Productivity

Developing Yourself To Take Action

Have you ever spent any time studying very successful people? Do they seem to you to have something in common? There seems to be something about them, but it’s somewhat elusive, not easy to define.

Maybe you think it’s all due to lucky breaks….?

But have you ever heard the expression, “I find that the harder I work, the luckier I get.”? Something to think about, and, of course, it’s not just working hard, it’s also about working smart.

The most successful people share certain secrets. Any idea what they are? Call them ideas or call them traits, people with power or success or money seem to have these things in common:

The power of persistence
The power of passion
The power of self-control
The power decision and action
The power of creativity

So, let’s have a look at them and see what these superpowers can do for your life.

The Power Of Persistence

We all know and admire people who have failed and gone on to great success. Before he invented the electric light bulb, Thomas Edison failed more than 1000 times. He never saw it as a failure; he saw it as one more step towards succeeding.

Henry Ford is another example. He came from a poor background with no education, but he looked at the horse and buggy, and saw the amazing cars we drive today.

Abraham Lincoln failed in business and in running for government several times, but we all know how he ended up.

Persistence will carry you when intelligence and luck do not. Many of us give up too soon. Winston Churchill, a hero in horrible times, is well known for this phrase,” Never, never, never, never give up.”

Call it persistence, perseverance or grit; do you have it? And if not, can you develop and nurture it because it will definitely help you when the going gets tough (and we know life has a tendency to put obstacles in our way from time to time).

The Power Of Passion

You’ve probably heard the expression, “if you can believe it, you can achieve it.” That’s telling us that a good idea alone is not enough. You have to believe in it. I’ll bet you know people who are very intelligent but have never risen very high in life.

And I’ll bet you know other people who haven’t had much going for them but have succeeded despite obstacles. It’s very likely due to their determination to achieve their goals despite anything that comes against them. To the extent that you can acquire this attitude, you will succeed.

It’s pretty obvious that if you don’t enjoy what you are doing then you are much more likely to give it up because it doesn’t light a fire inside you.

Can you develop a passion for something? Of course you can, but you need to stick with it long enough for that passion to develop and this is where the point above about persistence will help.

The Power Of Self-Control

As you probably know, entrepreneurs have a lot of power over their jobs and careers, but if it’s used incorrectly, it can lead to failure. The power of self-control in business is really about the way you handle your thoughts and your emotions.

As you start to take action instead of procrastinating to manage any drivers that keep you stuck, and to focus, you will increase your ability to succeed.

The way you think can have a huge effect on the way you act and being able to exhibit self-control is an incredibly valuable superpower to develop and nurture.

The Power Of Decision And Action

Studies have shown that one of the greatest causes of failure is lack of decision. Along with that, procrastination is the most common thing that holds people back from achieving their full potential.

Studies have also shown that millionaires make a habit of making decisions promptly and then only changing them when necessary.

Decision-making is not just about the ability to do it promptly; it’s also about having the correct information on which to base the decision.

You may need to rely on others for help or information but base your decision on the most accurate facts possible. Once you feel you have those, take action.

If you don’t take action, then any amount of planning and preparation is completely useless, and you will never reach your goals.

Action creates traction and is absolutely crucial to any type of success in life whether that be health, wealth, relationships etc.

You must be decisive and take action as quickly as you can and don’t be afraid to “fail forward” because this way you will at least be making some progress and you will be constantly learning what does and doesn’t work.

The Power Of Creativity

This quality know as creativity, is seriously underrated. No doubt about it. Creativity does not just apply to writing a novel or painting a portrait; it applies to the life you create for yourself and the business you create for yourself in all their aspects.

And so much of your success will depend on how creative your solutions are.

Have you noticed? Almost every great success story in business begins with one good idea.

If you can’t think for yourself and imagine possibilities, you must depend only on what others before you have done. That might not be right for you. That might not be your best.

At its best, your plan of action will combine all these “success” qualities or traits to create a completely rewarding plan for yourself.

