15 Tips to Increase Your Productivity
We must work hard and produce more. That’s what Mark Carney – the head Canadian financial guy – said in a recent speech.
He said we’re in great shape as a country. Even though our friends may be hurting a bit, we can get through this, like we have any other rough time, by working hard and producing more.
I think it’s great advice for any country, or people in general. It’s foolish to consume and be lazy. We’ll, maybe for two weeks of the year on vacation, but not as a lifestyle.
It makes economic sense to work hard, and produce more than you consume, both personally and as a nation. So with that in mind, here are my top 15 tips for being more productive.
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15 Ways to Increase Your Productivity
1. Get enough sleep. Contrary to pop culture, sleep deprivation is not a status symbol, or sign of virility. Research with arctic scientists proved they were more productive, more focused and got their work done faster, if they slept at least 9 hours per night, as compared to getting only 6 hours per night.
2. Don’t multitask. Cognitive neuroscientists have proven that humans cannot multitask. It’s merely fast switching from one thing to another. Every time you switch tasks you lose concentration and momentum. The older you are, the harder it gets.
3. Turn off distractions and focus. Disconnect yourself from the grid. The world will continue to spin without you. Shut off the pings, tweets, instant messages, etc and focus your attention. Get off the grid for days at a time if you need to, and get the project done.
4. Make a stop doing list. There are so many addictive behaviours in life. So put down that video game. Stop yourself from doing them by making a list. If what you’re doing is not moving you closer to your goals, stop it.
5. No whining or complaining. Moaning about your situation doesn’t do anything to help it. Nothing changes until you decide to change it. It’s not about having enough resources. It’s about your resourcefulness.
6. Make less more often. Attention spans are down. People are gleaning facts, not looking for deep understanding. Make your content shorter. Make videos under 3 minutes and posts under 250 words, but do them more often, with one key point in each.
7. Hire the talent. If you’re an expert in something, get others to write for you in the form of guest articles or posts. Since you know the field well, you’ll know good content when you see it. Getting more content, produces more authoritative pages and grows your website quickly.
8. Upgrade your equipment. It’s frustrating waiting for machines, uploads, or having to sneakernet data around between computers. I got a Thunderbolt based Mac laptop. Now one computer can hook to the big monitor for production work, or slide into the backpack. All the data is in one place.
9. Repurpose your content. You may have heard it called transmedia, multimedia, or intermedia, but its all the same thing. Shoot a three minute talking head video, extract the audio for a podcast, and get it transcribed for text and slides. Now you can take one message and share it, in different forms, in hundreds of places.
10. Protect your assets. Although not technically a production booster, it will prevent down time, headaches and legal hassles. Get the proper legal pages up on your site, like terms and conditions of use, privacy policy and the rest. It shows that you’re running a serious business and they protect it. Plus as a bonus, its proven to boost consumer confidence.
11. Focus on your core competencies. Learning a new skill is great, so long as you can apply it immediately to what you’re already doing. It’s better to cultivate deep understanding of one thing, than it is to flit from idea to idea, looking for the next quick hit, that never comes. Put down roots and do something you love.
12. Go analog. When it comes time for planning, go low tech with pencil and paper. Research has shown that thoughts are more complete if you write them out by hand. You’re also more connected to them, more likely to complete them and remember them.
13. Make a to do list. This idea has been around for 100 years and its still great advice. Make a list of the 5 top things you want to achieve tomorrow, and number them in their order of their importance. Then do at least one of them and make progress towards your worthy goals, or ideals.
14. Plan in quarters. Divide a piece of paper into four columns. List in each quarter what you want to achieve. Once you have your list, transfer it to a whiteboard within plain view. Then you can keep yourself on track as you aim for your quarterly goals.
15. Quit. Have the courage to quit, or delegate, everything you’re merely average at doing. Good enough isn’t good enough anymore. Everyone’s a channel, a content provider and a brand. What we lack is trust. So make a commitment to be the best in the world at what you love to do, or sell the farm and move on.
I hope this inspires you to take massive action. With massive action comes massive results. If you build on the positive results, it leads to increased belief in yourself and your abilities. Then you can take even more action and continue to build your momentum.
The time for laziness and consumption are over. Like the #1 Canadian financial dude said, its time to work hard and produce more. That’s how you’ll weather the storms, get through the dips, and emerge best in the world at what you love to do.
Wishing you all the best for online success,
Michael
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
That was masterful Michael. I will start following you in Twitter.
Hi Armando, thank you for the kind words. And thanks for the follow on Twitter. If anyone else would like to follow me – Michael Campbell – on Twitter my username there is dmcorp.
Hi Michael
Very good article, especially point 15 “quit”. Sp many of us plod on down a dead end road, doing things we dislike, are are always told “don’t give up” or “quitting is not an option”. Sometimes we have to quit what’s not working to make way for better things.
Annerly
You got it Annerly. The old adage that winners never quit is a load of beans.
Most winners I’ve known tried dozens of jobs and careers, until they find something that resonated with them. Then there’s no chance of quitting, because they love what they do too much.
Hello Michael:
Just wanted to congratulate you on being the only internet marketer to last in my email box for 10+ years (besides my Planet Ocean subscription).
I get on some big time internet marketers lists and they spam me a lot and I can only take it for a max of a few months.
You provide useful info first and do it with some class. I also wanted to say thanks for your help in the past, when I was just starting out.
Respectfully,
Rob Cross
Hey Rob… wow, thanks for that. I’m so happy to hear you’re still around and doing well. Congratulations on your success and best wishes for the future.
Thanks for this. Love it. Particularly the part about time for laziness and consumption being over. Most people here in the US are still in denial of this reality.
Hi Edna, thanks for stopping by to comment. I agree. It’s time to give up the denial and get to work. Hard work and production are the only things that will fill up your bank account and wean you off of the credit monster.
Thank you so much for writing me an inspiring note. Why don’t you go for building mobile apps for your business. I would say they can increase your business to a huge one. Hope this make sense and I look forward for your response.
Hi Varun, yes I agree. I was suggesting apps, and in app purchases, to my coaching clients all last year. I have one myself, that I’m still experimenting with.
But having an app is more about increasing the size of your market, as opposed to being more productive, which was the focus of the article. I’ll save, “How to increase the size of your market.” for a future article. Thanks for stopping by and offering your thoughts.
I love you. Internet Marketing Secrets is one of the few emails I actually read.
LOL… thanks for the love Matty. I appreciate you for sharing it with me. Take care.
Micheal
Do you mind if I repost this article on my blog? It’s excellent advice.
Pete
Hello Pete,
Glad you liked it. Yes, anyone can repost what I write here on the IMS blog. Just cite me as the original author and link to Internet Marketing Secrets.
Thanks for asking!
Michael
Thanks Michael,
I never thought of quarterly goals. We’ll give it a shot this year as last year was a major “change” and re-position year. Love reading your stuff- since Ken McCarthy introduced you. Always loaded with tons of helpful – and non-hype – solid – applicable information for us crazy entrepreneurs. Keep em coming.
Also- this is the second place I have heard from a reputable guy to focus on your core competencies whereas others say to improve your weaknesses. Another business coach friend of mine says what you say- focus on the core and outsource or delegate the rest – this is hard sometimes for a shoestring entrepreneur. Any other suggestions for delegating on a lower budget? Thanks again
Aaron