5 Productivity Tips To Make The Most Of Your Time
Do you know what it feels like to spend day after day dreaming about having a successful side hustle? You take the time to set goals with the hopes of getting your business started or launching a new idea. But with all of the things you have competing for your attention throughout the day it’s hard to stay focused and committed. And we know that just setting goals and dreaming of success is not enough to actually make things happen.
As a busy career woman with a family, the only way to build a successful side business without constant feelings of overwhelm is to do it slow and steady, one step at a time.
And this is actually where most of us get stuck.
We add things to our calendars, create to-do lists with so many tasks that we can never actually keep up with all of them. So then we start pushing tasks from one day to the next, and then to the next week, hoping that the time will come when we will get everything done. We procrastinate on stuff that really matters while focusing on smaller and less important tasks. Sometimes, we simply say yes to far more than we have time for.
So what should you do to fix this? Here are five productivity hacks successful side hustlers use to make the most of their time throughout the day.
1. Develop Routines
A routine is nothing but a method to do things in a consistent manner. A well thought out routine can save you minutes or hours a day and allows you to know that you’ve gotten the most important stuff sone. Maybe your routines looks like this:
Morning Routine
- Brushing your teeth
- some light exercise
- taking a shower
- Arrive at the office by 9am
Evening Routine
- preparing dinner
- Helping with homework
- Reading your kids a bedtime story
- Work on your business
- Watch the nightly news or netflix
- shower and bed
Weekend rituals
- Sleep in
- Meal prep for the upcoming week
- Family time
- Write out your schedule for the upcoming week
Coming up with routines that you can stick with is a good way to boost your productivity by having a consistent and intentional plan to get in what matters most each day.
You can make your routine as broad (simple task list) or as focused (include times) as you’d like. Just make sure it’s a routine that matches with your lifestyle so that you can stay committed. I suggest writing out your routine and sticking it on the wall until you find your flow and your routines become a habit.
Think about your current routines. Is there anything that you’re doing that’s actually a productivity killer or that should be moved around to a different part of your day? If you make checking Facebook your morning ritual, you may never get through the day in a productive manner.
At the same time, you have to make sure that your rituals don’t kill your productivity. Always develop rituals that help you progress, rather than time wasters.
Examine your rituals and change them, if needed, in order to make them work to your advantage. The more efficient your rituals, the more you’ll get done.
2. Block Out Your Calendar
The only way to know exactly how much time you can afford to spend working on your side hustle is by blocking our calendar. Start by using your calendar to mark all other projects you currently juggle. Write down your client calls, your business management activities, your business meetings, your lunch breaks, sand everything else you intend to do. See what’s left and try not to get too shocked.
By blocking time in your calendar for all activities, you eliminate the risk of over-committing and you know how much time you have to work on your side hustle.
3. Outsource
Although the business is yours, you don’t have to do everything by yourself. Learn to let go and outsource your automatic, low-level tasks to others. Hire a virtual assistant to manage your calendar and to create working documents. Hire an accountant to handle your bookkeeping. Don’t waste your time with tasks you can outsource. Instead, free up your time to use it on keeping your clients happy and on finding new prospects.
4. Take Time Off
Once a week, take one day off work to do things that make you happy. See a friend, go on a hiking trip, or go shopping with your partner. Go to see a movie. Read a book. Do something that doesn’t have anything to do with your work.
You’ll find yourself more creative and refreshed when you’ll get back to work. This means that you’ll also be more productive and more able to focus on the task at hand.
Work hard, but also learn how to unwind and relax after work. You can’t work day in, day out, and hope to perform at your best all the time.
5. Focus
There’s no such thing as multi-tasking. Your brain needs time to switch between different types of activities, so don’t try to do more than one thing at a time.
Use your calendar to block time off for the truly important things. Keep distractions away for the entire time, and you’ll be able to accomplish things you’ve never thought possible.
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Treva Marshall is a Systems Strategist and Tech Genius who has a passion for helping ambitious women who want to make a positive impact through their small businesses. She enjoys teaching women who feel overwhelmed with client work how to leverage tech and systems to streamline their processes and develop automated systems that save them time and create a high-touch client experience.