And when you develop these superpowers you are much more likely to create a plan of action and more importantly, to take action!

And don’t forget to enjoy the journey along the way. So many of us are totally fixated on the end result that we forget to enjoy the personal growth and achievement that happens along the way.

If that’s you then please check out this training that will encourage you to embrace the process and enjoy the journey so you can feel fulfilled before you even reach your goals which is a real win-win situation 😊

5 Quick Productivity Tips For Online Marketers

If you’re a beginner or even an intermediate online marketer, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work you need to do. There’s the tendency to become discombobulated and discouraged thinking about all the tasks that need your attention – not to mention the courses you’ve bought but have not started on.

To make matters worse, you’ve heard all the quotes on being productive instead of being busy. You’ve even bought a few books on the topic – which of course, you haven’t had the time to read yet.

You want to be productive, but you don’t know where to start. The good news is that this article will give you 5 tips which will increase your productivity and your sanity too – if applied.

Put It ALL On Paper

The first step to becoming productive is to make a list of ALL the things you need to do/complete. Write it all down. It doesn’t matter how menial the task is or how difficult it appears to be.

Pending tasks, courses to complete, websites that need building, content that needs to be written, etc. It all goes down on paper.

Once you’re done, you now have everything in black and white right in front of you. You no longer have to use up mental energy constantly thinking about these commitments. All you need to do is refer to the paper… which brings us to the next step…

Prioritizing

After studying the list of tasks you have in front of you, it’s time for prioritization. Let’s follow the Eisenhower Matrix..

All ‘important AND urgent tasks’ will need to be done FIRST
All ‘important BUT not urgent tasks’ will be done SECOND
All ‘not-important BUT urgent tasks’ will be DELEGATED
All ‘not-important AND not urgent’ tasks will be ELIMINATED

By categorizing your list of tasks, you’ll know exactly what needs to be completed first and so on. And that means…

Following A Daily Routine

You MUST have a daily routine that is productive and focused. Thousands of beginner marketers try to wing it and decide on a daily basis what they will do. This haphazard approach does not bode well for business success.

You’ll need a to-do list daily, and this list of tasks should come from what you wrote on the paper earlier. You do not need to do it all at once, but your daily work must make a dent in your big list. If not, you’ll always be behind the 8-ball struggling to catch up.

Having a to-do list alone is not enough. You must ‘Eat That Frog’. Wait, what?

In his book, “Eat That Frog”, author Brian Tracy, emphasizes doing the most difficult and unpleasant task of the day FIRST.

This point has been reiterated in another quote by Dale Carnegie, “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”

Very often, the tasks you do not want to do and constantly keep thinking of procrastinating are the ones you MUST do. These are the tasks that matter. They may seem distasteful or unpleasant, but you’ll need to summon up the discipline to do them anyway.

This is what separates winners from losers. Being able to step out of your comfort zone will help you reach success in business and in life. The kite always rises against the wind.

Timeboxing

Timeboxing is a term used to describe a technique where a specific slot of time is set aside to complete a specific task/s. This method will help you stay organized while keeping the main thing the main thing.

For example, if you’re a writer and most of your working hours is spent on research and writing, you may timebox 30 minutes at the end of the day to check your emails.

Assuming you timebox (4 – 4.30 PM) to check emails, that is EXACTLY what you’ll do during this time. You’ll not need to check your emails during your deep work sessions where you’re writing your best content.

At the same time, your email inbox will not become a mess because you’re spending 30 minutes daily keeping it in order. This is how timeboxing keeps your daily schedule AND your business organized.

Timebox any tasks that are important in the day to day running of your business, but not so important that they take priority over work that actually BUILDS your business.

Delegation And Automation

Automate whatever you can. This could mean the emails to your list, or using apps like Tailwind to post on your Pinterest board, or scheduling posts to your Facebook group one week ahead.

