by Alicia Edgar | Featured Contributor
Never feel like you get time to work on the really important stuff? We you just lost each week in the busy-ness of what you do, but never feel like you’re making progress towards your big goals? The important stuff will only happen if you make it a priority. So, how can you achieve that and still accomplish your everyday stuff?
Make your week more productive. Here’s how:
- Purchase a 12 month wall calendar. Mark out your holidays, conferences, school holidays (if you have kids) and any other important dates when you won’t be working.
- Create a focus for certain days. Break up your week into roles you need to fulfil. For example, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are client contact days. Tuesday is business development day. Friday is marketing/admin day. It’s hard wearing too many hats at once; one hat allows for true focus. Ensure your electronic calendar follows these new rules too.
- See how much time you really have. That important stuff mentioned earlier will no doubt fall under a Business Development task. How many of those days do you actually have available on your wall calendar? Count them up. Remember you can’t bank time, so make sure your deadlines are realistic for your big goals and are developed around the time you actually have available.
- Schedule in your tasks for the appropriate focus day. Schedule tasks into your electronic calendar. For example, schedule the first tasks towards your big goal on your first available business development day. If it’s not scheduled it probably won’t get done!
- Schedule in some thinking time. Yes, thinking time. Think while you walk, drink coffee, sit in the sun or whatever works for you, but schedule it in. Technology free is best to clear your mind for the best thoughts, so resist the temptation. You’ll be amazed what new things “pop” and how many problems you’ll solve just by doing this. Have paper and pen handy though!
- Work at your best time each day. If you’ve found your concentration is better first thing in the morning, make sure your more intense tasks are scheduled for then. Or perhaps that’s when you’re most creative, so schedule your tasks around that as well.
Sounds easy right? Practically, yes it is. Habitually it’s a different story. Maintaining a certain focus on each day will take practice. It’s a new habit, so make sure you stick at it. The rewards will be great! You may feel uncomfortable limiting your client days. I promise you that back-to-back appointments over fewer days gives you just as much contact time as random times over the entire week. And your clients won’t mind, really. You’re just not available on those days.
Photo Credit: epSos.de via Compfight cc
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Alycia Edgar – Leading expert in creating systems for profitable business from Business Performance HQ, Torquay, VIC, Australia
Forget about your mental picture of an accountant sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day, stopping only to peer at you over the top of his or her wire-rimmed glasses.
A trained accountant, yes, but also much more. Alycia Edgar does not fit the picture painted above; instead she is a latte-sipping, beach-loving business owner who happens to be great at numbers and systems.
Alycia is a leading expert in creating systems for profitable business growth for her clients. Nothing makes her happier than looking at your business numbers and helping you to understand what the numbers are saying, implementing systems to make your business more productive, or processes to make everything happen quicker and smoother.
Alycia is passionate about the idea that the right systems are the key to driving business growth.
She can share clear strategies that can help business owners become more productive and profitable immediately.
Alycia works with business owners to achieve this result through one-on-one mentoring and consulting on how to roll out innovative systems, procedures and processes. And will be launching her revamped Bizfficiency course later in the year.
A lover of social media, you can follow Alycia on twitter @alyciaedgar, Facebook – Alycia Edgar, instagram, Alycia Edgar.
To find out more visit www.businessperformancehq.com.
8 Replies to “How to Get the Important Stuff Done Each and Every Week by @AlyciaEdgar”
10 steps to smash your business goals this year! by @alyciaedgar | She Owns It
[…] may have seen how to be more productive tomorrow and how to get the important stuff done each week but lets see how you can be more productive over the entire […]
Deb Scott
EXCELLENT article!!! Thank YOU!!
Jds
Why is this lady sitting at an Ikea table in an Ikea kitchen on her cell phone staring?
Just wondering.
Melissa Stewart
Well, she’s either getting important stuff done OR she’s a prime example of wasting time 🙂
Ryan Biddulph
5 and 5, and 5 again Alycia lol….love these tips! Thinking time is the most critical time of the day for me. I meditate for a bit on waking then think through my day.
Of course I act, but by thinking frequently, I develop a neat habit; I can actually spot – through my active thinking – when engaged in silly, non income-producing acts. The old me did stuff all day which rarely grew my business because I rarely thought through my plan.
The new me thinks, acts and assesses, through thought, if I am on the right track.
Thanks for sharing your insight!
Ryan
Alycia Edgar[ Post Author ]
Exactly Ryan, it’s like having a self check in. The thinking habit acts like a review to make sure your are on track as you say. Reviewing regularly allows you to change course if required, even give yourself a little talking too (we all need those!) and the important thing to do is ensure its regular. It’s so easy to keep working away and not really know for sure that its what you “should” be doing. Regular can only occur is we schedule it in and develop the habit as you have done.
The photo above is the view from my thinking spot. Pretty neat huh?
Shannon K Steffen | Human SEO
Such simple but deep tips, Alycia!
I’ve been on the fence about buying a wall calendar because it’s so easy to have everything on a digital calendar. However, no matter how much I try to block out time on the digital calendar, I find myself easily distracted and unfocused.
Do you recommend having a wall calendar to keep your ideal week in front of you at all times? Do you add your appointments to that calendar or does it just act as a reminder for today’s big goal?
Alycia Edgar[ Post Author ]
Hi Shannon, I find that using the wall calendar to block out your time mush easier. Eg. Mapping out what days are client days, admin, marketing etc and then making sure you’ve got in all holidays, conferences etc. that mapping is what guides what happens each and every day on your digital calendar. So, if Monday and Wednesday are client days I would expect to see client appointments or scheduled time to work on client work on those days in your digital calendar. But it sounds like its more about you being on your computer and being distracted during your “focus” time would that be right? There are lots of little things you can do which I mentioned in my last post: https://sheownsit.com/ways-be-more-productive-right-now/.
And I’d go old school for a while to break your distraction habit. If your work involves using web browsers constantly I’d designate one browser for work and one for play. Only use the work one during your focus time. If your using programs, fill your entire screen with it to improve your focus on just that.
Print out your electronic calendar at the start of each day and write things on their physically, not having to refer back to your electronic clandear for a while may help also.
Hope this helps! Let me know how you go.