Productivity: The Secret Sauce

Productivity: The Secret Sauce

Catherine Morgan

Transition and Entrepreneur Coach Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

February 13, 2013

Time is scarce

• Time is your most valuable commodity

• No matter how much time we have, it never

seems like enough

How to find more time

• Find out where your “leaks” are

– Keep track of what you do for a week

– Usual time-sucks include:

• Watching TV

• Internet surfing

• Interacting on social media

• Playing video games

• Writing long e-mails

How to get past overwhelm

• Get things out of your head

– Trying to remember too many things can

cause immediate overwhelm

“Overwhelm is caused by NOT knowing WHAT to do,

not by having too much to do.” ~ Michael Port

Out of the brain and on to…

• Everybody is different

– No tech: Lists and sticky notes

• Sticky note fun:

– Write each task on a sticky note

– Put all notes on your left

– When a task is done, move note to the right side for a

visual sense of completion

How to capture tasks

• Overwhelm will subside when you get into action

• Capture everything you need to do in some way (paper, software, phone app)

• THEN create logical groups

– Business, client, administrative, project, etc.

Try some software apps

• Low tech

– Workflowy

– Evernote

– Remember the Milk

• Higher tech

– Project management software

– CRM

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will

happen to you the rest of the day.” ~ Mark Twain

The big, bad, ugly task first

Other ways to prioritize

• Do the easy things first – build momentum

• Gauge your enthusiasm – which task gets

you excited?

– Do that first to get a little energy that can carry

over to the ones that are not so fun

• Do the task that is the most important

– The fast path to the cash

Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS)

• This happens frequently when what we need to be doing is scary or tedious

– Culprits include: Social media, WordPress, phone apps, software, blog posts…

Your friend the calendar

• Use your calendar!

– Go through your client-related commitments

and other projects

– Define specific tasks and block out times

– Also schedule in breaks and fun

• Do SOS things during your breaks

– But get back to work after

My best advice: Forget crazy-busy

• We are all busy, forget crazy-busy

– Step back when you feel like you are on the

hamster wheel (or overwhelmed) and ask:

• Is this the best use of my time?

• Does this lead to revenue in the near term

• Will this activity (or learning) lead to revenue in the medium term?

• What SHOULD I be doing right now

Questions?

Catherine Morgan

Transition and Entrepreneur Coach

Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

877.672.5333

[email protected]

Twitter @PointA_PointB