So, who are you, anyway? First, let me tell you the end right now at the beginning.
When we come to the end of this article and you have learned a few things about yourself that you didn’t know, you’re very likely going to approve of the person you find.
Second, some of the exercises might ask you questions you haven’t thought about before but do your best to answer them because they will give you insight into your preferences.
An important part of overcoming procrastination is getting to a point where you want to do the things you need to do because you like them. The more you know yourself, the better you’ll be at framing your tasks in terms of your preferences.
This exercise should give you an idea about how you perform on projects currently. Think about a project you have successfully completed — at work, at home, or in a social situation. Answer the following questions:
This exercise will tell you something about your attitude toward goal setting. Which of the following statements apply to you?
Let’s talk about willpower and motivation next. To some extent, they go hand-in-hand because the more willpower you have, the less easily you give in to distractions and the more motivated you are to begin a task and to complete it.
Which of the following statements fit your personality?
It’s easy to put things off for all kinds of valid reasons. But if you’re procrastinating for other reasons, you need to identify those reasons. Do you really want to take on this project?
Try to understand why you are unable to start – or finish – certain tasks.
Fear of failure can stop you dead in your tracks even though everyone fails sometimes. It can interfere with your time management, your productivity, and even your relationships.
Answer often, sometimes, or never to the following questions:
The more times you answered often or sometimes, the more effectively you cope with failure. Feeling rejected or threatened when something doesn’t turn out as you had hoped is somewhat natural, but passion and anger can be destructive if they’re not managed.
Sometimes, we procrastinate because we believe we don’t have time, but the truth is that we don’t know how to manage our time or how to prioritize.
Use the following questions to assess your time-management skills:
No worries, these skills are ones you can learn.
In this exercise we’re going to think about what we do well. Make a list of all the things you are good at.
The key here is for the person you are asking is completely honest about your strengths and isn’t just telling you what you want to hear.
How assertive you are and how you interact with others can directly affect how much you procrastinate, and also how well you initiate and negotiate tasks.
Your answers to the following questions will let you know how assertive you are in four areas: at work, at home, in public, and with friends.
Now, let’s think about how you react in these situations.
Awareness about your skills and personality traits is the first step toward strength. You can’t change what you’re not aware of. So, take a look at all your responses and ask yourself what they tell you.
So, in the next article in this series, we’ll look at how to build on your strengths, improve on your weaknesses, and develop your skills.
One way to beat procrastination is to stay focused and many people struggle with this. If you want to learn more about staying focused, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
If you haven’t heard of mini habits, you’re in for a treat. Imagine making only small adjustments in your life, and still managing to create impactful and meaningful change.
The mini-habit is just what it sounds like – it’s taking the premise that doing a whole lot of small things will eventually add up to something amazing. Think, for example, of what would happen if you only read a couple of news articles every day?
Mini habits don’t stop there though. Not only can your mini habit change how you get things done, but they impact your mind and body as well. Read on to discover the powerful benefits of mini habits.
By setting small goals, you’re much more likely to meet them. So instead of telling yourself that you’re going to return all your phone calls promptly, you instead focus on returning the next phone call on time.
What’s even better is that meeting these small goals means you get to where you start expecting success, which leads to the mindset that will generate that success you’re expecting.
By accomplishing mini-goals, you start to realize that you do have the ability and power to accomplish things. Your confidence grows, and you gain a better, more positive sense of your abilities.
And this becomes a cycle of success which can be really powerful in helping you to achieve your goal.
Many people underestimate what they can achieve or are capable of; don’t be that person! If you put your mind to it, you can achieve far more than you ever thought possible.
Motivation is sometimes hard to come by and gets used up quickly. That’s why mini habits are important as they don’t rely on motivation to accomplish things, they grow from willpower instead.
The more you achieve, the more you believe and that can be incredibly motivating.
Yes, you really do create a series of changes that you will carry with you your entire life.
Mini habits done daily will build up those larger habits that you’ve been trying to build all along. Like starting with a single push-up every day and creating almost as a by-product that habit of daily exercise that had seemed so daunting not all that long ago.
So, now you know the importance and benefits of developing positive habits, let’s look at a really powerful but simple morning habit that can get your day off to a great start, and it only takes 10 minutes.
Most morning routines you find online take hours to complete. Thirty minutes of physical activity, three pages of Morning Pages, or twenty minutes of meditation.
Read below to learn a few time-saving practices you can incorporate into your morning.
