I’d like you to think about how you can become more productive! You will know that I advocate having a daily plan – and have even provided a daily planning notebook! (still only £4.99). However, with a daily planner come some cautions!
The book How to be a Productivity Ninja (great book – full of tips) starts off by saying nobody can be perfect all the time, and life has a habit of getting in the way, so his strategies help you to do your best. These are just a couple of his best bits!
First of all – WHEN?
Think about learning to drive a car or ride a bike; you go through a number of identifiable stages:
Unconscious incompetence – you have no idea of even what is involved, you may be a passenger in a car as a young child, and be completely unaware of all the skills needed to drive a cat
Conscious incompetence – in this stage you are learning, and you are supremely aware that you don’t know how to do it, and every single movement has to be thought about; hand position, what your feet are doing, checking the mirror, changing gear – and you think “will I ever get the hang of this?”
Conscious competence – you are ready for your driving test now, but you still have that mental checklist that you are aware of, depress clutch before changing gear, mirror-signal-manoeuvre – all of that. You can competently drive – yay you passed your test! – but you still need to concentrate hard. (One reason why there are different penalties for new drivers).
Unconscious competence – you have been driving for several years and now it’s just a natural activity – you do check your mirrors, but automatically – you don’t have to repeat the “mirror-signal-manoeuvre” mantra!
So in life and in business you will be in different states for different tasks that you have to complete – some will come easy, and others will be hard.
Additionally, at different times of day you will be more alert and have more energy, and at other times (for me it’s just after lunch) you struggle with attention and energy. Why then would you schedule a task that needs most of your energy and attention say at 2pm! Choose something in the “unconscious competence” category – that might be filing or scanning stuff or something you are just really comfortable with. Tasks in the conscious uncompetence category need LOADS of attention and energy – find the best time for those! Mid morning works for me. (You may be different).
At the moment I am really trying get to grips with the rhythm of the day and the week – for me. Everyone will be different but if you start to become more mindful then you will start to notice your best times and worst times – and also how this plays out during the week.
As we go back to “more normal” working we probably find we have less control over our working day / week and at times we may be dictated to by others – so nothing is ever going to be perfect. So you must never “overfill” your daily task list – for two main reasons
- Interruptions – a client calls, a child is sick, the printer breaks
- Things will often take longer than you anticipate, so it’s handy to have some slack in the system
- I would also add, as a business owner, build in some self-care time – so if it’s a nice afternoon “allow yourself” to go for a walk, without feeling that you “Don’t have time”
You can evolve strategies for some interruptions – e.g. close down email and silence your phone when you don’t want to be disturbed.
The WHERE can really be of help too! In the book the author talks about “office” work and “home” work – and sometimes he will stay home later in the morning before going into the office to perform certain tasks. Of course, I suspect he’s pretty much “at home” like the rest of us! He also talks about coffee shops, trains and so on – and how he reserves certain tasks for those locations. Those options may be less open to us at the moment – but how about just moving around the house!
Caveat – I know not all these options are open to everyone, but you will hopefully find your own preferences.
- Office desk – if you have one
- Kitchen / dining room table
- Slouched on the sofa
- Sitting in the conservatory
- Out in the garden / balcony
- Going for a walk (I see LOADS of people on the phone whilst they walk!)
You might find a simple “change of scene” helps with productivity too. I find my best reading is done in the garden or at a push on the sofa. I pretty much cannot read a book at my desk! (I also can’t read for long periods on public transport).
Everyone will be different – you need to find your own preferences! Remember I said when you think about your avatar and where they are – reading blogs or listening to podcasts when waiting for your kids – so that could be you – catching up!
There are no rules here – this teach is about you listening to yourself and making calls about where and when is best for you
AND the final word – if it’s not working for you today – STOP! Do something else – listen to that podcast or read a novel – because forcing yourself to stick to your schedule isn’t going to work!
But – none of this is worth a hill of beans if you don’t do something about it – so what are you going to do to take action? Let me know in the comments below!