What Do You Do to Increase Your Productivity?

20 replies
I know that taking action is the key to success, yet I end up spending 80% of my time on useless or at best only mildly productibe activities. I know that the best advice is probably "just do it". But I was wondering if anybody had other tips or techniques that work for them?
#increase #productivity
  • Profile picture of the author leclaims
    "Just do it" pretty much sums it up. I find that it helps to eliminate distractions such as TV, movies, and even the dogs, in order to be able to work more efficiently (don't worry, I don't do anything harmful to the dogs!).

    I never realized how easy it would be to become distracted while working at home, but it can happen very easily.
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    • Profile picture of the author RasiFranks
      I would say "just do it" is one way to go with it, but for some of us we need a more in depth way of looking at the situation when its hard to become productive.

      For instance you should really try to figure out the root of the problem...is it distractions? lack of ambition? not seeing enough gratification? I mean these are all problems that we face at some point or another.

      Point being you have to get to the root of the problem and go from there. The best advice I can give is to try to look at the pros and not so much the cons. Look at what your doing in a long term perspective. People can do anything they want as long as they work hard.

      Just keep that in mind whenever you go to work that everything you do 2 or 3 months down the road will make a big difference. I bet you can look back right now at 3 months ago and say to yourself if i had been working at my fullest since then right NOW I'd be where i want to be.

      Perspective is a good way to gauge what youre doing and where youre heading as well as where you came from. hope that helps a little.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jillycakes
    Getting distracted or overloading on information wastes a lot of time for me if I'm not diligent. Here are some tips that work for me:

    1. Close everything but what you need. Shut down chat programs, extra browser windows/tabs, etc. and only focus on what you're doing. I write, so I might shut down everything but OpenOffice to help me get an article done.

    2. Make a reverse action plan. Instead of creating a to-do list, put your goal at the top of the list. Then go down the list adding steps between the finish line and where you are. These can be as detailed as you want, and some people even find it more rewarding to break stuff down into smaller actions. That way you can cross more items off your list, which is a triumphant feeling for some. Reverse lists are also awesome for those days when you don't have much time to work on stuff. Finishing one small step in your plan still makes it a productive day. Build one link, write one blog post, whatever.

    3. Do the most important stuff first. It's easy to get sucked into unproductive stuff if your first action of the day is unproductive. Checking forums, email or Twitter before getting down to business isn't necessary most of the time. Put in an hour or two of work, then allow yourself to do those non-productive activities to take a break.

    4. Give yourself a carrot. Or a cookie. Or whatever...dangle something in front of yourself as a reward for hard work. You can also add extra positive reinforcement by making your reward something related to your achievement. If you were trying to lose weight, this might be a new pair of sneakers. As an Internet marketer, investing in a shiny new domain name or buying a WSO might be a better reward. Don't do anything you can't afford, but a small reward (or giving yourself a fraction of a reward) every so often will make it feel more like you're translating time and effort into sweet prizes than slaving away for nothing. It also conditions you over time, reminding your subconscious that work = reward.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    I think that deep down, you know what you should be doing, but many of us secretly harbor a fear of failure and so we unconsciously self-sabotage ourselves by doing a lot of useless activities that do not yield any results or make us any money.

    Also, try to spend more time implementing instead of learning things. For example, for every hour you go to a webinar, read an ebook or participate in this forum, make sure you spend at least the same amount of time implementing something which will actually make you money. Ideally you want to spend far more time implementing; try to cut down on the learning time because in many cases, you will learn so much more by implementing and taking action. You will learn things that can only be picked up "on the job", so to speak.

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Slade556
    Don't spend too much time on forums. There is a treasure chest of information here but once you have gained the know how to make money you need to go out and do it. Reading too many threads starts putting new ideas in your head which makes you jump from method to method which is a productivity KILLER. The best thing to do is follow a proven plan and then when you have questions, need something to assist a certain part of your business, or stall THEN come here and seek your answers. Also, as generic as it sounds, a good old fashioned list that you can check off works wonders.
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  • Profile picture of the author ambalaldarji
    "Just do it" is the straight way. When you determine that i just want complete this work at the right time then just do it. Just need to focus on work at that time.
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    • Hi

      It's time for a bit of the old time management .
      1. Know what you want to achieve, how much you want to achieve, how quickly do you want to achieve it.
      2. Work out what strategy or system you are going to follow to achieve the rewards (try not to have too many as ths can be part of the problem).
      3. With the objective and system in mind, work backwards from the goal to now with when you will need to achieve certain key milestone tasks.
      4. Break those tasks down into specific activities (e.g create a squeeze page, sign up for web hosting, etc etc).
      5. Then at the end of each week, list all the things yo need to achieve in the following week ensuring you are including things both from your key activities list (created in 4), and other things that you know need to be done (these tend to be the more reactive tasks).
        ** Important do this BEFORE the week starts, otherwise you will jump headlong into the week and planning goes out of the window.
      6. At the end of each day, plan what you need to do for the following day. Again make sure this is done the day before (make it the last to do action on your list to create the schedule for the following day).
      7. So now you have your todo list, and this is where most people will stop, however to make it really effective, estimate the time for each activity and then schedule those activities into the time you know you will have available on the next day (tip - give yourself 15 minute slots between activities as contingency.)
      8. Make sure you tick the tasks off - very rewarding
      I know when written down this all looks a bit of a pain. However believe me, once you get into the habit it takes no more than about 10 minutes of your time each day and will make so much more efficient and effective use of you time.