Minute 1 – Drink Water
Start keeping a large glass of water beside your bed. Before you even get out of bed, drink the dang water. Your body is dehydrated after a long night of repairing itself, and you need to replenish that.
Drinking water will also help reduce the morning fog and grog that follows so many into their workday despite multiple cups of coffee.
Minutes 2-3 –Breathe
Now that your body is rehydrating take a few minutes to do simple breathing exercises. This is as easy as timing your breaths to take six to ten deep breaths through one minute.
Timing your breaths will force you to focus on your breathing and your body. Helping you to wake up and calm yourself for your day.
Minutes 3-6 – Stretch Your Body
Gentle stretching will get your blood flowing, and your body has woken up. This will also help to ease you into the process of getting ready and the day ahead.
Stretching has long term benefits as well including better circulation and flexibility overall.
Minutes 6-9 – Give Thanks
Take a few moments to reflect on what you are thankful for. You don’t have to write these down or keep a record on your phone.
Just take a few moments to single in on aspects of your life you are thankful for and why. This will put a positive spin on your day and keep you present through the difficult moments.
Minute 10 – Visualize Your Success
Visualizing the successes you wish to have through the day will cement them in your mind and help you to become more confident. These can be successes for the day (a successful meeting) or long-term successes (finishing that half marathon or saving up a down payment on a house).
Try this simple routine tomorrow morning and see what kind of a difference it can make to your day.
Creating habits requires self-discipline and many people do lack in this area. If you want to gain more self-discipline, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about the Power Of Self-Discipline; download, read it and take action 😊
The recent pandemic has put a dent in your ability to network successfully. While most of you attend trade shows and similar events to add a few additional contacts to your Rolodex, online events are the latest, hottest trend.
But how do you do that? In this guide, I’ll walk you through the best ways to network at online events. So with all that said, let’s start.
The digital age requires us to sign up for services by creating an account. Most online events are services, and organizers will require you to create a profile to attend the event. For this specific reason, having a great online profile becomes a necessity.
Since you need a profile to attend these events, this will likely be the starting point for many of you. I’ve had to tinker with my online profiles to network better at online events. Most of these events will also allow you to connect your social profiles.
After all, what better way for people to contact you than social media? Since we live in an age of social media, it’s natural to assume you’ll also need to work on that.
There isn’t a better way to network at an online event than to make an exceptional introduction. By introducing yourself first, you’re breaking the ice and jumpstarting a conversation.
Much like any other event, you will need to introduce yourself to others if you want to network at online events. By doing it first, you’re telling others how confident you are.
You should not underestimate the power of social media. Out of all the social media platforms, Facebook is still one of the best ways to connect with people.
While most of you shrug off Facebook, don’t forget that there are nearly 2.9 billion registered users on it. One of the benefits of social media is that it’s free. You don’t need to pay for anything – a fact that you’re certainly familiar with.
But there are also valid reasons why you need to work on your social media game if you want to network online. By leveraging social media, you can promote the event and get even more people to join.
You can also join Facebook groups and discover other participants, key speakers, and organizers. You can then directly contact these individuals and discuss topics relevant to your industry. Don’t underestimate the power of social media when networking online.
One thing that online networking and social media have in common is that you can do it all the time. Online events pop up all the time. You can join as many events as you like.
To successfully leverage social media, you will need to learn how to use social media for networking, besides Facebook, LinkedIn is one of the best social media platforms where you can find professionals in any field.
Not all online events are about listening to what the panel of speakers has to say. Some events actively engage with participants.
These are the types of events where you need to participate as much as you can. One reason why networking online is important is that it keeps you connected. The more you speak and share your thoughts, the more people notice you.
Since online events are organized by professionals within your industry, these people will notice you as well. In addition to the many eager participants that want to connect with you, maybe the organizers and speakers will want that as well.
They will notice you, and thus take an interest in you. Who knows, you’ll even find a mentor who’s willing to guide you.
Online events try to mimic physical events as much as possible. Everyone knows that you can hang out with participants before an event starts. That’s why online event organizers make it convenient to allow hangout breaks before, during, and after the event finishes.
These hangout breaks are excellent for connecting with individuals. Most call them “virtual coffee breaks”, as they’re not that dissimilar. You can socialize during these coffee breaks and discuss topics regarding your industry and the event itself.
If you’re likable enough, participants will ask for your contact information. Give them your email address, Instagram account, or LinkedIn profile. Sooner or later, you’ll add a few additional contacts to your virtual Rolodex.