Batching your tasks and automating them will save you a lot of time. Once you’re making money online, set aside some of your budget to outsource the mind-numbing tasks you’re currently doing.

These could be answering support emails, or posting content on your social media properties, or proofreading, etc.

Delegating the burdensome and repetitive tasks to others is worth every cent you pay. You’ll not only conserve your energy for work that matters, but you’ll get more done and have more free time.

Apply these 5 productivity tips in your business as soon as you can and you’ll discover how fast your life and work gets easier and better.

“It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.” – Nathan W. Morris

Using Challenges To Develop Self-Discipline

Ah, the prickly subject of self-discipline! We all want more of it so we can achieve our goals and dreams but it can sometimes feel so elusive.

Well, let’s look at a couple of ways that you can use to develop more self-discipline and hopefully this will enable you to become more successful than ever. Sound good? OK, let’s get started…

One way you can develop more self-discipline is to use challenges. This makes it more like a game and less like a chore.

Also, there can be the element of competition with others and having others help hold you accountable which improves your odds of success.

Challenges are very popular and you can find them in many places. Or you can make up your own and share it with a group of people. You also can make your own challenge or use one from someone else to just challenge yourself. However, you end up doing it is up to you.

When looking to see if a challenge will be useful to you, there are some factors to look for, so you can best benefit.

Is the challenge realistic? You want to stretch yourself, but not to the point where you have no chance of success.

For example, you could challenge yourself to lose 30 pounds in 30 days, but that is not very realistic. You also want the challenge to not be too easy.

You need to see if you have the time to devote to it. Be sure to include time for learning new things.

For example if you challenge yourself to build a new blogging website in 30 days, remember that if you have never done one before, you will have to learn some things and that will be extra time above just writing the blog posts,

If the challenge is a large one over a longer period of time, are there clear-cut milestones along the way to help you have a sense of accomplishment? If your challenge, for example, is losing 60 pounds in a year, you need to set up smaller weight goals along the way so you can keep up the momentum.

Milestones also help you see if you need to tweak the challenge, either lower or higher. If you lose 10 pounds in about 2 months, you are right on schedule, If you have only lost 5 pounds in that same time period, though, you may need to lower the amount you plan on losing in a year. Now if you lose 15 pounds in 2 months, you may want to raise the amount you plan on losing in a year or cut the time down to say 10 months.

When you do a group challenge, you have some added benefits. There is a sense of camaraderie when working together on a goal that you do not get just competing with yourself.

Other people can give you ideas, too. For example if you are in a group losing weight, people can share healthy recipes and support. Just remember that the primary person you are in competition with is not the others, but yourself and you can really enjoy doing a group challenge.

As you can see, challenges are a great way to build more self-discipline and one of the reasons they work so well, especially with group challenges, is due to accountability so let’s take a look at that next.

How Accountability Can Help You With Self Discipline

Many people think self-discipline means doing it all on your own, but it does not mean that at all. In fact, having a coach, or a group, or an accountability partner can really help you to develop more discipline.

An example would be when someone puts off housework until they know someone is coming over, and they race around to get the house all tidy before their visitor arrives.

It is far easier to give in and be less disciplined when you just have yourself in the picture. When you have a person or people hold you accountable though, you are far more likely to make sure it happens.

An accountability partner is someone you set up a contract with to hold each other accountable for reaching goals. This is a mutual pact and is probably the easiest to set up.

The goals do not have to be the same ones, the point is to connect on a regular basis, often once a week, and share with each other how much you have accomplished. The best way to do this is to break up the task into daily chunks and do each one each day so that you are not trying to finish up the project the night before you meet with your accountability partner.

It is often easier to schedule a meeting with one other person than a group of people. You also usually do not have to pay for this method, and most masterminds and coaches are paid programs.

You also have more flexibility in how you meet with an accountability partner. You can just call them on the phone, or use an instant messaging program, You could meet for lunch once a week at a restaurant, or at your house.

