out.
Saying “no” will allow you to stay on track and finish what you are doing, keep your mood at a good level and avoid wasting time on things that don't matter.
FREE Ultimate Lifestyle Toolkit:
Learn How To Get More Out Of Life, Reach Your Goals, Have More Motivation, Bring Out Your Full Potential And Live The Life You've Always Dreamed Of.
6. Plan for tomorrow
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
– Alan Lakein
Don't leave the office until you have a plan in place for what needs to be accomplished tomorrow and how it will be done.
It won't take but a few minutes to do this and it will help you get off to a quick start tomorrow and not spend the morning figuring out what you have to do.
7. Keep meetings short and to the point
We all know how big of a waste of time meetings can be. But, that doesn't mean YOUR meetings should be that way. Your time is very important and if you want to be productive, don't let others take advantage of it.
Have a schedule for not only when the meeting will start, but when it will end. Keep it straight forward and get to the key points from the very start.
8. Set aside a certain time for emails
Randomly checking emails all the time can be one of the biggest production-killers of them all. Successful and productive people don't allow this to distract them though.
Instead, they set aside a certain period or two each day where they allow themselves to briefly check emails for anything important.
This ensures that you don't get distracted by them while working on something. You can even set certain alerts for emails from your most important contacts if needed.
9. Trust others and do your job
When you give people a job to do, let them do it. Don't worry about things you aren't in control of and don't act like you are always going to be the smartest person in your business.
If you trust the people you decided to work with, it allows you to focus on just doing what you are in charge of, resulting in more personal production.
10. Prioritize and isolate
When you start working everyday, you should be thinking about the top 3 or 4 tasks you can do that would create the biggest results. What would bring in the most sales?
What would boost traffic the most? What important tasks have deadlines coming up? After you figure those out, focus on them and minimize disruptions by isolating yourself until your finish.
Whether you work at home and have disruptive family members there or have an corporate office with people trying to ask you questions left and right, let them know you are not to be disturbed while you are working unless it is an emergency that cannot wait.
Conclusion
We all have the same 24 hours a day, but it can be hard to learn how to use it efficiently. Don't give into laziness or procrastination. Try to be as productive as possible in as little time as possible.
“Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.”
– Anne Frank
What is your go-to strategy for increasing personal production?
FREE Ultimate Lifestyle Toolkit:
Learn How To Get More Out Of Life, Reach Your Goals, Have More Motivation, Bring Out Your Full Potential And Live The Life You've Always Dreamed Of.
12 replies to "10 Ways To Turn Yourself Into A Productive Machine"
Technology has been great. With the advent of so many apps (some I have yet to hear about) it’s surprising that still so many people have a hard time organizing their day – or business. For example, for social media marketing I love to use Buffer. A major time saver.
To increase personal production my go-to strategy is to be up by 8am (coffee already brewed) and knocking out tasks on a simple Notepad file. I keep it paper free as I’m a much more organized typist than writer.
The marketing tasks on that list are repeated day in and day out. I set personal quotas or numbers to meet, and the following day I focus on eclipsing what was done the day before. In other words strive to get better than the previous day.
At the end of the marketing tasks I like to dedicate a block of time to enhancing business – not just promoting it. This could be working on a website, eBay store, or improving content on a blog.
Hey Kevin, thanks for commenting. Sounds like you have some great strategies that really work for you. I like that you try to improve numbers each day from the day before. I call that growth hacking, and that is a very effective way to go about doing business.
There are proper and effective attitudes o be succesful monline. I couldn’t agree more with your list.
Even if you are in your frame of mind or not, you must have the right attitude of a professional blogger.
The list of 10 ways to turn yourself into a productive machine is a key to be more flourishing.
I can see self-discipline and time management here. “Don’t’ put things on hold” most especially if you have important things to prioritize and you know you should finish it as soon as possible.
Multitasking is not a problem since there are good results, however, the question is? Are you focused? Are you productive?
Using technology is obviously useful to make our work fast. Problem is that there are temptations you have to get rid of.
All in all, it is an awesome and attention grabbing article. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thanks for the comment Metz. Glad you liked the post
To become productive one needs to do away with all manner of distractions.
Goal setting and planning are key to becoming productive but more importantly is the fact that Internet marketers must apply high level of discipline to make goal settings and planning work.
The tips shared here are on track. They can help marketers become productive for starters!
I left the above comment in kingged.com where this post was upvoted.
I completely agree with you Sunday. I’m glad you found these tips useful
Some awesome tips Justin.
Actually I like the very first one, do the most dreaded task first. Good idea. And once we get them done, it gets us in motion and the rest of our tasks should be a breeze.
Never thought about multi-tasking like that. Interesting.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Glad you liked the post Ron. And yeah it’s amazing how something simple like doing the most dreaded task first can positively affect your mood for the rest of the day
Justin – these are some great tips. Thanks so much for sharing such value. 🙂
Glad I could help LT 🙂
Excellent article, Justin. Found some great points to work on. My personal favorite is ‘don’t multitask’. I think multitasking is overrated, in reality it makes you more error-prone and less productive. Thanks, Niraj (Founder at grexit.com)
Glad you liked the post, Niraj. Yeah multitasking is kind of an oxymoron. You’re really not getting multiple things done very well because it hurts the quality of work, takes more time to get things done and results in much less productivity overall.