3 Tips To Get More Done with Less Hassle

“If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.”
~Benjamin Franklin

Is that you? Are you the busy person everyone is asking to get more done?

The daily push and pull between the “on the calendar” events and everything else makes it too easy for the urgent to replace the important. I’ve got a few go-to tips that I use to keep me on track and less stressed.

Have a plan

I know, I know. This seems basic but hear me out. I use a daily planner that gives me the ability to list business and personal events and to-do’s. It’s my guide for the month, the week and drills it down to the day. At a glance I can see what’s coming up as well.

I note things like client deadlines and block out time when I’m working IN my business. That way unexpected things don’t creep in and disrupt the income generating parts of my day.

Use a timer

When I begin working with a client, we find a handful of tasks that take longer than planned. The time needed to get it done is underestimated almost every single time. When you block off 30 minutes for a task that takes an hour, something somewhere has to give.

When I begin working with a client, we find a handful of tasks that take longer than planned. The time needed to get it done is underestimated almost every single time. Click To Tweet

For a week, keep track of your repeatable tasks. Keep it simple. Write it down in a notebook or pop it into a basic spreadsheet. Time how long it takes you. I bet you’ll find it eye-opening when you realize that you think you spend 15 minutes responding to emails only to find out it took 45 minutes.

Once you know how much time you truly need, begin using a timer so you won’t be tempted to multi-task by scrolling FB or looking at your opt-in stats.

Now and then we all have work that requires loads of time. If you don’t have a 3- hour chunk in your schedule to get it done, break it up and use focused periods of time to chip away at it. The popular Pomodoro Technique (https://cirillocompany.de/pages/pomodoro-technique) demonstrates how effectively this works.

Batch Work

Every business has work that must be done again and again. Writing blog posts, or recording a podcast; or things like employee evaluations may be on the list. It may feel easier to try and do this once or twice a week but studies tell us that it’s much easier to tackle repeatable tasks in a batch.

For example, you can plan your podcasts, set up the equipment and record 3 or 4 at one time. It’s going to be much easier to find the time to do this once a month than once per week. Have a few different outfits handy to change things up.

Let employees or assistants batch work for you as well. If your graphics person can create images for 4 blog posts at one time, it’s going to cost less than doing them individually. Same thing for things like invoicing, posting to your website, adding social media posts etc.

Being the boss often means being busy but I want to make sure your time is used well, and gives you the biggest return. Often, overwhelm and stress factors are related to not allowing enough time when and where we need it.

Incorporate any one of these tips or all 3 to start getting more done, with less hassle. Hit reply to this email & let me know what's working for you!