You may prefer joining a group like a mastermind instead of just a one on one accountability partner.

The advantage to having a group is additional pressure on you not to let the whole group down, and the fact when you run across an obstacle, the group can help brainstorm ideas to help you out. Two heads may be better than one, but sometimes multiple heads are much better than just two.

You may find that you want some one on one coaching, or small group coaching instead, to keep you accountable. Maybe you are trying something new and need teaching as well as the connection.

One on one coaching tends to be the most expensive option since you are taking up a lot of the time of your coach.

Group coaching is becoming far more available because it allows the coach to help more people at the same time, plus gives the advantage of having other people that can help you out with specific issues, like a mastermind. They also usually cost a lot less than one on one coaching so may be more in your budget.

Whatever method or methods you use, remember you still have to be disciplined for them to work.

Improve Your Productivity: 5 Tips To Clear The Clutter

Is clutter standing in the way of you doing your best work? Likely it is. In fact, it’s one of the biggest challenges to your productivity.

When your environment is filled with clutter, you may feel like you’re constantly reacting rather than responding. You may feel a general sense of unease or anxiety. You may feel mentally exhausted even though you haven’t yet started your workday.

Are you constantly searching for client files, notes, or even something to write with?

Is it a nightmare to find a file on your hard drive or the cloud because you lack an organizational structure and/or an effective file-naming convention?

Do you have a dozen tabs open on your computer at any one time? Yes, that’s a form of clutter, too.

Are there stacks of books, papers, or even coffee cups or dishes sitting on your desk?

Are your file drawers crammed with paperwork that’s no longer needed and which belongs in the trash can?

No wonder it’s hard to focus or get anything done. And, even if you do accomplish anything, you’re probably not feeling your best when you work under these cluttered conditions.

Across the board, clutter is often fueling these uneasy feelings and your lack of productivity. It has a way of sucking the life out of you, distracting you from what’s most important, and derailing your success.

5 Tips To Clear Clutter In Your Workspace

You can’t increase your productivity by reading a book or taking a class. You actually need to take action.

The first thing you need to do is to “set the stage.” Nothing’s going to happen until you do. Setting the stage is all about taking action to clear the clutter.

After that’s done, you’ll start to see the effects — increased productivity.

Let’s focus on some basic components of your work environment.

A cluttered and messy office is no place to expect your best work. And, while some people believe that’s where they get their best work done, imagine what they could accomplish if working in a completely upgraded environment! Here are some simple tips for helping you to create an environment for success.

Put It Away!

Put away everything that belongs in your desk drawers or file cabinet.

If you find things that don’t belong in your office, then take them to wherever they belong and put them away.

If you find things that have “no home” right now, put them in a box with a lid, so you won’t need to look at them. Remember the old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind.” In this case, that’s a good thing!

Bonus tip: Discard anything you haven’t used in the past year. If you haven’t used it in that time, odds are you never will.

Clear It Away!

Clear everything from the top of your desk and wipe it down.

Prior to placing things back on top of your desk, evaluate each item to make sure you actually need it front and center.

If not, then put it away or throw it away. Reduce visual distractions as much as possible.

Bonus tip: Wipe down your desk phone and/or smartphone. They’re a haven for germs.

Review

Gather all your Post-It notes and scraps of paper.

Review all these “notes” and discard what you can. If any tasks can be handled quickly, schedule a time in your planner and get them done during a focused work session.

For the remainder, type them into a digital document for safekeeping.

Bonus tip: If they include items you need to reference, keep the one page document easily accessible on your desktop or stored in a top desk drawer.

Clean Up!

If you have boxes or stacks of items on your office floor, go through them and discard everything you can. Again, if you haven’t used something in the past year, discard it or give it away.

Discarding is the better choice so that it can be recycled.

Bonus tip: Go through your bookcase and get rid of any books you also own digitally.

Box up any others that are outdated and either give them to the library or recycle them.

Remove Digital Distractions

Technology produces its own brand of clutter.

