How you as an entrepreneur spend your time is often just as valuable as how you spend your money, and being able to get a lot done on a daily basis is regarded as key to your business’ success.
As we kick-start 2017, it is helpful to find effective ways busy entrepreneurs and small business owners can maximise productivity.
With this in mind, we have rounded up some of our favourite quotes and tips from successful entrepreneurs and experts on how to boost your productivity and get the most out of your day.
Have a look and be inspired!
Focus on what only you can do
“Too often we focus on trying to get everything done. Rather focus on what only you can do, the value only you can bring to the team. Then delegate everything else. Delegating to others should mean that you spend more time adding value and less time doing stuff. In a world of commoditisation and heavy competition we need to spend as much time as possible adding value to our service, business and customer.” – Mike Saunders, CEO of DigitLab, a digital marketing and social media agency, as well as keynote speaker and social media coach at TomorrowToday – See more.
Get organised
“I plan everything I do. I believe planning is key when running a business. It helps in reviewing the current operations of the business and in identifying what needs to be improved operationally.” – Mosima Selekisho, founding member and director of Talent Africa, a human resource company offering integrated talent solutions to clients nationally and in sub-Saharan Africa.
Make important behaviours measurable
“To see any sort of progress for any of your goals it’s important to track your progress. Monitoring is one of the ‘keys to behavior changes’. If you want to eat more healthily, keep a food journal. If you want to get more exercise, use a step counter. If you want to stick to a budget, track your spending.” – Ron Friedman, US author, award-winning social psychologist and founder of consulting firm ignite80.
Plan your day according to your energy cycle
“Productivity generally comes down to focus and focus is based on energy output during the course of the day. The less energy, the less focus. Simple. Plus the harder the task at hand the more energy it requires. Our energy levels are generally at their highest after a good rest. Therefore we have more energy and focus earlier on in the day. With all this in mind, I decided to split my day in two.” – Garth Jemmett, a visual communication and strategic thinking specialist and director at Flick Visual Foundary, a digital branding company that helps clients visualise and explain complex information simply through short films, interactive aids, flow diagrams, and visual toolkits.
Here’s more of what Jemmett had to say:
Minimise distractions
“Try to keep digital interruptions to a minimum by changing your online status to ‘unavailable’. This can be done on your instant messaging services like Skype and WhatsApp. But do keep one channel open. [Perhaps] phone texts, where everyone knows they can reach you in case of emergency.” – Alexandra Samuel, a freelance writer, researcher and speaker, and the author of Work Smarter with Social Media: A Guide to Managing Evernote, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Your Email.
Flex your delegation muscle
“As an entrepreneur you juggle many different balls, but you cannot do everything yourself. To be successful (and not burn out in the process), the art of delegation becomes one of your most important skills, supported by a system of control to track completion of delegated tasks.” – Jeandre Leslie, co-owner of MIR PR Agency, an integrated communications agency specialising in public relations, employee engagement, event management, and social media coordination.
Teamwork really does make a dream work
“Productivity is a team effort. We continue to train our staff throughout the year to ensure that productivity is improved and we sustain an abiding growth and thrive together. I would say that a team that functions as a single unit is the number one key to productivity. You can only achieve so much in a 12-hour day as one person. I have hand-picked a team of competent, driven and efficient individuals and we all share the common vision of growth. This has allowed me to take a step from daily business operations to focus on strategic direction and the growth of the company.” – Bongani Gosa, founder and creative director at Breeze Website Designers, a creative digital agency providing a range of services including web, content marketing, social media, content creation, and search engine marketing.
Forget multitasking, try monotasking
“I’m a designer and educator. I am a multitasking person and I push my students to fly through a very creative multitasking design process. But how efficient really is this multitasking? Let’s consider for a while this notion of monotasking. There’s 2% of people who are able to control their multitasking environment. But what about ourselves and what about our reality? I push you to consider the option of focusing on just one task.” – Paolo Cardini, associate professor in Industrial Design at Rhode Island School of Design. His work ranges from product to interaction design and from integrated communication to strategic planning.
Here’s more of what Cardini had to say:
Meditation and relaxation
“Regular practice of meditation and yoga can help entrepreneurs find stillness. This is incredibly powerful because it has been shown to improve your brain stability positively. There are many different types of yoga and meditations, choose one that suits you and your values and needs, and you will be glad for it.” – Katlego Kolobe, a certified master coach and founder of Thrive Life Design, coaching clients in the corporate sector with a focus on blue chip organisations.
Taking a stand
“Sitting for long periods of time has been known to cause a myriad of health issues including back pain, leg disorders, and increased risk of heart disease. There are however things entrepreneurs can do to decrease their risk factors. Regular interruptions from sitting, even simply standing up, may help to reduce your risk factors for disease, and enhance overall health.” – Dr Jill Borresen, exercise scientist and COO at the Institute for Sport, Exercise Medicine and Lifestyle Research.