      I hope this helps.

      All the very best
      Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author LovelyCornSyrup
      Originally Posted by ambalaldarji View Post

      "Just do it" is the straight way. When you determine that i just want complete this work at the right time then just do it. Just need to focus on work at that time.
      This is the best advice in the entire thread.
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      • Profile picture of the author JRCarson
        Often times closing this forum helps for me......oh well, I won't be productive today, off to surf some more.
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  • Profile picture of the author ThrillerAuthor
    I usually become more productive when I create templates for repetitive tasks. I'm always trying to see how I can speed things up.

    For example, if I write blog posts following a particular structure, I create an Excel template for it. The template would use formulas to do all the backgound work for me, such as filling in a lot o0f the HTML code in the background. I just need to fill in a few fields in my Excel template and then I can copy the generated code to my blog and paste it in as HTML.

    I even do it for my Squidoo lenses.

    It takes some time to get the template right, but once it's working, it saves me a lot of time that I can use to focus on other things.
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  • Profile picture of the author Keen F
    Theres a great free ebook on time management The Pomodoro Techniqueâ„¢ . I just started using it and it seems to work pretty well.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by Keen F View Post

      Theres a great free ebook on time management The Pomodoro Techniqueâ„¢ . I just started using it and it seems to work pretty well.
      I use that myself and it works very well because it truly forces you to focus intently on only one thing at a time! This is very effective if applied to all your myriad IM activities and tasks.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tenjiso
        I highly recommend the book "The Now Habit" for dealing with procrastination. The simplest method I use is to set the timer for thirty minutes, get my head down and do some uninterrupted work for that time. It's amazing how much gets accomplished that way.

        Looking at a whole project as a task leads to paralysis due to the fear that it will never get done. By concentrating on the next task to be done and concentrating on completing just thirty minutes work, great inroads can be made.
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        • Profile picture of the author sal64
          Ok, here's the rub, so listen up. This was taught to me by the Godfather of IM...

          Your business consists of 3 core activities: list, products, marketing to your list.

          Everything else is a non-productive task.. ie these are your 3 main money tasks.

          Workout your available time each day. It can be 2 hours, it can be 10 hours.. whatever. BUT make a commitment to to that time.

          Next, divide that time in 3.. one block for 3 of your core activities.

          Then.. work only on activities which apply to that activity.

          Shut your inbox.

          If you have offers you wish to look at, create a file in Outlook and put the emails there until such time. look at them on a Friday or weekend in "down" time.

          Follow the above routine from Monday to Thursday. Use friday for other non-important activities.

          The end result is that you will find yourself doing things on a regular and consistent basis.. rather than spending a month on a sales letter for example.

          It means that you are NOT neglecting any aspect of your business... which is a very powerful state of Zen.

          And before I forget, yes you have to prioritize smaller tasks within the 3 core activities.

          You know it makes sense!
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  • Thanks All! Some great advice here!
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  • Profile picture of the author jointaldc
    I found the best way to do something is "just to do it" but, you have to have your mind headed in the right direction.
    Make a schedule and adhere to that schedule, sooner or later it will all become part of your every day tasks
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    • Profile picture of the author davidjames42973
      I always come up with a plan of action for the day.

      Just a simple list of things I need to do and things I
      should do that day.

      Other things I do is try to avoid Facebook and
      even Warrior Forum until I'm finished with my work
      for the day.
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  • Profile picture of the author infomaniacs
    I am terrible for procrastinating. At home and at work, I have to write a daily list of all the things I NEED to get done, and all the things I WANT to get done. This ensures I do the important stuff first....
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  • Profile picture of the author lstoops
    Besides just doing it...get rid of ALL distractions!!

    Here's an example, if I know I should be writing an article then I will sign out or shut down my email (no distracting pop ups or notifications like Microsoft Inbox) and turn off anything else on your computer or in the house that is a distraction too. This is huge for me! I will do all research first and then close out all tabs so I don't go online. Then I use the Pomodoro Technique plugin for Chrome and do not do anything else until that article is written. And I mean NOTHING else!! When I'm done I celebrate by checking my email or my stats or something nerdy like that haha!
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  • Profile picture of the author Adam James
    Outsource the mundane tasks I drift off doing the boring tasks to, really who wants to do these. Do what you do best then outsource the rest, become the CEO of your business and concentrate on working on your business not working in your business.
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