Close down any tabs that you have open on your computer except for those that apply to your current work.

Log out of social media accounts as well as your email. Make a habit of working with minimal tabs open on your screen.

Bonus tip: Turn off any gadgets except the ones you need to do your core work tasks. You’ll get more done faster and easier without added distractions.

By implementing these simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to clearing the clutter in your office and reducing distraction.

You’ll love the result. You’ll be more energized, less anxious, and more focused on your work. Investing a little bit of time today to prepare your work environment will make a noticeable difference in your productivity!

How Can Productivity Be Increased?

Do More in Less Time – And Have More Time for Yourself

Getting things done brings such a great feeling of accomplishment, but it can also be overwhelming if the task seems insurmountable. Sometimes, the days just don’t seem long enough to do everything we want to do. When that happens, worry can set in, but it doesn’t have to!

You can do more than you ever thought was possible, and in less time too, giving yourself time to relax and really enjoy life!

It all begins with a solid foundation of time management and scheduling. It’s okay if you’re not a good time manager right now, you can learn to be. It just takes a little bit of practice and you’ll soon be getting more and more done.

When you see how much you’re accomplishing, you’ll work even harder during your busy times, and enjoy those down times more thoroughly.

These scheduling strategies will help you become an expert manager of your time:

Schedule Your Life For Maximum Benefit

You can avoid procrastination and the big stressed-out rush to meet a deadline by scheduling each day and using just a bit of self-discipline to stick to your schedule.

It helps to break things down into smaller tasks. For example, do you have a big presentation coming up at work in two weeks? Don’t try to do it the night before it’s due. Start now. Working for just a half hour each day can help you get that presentation done with plenty of time to spare.

It removes wasteful practices from your day. By scheduling your day according to your priorities, you can better utilize the time that you might otherwise have wasted doing unproductive things, like watching television or waiting for the next item on your to-do list to come to you.

Disallow Doubts From Getting In Your Way

That little voice in the back of your mind that tells you, “It’s too much work,” or “It’s not going to happen,” doesn’t know what it’s talking about!

You can do anything you set your mind to. Keep that thought in mind as you go through your day. The more you think it – or even say it out loud – the more you’ll internalize and believe it.

Remember your capabilites. When you remind yourself how much you’re capable of doing, you’ll work harder so you can reap the rewards of being done with work.

No matter how you reward yourself, make it a point to do so regularly. Finished that presentation? Take the evening off and watch your favorite movie! Whatever reward works for you is a good one – as long as the work’s done first.

Recognize When You’re Getting Stressed

Sometimes, in an effort to get more done, you’ll find that you aren’t getting the time for yourself that you’d hoped for. When this happens, stop and reassess your schedule.

Are you following your agenda? Are you productive during your scheduled working times? Are you meeting your goals? Where can you make changes for better success?

Do you concentrate and get your work done during your working hours? If not, you may find that you still have to work when you should be relaxing. This is a vicious circle that leaves you feeling stressed, while getting nowhere.

Eliminate Stressors And Build In Stress Relief

Think about the following as you go about your workday:

By focusing during working hours, you’ll complete each task much sooner. Get your drudgery tasks out of the way as quickly as possible to make more time for more enjoyable tasks.

Work time is for work only – so avoid distractions. Ringing phones and other issues can stop you from accomplishing your work. Forward calls to your voice mail and establish “do not disturb” times. You’ll be amazed at how much work you can get done without distractions!

If you complete your tasks early, keep working until your schedule says it’s time to stop. Perhaps you can tackle some work for the next day to get ahead. Being a little ahead gives you the flexibility to take care of inevitable emergencies without falling behind in productivity.

Recognize when you need a break. People are not machines so your schedule should reflect that. Realistic break times should be part of even the busiest schedule.

By planning your time wisely, you’ll accomplish more and be able to reap the many benefits of true relaxation when you’re done. It’s well worth the effort!