7 Ways To Increase Your Productivity as an Entrepreneur

What is it that successful entrepreneurs do differently from the rest? How do they accomplish more in the same twenty four hours that are gifted to all? Below, find out 7 ways to increase your productivity as an entrepreneur.

1. Know your priorities, set long-term goals and break down your activities to achieve your prioritized objectives. With clear targets in mind, you are well-positioned to focus on present jobs and plan for future work. With defined objectives, day-to-day work can be organized in a streamlined manner.

2. Establish deadlines. This is a natural result to the point mentioned above. Being deadline oriented is perhaps the number one attribute that productive entrepreneurs display. Keep deadlines in mind and work accordingly. You will need to cut out distractions such as getting up from your workstation every now and then, needless surfing of the net or whatever else it is that distracts you.

3. Do not procrastinate. Now that’s a self-evident truism, isn’t it? But entrepreneur or not, procrastination is the number one productivity killer. Work has the wonderful quality to expand to fill whatever time we choose to allocate for it. You can get a job done in four hours or you can wrap it up in two. Do not delay getting started because you feel there’s enough time on hand. Start early and save hours.

4. Find out what your productivity enhancers are and incorporate these into your routine. This can mean different things for different people. Do you get more done when you tackle the hardest job first and then move on to the lighter ones? Most people answer in the affirmative for this one. Are you at your most productive early in the morning or are you a night owl? Can you shave an hour off your night’s sleep or do you need more sound sleep to wake up fresh? Does multitasking work for you? Consider an uncluttered desk and a crisper approach when replying to emails.

5. Follow the 80/20 rule. Find out the 20% of your activities that yield 80% of the results. Do those diligently and do not lag behind on them. Push back the trivial or inconsequential stuff and allocate time for it. Aim for a balance between the important and the urgent.

6. Use appropriate tools to save time, money and enhance productivity. You can use tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer to schedule postings on social media sites. Skype and Google hangouts are also a great way to communicate with your team and clients in a cost-effective manner. If you’re managing a team you will definitely benefit from a web-based project management system such as Basecamp or something similar.

7. Team up with the right people. You’re an entrepreneur, a person with ideas, not a know it all. You will achieve far greater results by having the right people on your team and in your peer group. Successful entrepreneurs pay special attention to this aspect of their work. Communicate your expectations on the work ethic to be followed at the very beginning of a relationship with your employees and you’ll reap the benefits.

Time is money, more so for those that have chosen to strike it out on their own. You too can achieve more each day by implementing these very simple tips. Small things add up. Shake off the indifference and absorb the good practices and before you know it, your business will show the happy results and your productivity will increase an Entrepreneur.