Entrepreneurs often wonder how to be more productive. They typically know that getting more done in less time allows them to make more money. However, many entrepreneurs don’t actually know how to be more productive than they already are now.
Learning how to get more done is a mindset but it also requires them to change some habits that they have. The most productive individuals and marketing expert like Adam Guild usually spend their time doing three key things to make themselves more productive.
1. Set Goals
Want to know how to cut down on the distractions that mess up even the best-laid plans? Well, according to Inc.com, setting goals prevents this from happening.
If you have a productivity issue, then you may not know where you’re going. As a result, you wind up spinning your wheels quite a lot. You literally have nothing to aim for. Putting goals down on paper tells you what you need to have done and when it needs to be done.
A list of goals also gives you and excuse to cut off distractions. For example, if you’re constantly being interrupted at work, then you can point to your goals list and say, “I’m sorry I don’t have time to address this right now. I have to get XYZ task done by 1:00 pm.” (Or whatever.)
Even better yet, if you paste your goals somewhere where everyone in the office can see them, then everyone knows what you need to have done by when. This may stop them from interrupting you all together, unless it’s a real emergency.
2. Follow the 80/20 Rule
If you’re wondering how to be more productive, then you might want to follow the 80/20 rule. The gist of this rule is that 20% of the tasks that you do will accomplish 80% of what you need to have done.
Here’s a practical example. Under the 80/20 rule, which is also known as the Pareto Principle, you know that 80% of your sales are going to come from 20% of your customers. That means the best use of your time is to take care of the 20% of the customers who bring you 80% of your profits.
It’s not that you won’t take care of other customers. Rather, most of your marketing efforts are directed at this 20% customer base. By doing this, you’ll make more money and less time and be more efficient.
3. Avoid the Churn and Burn Syndrome
According to Chron.com, a high employee turnover rate puts a wrecking ball into your productivity. For one thing, when your best employees leave, your less-efficient employees must pick up the slack. This affects the service that your customers yet, which in turn affects customer churn.
Customer churn is the rate at which you lose your customers. Clearly, taking the steps to retain the customers you already have will increase your productivity because you don’t have to spend the time and money required to get new customers to replace the ones you lost.
In order to prevent employee, and therefore, customer churn rates, you need to make sure that your employees get all the support that they need. Put the right employees in the right jobs. Also, avoid the tendency that many managers have which is to load extra work on your best employees. All this does is reward that employees for not doing their work and punish good employees for picking up the slack.
It also goes without saying that you want to have a good compensation package as well as an excellent training program. Make sure that your customers stay by ensuring that your best employees remain with you.
Final Thoughts
There are three simple things you can do to increase your productivity. Make sure that each day you start with goals. These help you stay on track and help you avoid distractions. Also adhere to the 80/20 rule. This allows you to concentrate on the most critical tasks that will make all of the difference in your productivity.
Finally, make sure that you take steps to avoid both customer and employee churn. If you don’t, then you wind up losing both which is detrimental to your productivity and ultimately to your business.
