5 Productivity Tips for Small Business Leaders

As a small business leader, it is easy to get sucked into the busyness of business. That never-ending to-do list. Never enough time to get everything done. Fighting fires. Getting sidetracked. You’re busy. You’re working hard. But, are you actually making any progress?

Progress > Productivity.

Set yourself up for success with these 5 productivity tips:

#1 – PLAN YOUR WEEK

Start every week with a plan. Understand what needs to get done and how you’re going to get it done. Be realistic. Don’t try to accomplish a month’s worth of work into one week. Prioritize. Work ahead so you’re not always racing deadlines.

#2 – SCHEDULE YOUR DAY

At the beginning of each day (or the end of the prior day), schedule out your work. First fill in your scheduled meetings and appointments. Next, block time to complete projects, strategic thinking, and critical tasks. Create a couple of buffer zones for checking email and fighting fires. Schedule out every minute of your day in 30-min to 1-hour blocks. When something unexpected comes up, handle it. Then, get right back to your schedule. If you start every day with a to-do list and no plan on how you’ll actually get it done, you’ll never accomplish as much as you could have.

#3 – STAY OUT OF YOUR EMAIL

Email is a great productivity tool. But, it can also be a productivity killer. Set time in your day for checking email (once or twice per day) and then stay out of it. Turn off notifications and hide it on your phone. When you’re working on a project or your making your way through your to-do list, pausing to check every email that comes in will kill your flow. Various research shows that it takes anywhere from 15 to 23 minutes to get back on task after being pulled away from your work, yet most people go to their inbox at the first sound of that ding. Build time into your day to check in, then close it out.

#4 – SAY GOOD-BYE TO “GOT-A-MINUTE” MEETINGS

I read a book many years ago by Chet Holmes and he introduced me to the “Got A Minute Meeting”. How many times per day do you get interrupted with someone asking – “Got a minute?” If you’re a business owner with a team, chances are it’s happening All.Day.Long. If it takes you 15-23 minutes to get back on task after every interruption, it’s no wonder you work all day, yet feel like you accomplish nothing! Talk to your team. Block your calendar once or twice per day to set aside time for Got a Minute meetings. Then, get to work. If someone comes to interrupt you outside of your Got a Minute time, redirect them. Tell them to come back when the time is blocked on your calendar. If it’s an emergency, handle it. But, very few of us have true “emergencies” throughout the day.

#5 – CHECK IN ON YOUR GOALS

One of the most common pitfalls to progress is losing sight of your goals. You start every year with a grand plan. You have lofty goals. You know what you want to accomplish. And, then along the way, you get pulled in every direction but the right direction for achieving those goals. Don’t fall into this trap. Set your goals. Be clear. Be intentional. Be realistic. And, most importantly, don’t overcommit. Set the most important goals. Then, create a plan for achieving them. Each month, check in on your goals. Figure out how much progress you’ve made (or not made) and what you need to do in the coming month to continue to move yourself forward. One of the most common issues with goal-setting is that this is where the work stops. The goals are set and then they are forgotten. You have to continue to be intentional about your goals and the work you need to do to achieve them.