Erik Bergman co-founded Catena Media and helped grow it to over 300 employees and a $200 million valuation before stepping away to start Great.com, an iGaming organization that donates 100% of its profits to environmental charities. In addition to running a successful online affiliate business, Erik also hosts the Becoming Great podcast, shares entrepreneurship tips with his more than 1 million social media followers, and contributes to sites like Entrepreneuer.com, Business Insider, Foundr, and Forbes.
We live in an era of information overload. We are bombarded with media, technology, entertainment, and notifications every day. It seems there are hundreds of people and things competing for your attention at any given time. There is no wonder why in the last few years, our attention spans have become shorter and our ability to focus has decreased.
Let’s begin by examining some productivity maximizers that make us more productive. We will discuss tips and techniques to help improve your focus. Then let’s look at how holding yourself accountable can help you to improve your productivity today! Finally, we’ll look at how you can start to set time limits on projects to keep you on track.
Hacking your mind to increase your productivity is just one part of the process.
The next relies on maximizing that productivity. You’ll need to decrease burn out, as well as focus on the end results.
In addition, learning to turn your goals into processes will help you get more done.
Burnout is a very real problem that affects your productivity. The work-life balance is hard to achieve, but it is necessary.
Symptoms of burnout:
It’s clear that a burnout period can make it even tougher to get your tasks done. Thankfully, there are some tricks to help you get out of this slump.
Some of them involve taking time for yourself.
Not only will these activities help prevent burnout, but with them, you can overcome it. You’ll end up much more productive as a result.
What’s the end result of the items on your “to do” list? By focusing solely on the goal instead of the individual tasks, you’ll be more likely to get everything done.
The end result can be either big or small.
By changing how you think about your tasks, you’ll be able to achieve more. The process stops being about getting one thing done and instead focuses on meeting a goal.
Stop thinking about your goals as events, and instead, consider them processes instead. The difference lies in learning how to enjoy everything that it takes to meet those goals. Once you love what you do, you’ll want to work harder.
Now let’s take a look at accountability.
If you’re struggling to get things done, it’s easy to switch up your routine believing that will help you get back on track.
Sometimes this is effective, sometimes it only makes it harder to refocus our attention where it’s needed most.
What can we do to refresh and refocus so that our attention and energy is going on the things that matter? And where is that time going?
Were you spending too much time in email or on social media trying to respond to customers or provide instant support?
If so, consider outsourcing support inquiries to a live agent or support desk so that you aren’t constantly distracted by people who need your time while still being able to provide prompt service.
P.S. Want to know more about outsourcing? Click here for a great post to read and you can also get a detailed outsourcing report here .
Did you fail to prioritize tasks and goals and ended up losing focus because you are constantly multi-tasking in an effort to catch up?
If so, consider using a product management tool that will guide you through each workday. The key is to develop a regular routine, along with work habits that improve your focus and workflow.
It’s also important to know when your struggle to focus is your body’s way of saying it’s had enough.
Instead, give yourself time for creative breaks so that you’re able to reenergize and boost that productivity.
Burn out is a real thing and it’s the #1 focus killer so learning to hold yourself accountable while still also giving yourself room to take those necessary breaks so that you’re able to boost creativity and output is important.
It’s easy to get caught up spending more time on a project that you initially planned. We can always find ways to tweak and improve our brand, services and products – but the problem is that not all of this time is wisely spent.
Let your market dictate the time you allocate to your projects.
Here are a few tips to help you improve focus and boost productivity:
Set time limits on every single task – no exceptions.
Lay out the groundwork for each project you are working on, including a complete overview of how to get from start-to-finish. Then, create to a schedule and stick to it!
Not only will doing this help you get more done in less time, but it will immediately improve your focus because you are allocating a specific amount of time to one thing – and following through with it.
We can easily waste a ton of valuable time by trying to get everything done at one but without creating a priority list that outlines the most critical steps in the process of reaching your goal, we can end up struggling to meet deadlines.
WANT TO Doesn’t Mean You HAVE TO.
When you’re running short on time and you’re struggling to focus, a priority list becomes even more important.
And by breaking your tasks down into chunks that are assigned a clear value, you’ll be able to zero in on the parts of your business that need more attention while freeing up valuable time.
Prioritization is a crucial skill to master so take the time to get used to it.
This is a critical step in staying focused. It begins with creating a strategy and regular routine based on when you are most productive, creative and able to produce without distractions.
