Effective vs. Efficient: Productivity on the brain?
As an overall strategy; If you first prioritize being effective (doing the right things) and then look through the lens of efficient (doing them right), you will save time and achieve maximum productivity.
It is common to want to focus on being efficient, however if you’re not working on the right projects and action items, then consider you’re not being efficient at all! Without an understanding of where you want to go, you’re waisting your precious time and energy. Without your quarterly or annual roadmap, you’ll get caught up in reacting to the day-to-day and feel like you’re running in place. If you haven’t taken the time to write down your goals for your business AND your life, it’s time. I recommend you focus on the quarter, in bite-sized 3 month chunks at a time. Since you only have so many hours in the day, the stakes are high. If you need support on writing your goals, see this article here. After you’ve written your goals, here’s some tips for day-to-day focus and productivity:
Tip 1: Start each day focusing on 1-3 highly important tasks, that no matter what, you need to accomplish. We have a tendency to want to get all of the little things out of the way, but this promotes procrastination.
Tip 2: Leverage the time of day that you’re fresh and feel most on point. Pay attention to your natural momentum. See how to do this here.
Tip 3. Stay focused on each task until it’s complete. Muti-tasking does not serve you. It’s better to go deep and complete a task rather than go wide. Manage people’s expectations around your availability.
Tip 4: If ideas pop into your head while you’re working, keep a piece of paper nearby to make a list. Write down all the things that come up. Stay focused & prioritize those later. They may be important, but they’re not important RIGHT NOW. When we get distracted and answer the phone or jump into an email or a text, we quickly loose our momentum.
Tip 5: If you do you not like to work in a vacuum, invest in a coach or enroll someone on your team to support you. Use them as a sounding board, for what is working and where you could make improvements. This will set you up for success and ensure that you’re in action. Don’t forgot to celebrate your wins with them, there will be more of them than you will tell yourself.
If you want to learn more about working with Elizabeth, start here.