Do you have to shut off your phone, close your email, or fire up a playlist in order to spring into action?
Your work environment is just as important as your overall workflow. You should do everything possible to separate your personal life from your work life so that you are able to eliminate distractions and focus on your priority list.
Boundaries are very important for productivity so try to make use of them if at all possible.
If you’re allowing negative thoughts and self-doubt to lead the way, you’ll never have enough faith in your abilities to see things through.
You’ll not only take longer to get ahead, but chances are you’ll never reach your desired destination.
Well, there is a lot more to be learnt about increasing focus and productivity; far more than can be covered in this short post, but if you’d like to know more about this, then click on the featured resource below where you can pick up a free report that covers this topic in more detail. Download, read it and take action 😊
There’s no doubt about it: outsourcing important tasks to qualified freelancers is the easiest way to free up your time and resources while being able to focus on the things that matter most.
But outsourcing is more than just time management and being able to spend more time doing what you enjoy.
By hiring qualified professionals, you’re able to tap into new markets, expand your outreach and test new products and ideas that you may otherwise not be able to develop on your own.
Think about the countless businesses that have benefited by hiring app developers, or companies that outsource all of their brand-building and marketing campaigns so they can focus on brainstorming new avenues and products.
We’re all good at some things and not-so-great at other tasks associated with our business so it only makes sense to hand over the reins to someone who can do a better job then we can.
That doesn’t mean that you’re giving up control of your business. Your freelancers will work behind the scenes for you, at your discretion. They will follow your lead and work hard to get the job done – with no credit.
Yet you reap all the rewards.
Now, let’s look at the importance of utilizing contracts in order to protect yourself and your business. You need to read this before you even consider hiring a freelancer.
Before you seek out potential candidates to fulfil the gaps in your business, you need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row – starting with contracts.
Contracts, such as NDA (non-disclosure agreements) ensure that your information, ideas or discussions are kept private and that freelancers aren’t able to discuss or share any part of your project with other potential partners or employers.
This is not only important when it comes to hiring authors and writers to develop content where you wouldn’t want them to share that work as samples for future positions, but it’s also important regardless of the type of freelancer you hire.
You want to make sure that all your ideas and creative output is protected and that whatever you discuss with freelancers remains confidential.
Here are a few resources I recommend if you’re looking for pre-made contracts and NDA’s that you can customize to suit your needs:
https://www.jotform.com/pdf-templates/contract
https://www.legalcontracts.com/
Keep in mind that these are templates designed to give you an outline but aren’t necessarily entirely applicable to your business. You should eliminate clauses that don’t apply to you or add new clauses as necessary before you ask anyone to sign them.
Next let’s look at the importance of properly managing a team.
You’ve assembled a team of skilled freelancers and you’re ready to put them to work.
What’s next?
Teamwork! Your freelancers will only do a great job for you if you manage them properly and build a cohesive team that includes you, your full-time employees, and your freelancers.
In this section, I’ll explain some of the key strategies you can use to manage your freelance team members and maximize productivity.
Communication
With it, you can do anything.
It’s important to set up lines of communication for you and your team members. Here are a few suggestions that you may find useful:
For example, you might let your team members know that you expect them to respond within one business day when you send them an email.
That takes care of the organizational part of communication, but I also want to talk about the kind of casual communication that rarely gets discussed, so let’s look at that now.
In the previous section we were talking about how to effectively manage a team of freelancers, but can you guess what one of the most common reasons that projects get delayed or deadlines aren’t met?
Lack of acknowledgement!
When a freelancer delivers work to you, always acknowledge it.
Make sure you let them know that you got it, and if you won’t be reading or reviewing it immediately, make sure they know that, too.
It’s also a good idea to give feedback on the work you receive even if you don’t have any changes.
Every freelancer appreciates that kind of communication and believe it or not, it’s rare.
Finally, you should also let your freelancers know that you (or someone you designate) can be available to answer questions at their request.
While you don’t want to spend too much time micro-managing your freelancers, it’s important that you open up a channel of communication and that you stay available during projects.
If you want a structured system for this to make it easier to manage, consider adding your team to a SLACK channel so that you can communicate both individually and as a team.
You can also set up a schedule so that your freelancers know when you’re available and when you’re not.
Well, there is a lot more to be learnt about outsourcing for efficiency; far more than can be covered in this short post, but if you’d like to know more about this, then click on the featured resource below where you can pick up a free report that covers this topic in more detail. Download it, read it and take action 😊
