7 Productivity Hacks for the New Year
Episode 288: Show Notes
In this episode we dive into seven habits we believe lead to a more productive life and a more productive business. These seven habits will ultimately help you achieve the goals and dreams you are seeking – whether those are personal or financial. You are one person, with multiple facets, and you can’t play blind to the fact that you have a life outside of work! We want to incorporate that into living a lifestyle that gets you where you want to go. These seven habits have been monitored over time in our own business. Whenever we are incredibly productive, we take a look at everything that we were doing over that time and ask, “What was a constant? What habits combined aided our productivity?”
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A lot of people ask us what is it that makes us so productive, and everyone seems to be waiting for that miracle answer. But the reason why we are covering seven habits is because it is never just one thing. It’s never just one thing you do that helps you sell more, or get more people on your list, or land more clients. It is a combination of things that helps to create a successful business and a successful human being. So take a listen and learn more about the seven habits we focus on that have led to more productivity in our lives and how it can lead to more productivity in your life too.
Sexy Goals And Why You Should Break Them Down Backwards
If you have any sort of goal in mind, we want you to have plans that begin with the end and work backwards. So what do you want to accomplish? Whatever that goal is, is step ten. Often times we try to jump from zero to 10 but we want you to rather work backwards from 10. To 9, 8, 7... all the way to zero and ask yourself, “What can I do today to help me get to step 1 that will eventually lead to all the other numbers and then to 10 actually happening?” This is also a good method for deciding whether certain things should be included in your plans at all. If your steps to get to a certain goal don’t line up with you and your business, then why is that goal a priority in the first place? This is a hard road to travel when the end vision is not clear to you, so try to set 90 day goals, and keep moving from there. This way, the goals are more foreseeable.
The Wonders Of Good Sleep And Personal Downtime
People talk about the importance of sleep and unwinding all the time. But how many of us actually take it seriously? Well, after a few good burnouts – we certainly do. Sleep and downtime are absolutely crucial to getting what you need to get done at work. And not necessarily the amount of stuff you get done, but the quality. We have both, at some point or another, suffered from insomnia. Insomnia is incredibly frustrating and that frustration leaks into every other part of your life. If you can’t fix your sleeping patterns, then everything else needs to be put on the back-burner. Getting good sleep is so crucial and you you have to make it a priority. When it comes to downtime, you need to be mindful of when you need it and how you want to spend it. Even just thirty minutes of downtime, or alone time, can make such a difference to how you can show up and be there for others. So if you realize that you need downtime, take it, fit it in – those around you will understand and probably really appreciate it.
Focusing On What Your People Want Before Pushing Your Own Agenda
We see this happen so often with people who have their eyes set on the end prize; thinking they can go from zero to 10. Often we have a big dreamy idea in our head and we are so headstrong about achieving that thing. But we don’t even know whether it is something that our people even want or need. If you are mindful of what the people around you want, you’ll be surprised how short your list of things to do gets shorter when you focus on what they want and when they are satisfied, that makes you happy. We know so many business owners who fill their to-do list with hypothetical needs of their audience. If we could spend less time creating stuff our audience doesn’t really want, and more time listening to what they do want – this will save us so much time, energy and headaches.
Everything Has Its Place: The Power Of Central Storage Systems
In case you haven’t noticed, we are very OCD. Everything has to go in its place. This goes for everything from our file structure – our audio files and photographs – but it also goes for our thoughts and ideas. Where are your thoughts and ideas kept? Are they in files? Are they in a million notebooks? Or are they all in one place so that you can reference as needed? We often think that taking the time to refine those systems in a waste of time but the amount of headspace that clears up for you to be able to accomplish more – is huge. Things like Trello, Dropbox, all of that jazz – optimize it!
Clearing Distractions And Optimizing Your Workspace Environment
We can often get caught up in thinking that we can only work from our desk, or only work from our office, or only work at night, or only work in this way, or in that way. But as creatives we work and accomplish different things, in different ways, right? So if you work better in a coffee shop when you are writing or designing posters – then do that thing in that space! Optimize your space for the task at hand. Even simple things like having a lamp with the right kind of light bulb in it, can make a world of difference to your productivity and mood! If something in your space bothers you, acknowledge it, and move that shit! We are so affected by our environment, so take the time to make your workspace one that enables you to o your best work.
Refine Your Processes For An Efficient Workflow
We want you to be defining clear processes. What are you doing, in what order, how is it getting accomplished? You need a manual for your life. And you need to pencil in the time for when you are going to do this. Often it takes a crisis in our business for us to create these processes and this is not ideal because it stresses everyone out! Once you have a process in place, you can refine and adjust it, but it must be there. What is the thing that is sucking the time and the life out of you? Let’s say it’s your inbox. Can you create a new process for going through your mail? Some people have the one-touch rule for mail. If you open it, you must deal with it then and there and then move on. Our team will deal with the fire first and then place certain things in certain folders and then deal with those over time. So if it’s not urgent, it might take someone 24-48 hours to get back to respond but it also isn’t crushing our team’s productivity. No one in our team is solely focused on one task anymore so we need to prioritize. That’s one very brief example of refining a process in our own business and we want you to think about what that means for you.
What Are IPA’s And Why You Need To Focus On Them
IPA stands for: Income Producing Activity. You are a business that needs money and if you don’t need the money, then it is a hobby. As soon as you are making money, the focus should be on how to sustain that money, create more of it, or get creative in a way that is not as stressful. The only way to do that is to focus on IPA’s first. Your IPA activities take priority and those other tasks that we put so much weight on, (like updating Instagram or responding to someone’s tech question) come second. However, we are not suggesting that you go out selling all day, every day. Income producing activities can mean a lot of different things. They can mean reaching out to potential sponsors or creating a PR plan to reach out to new audiences. We want you to brainstorm on what your IPA’s could be. Then when you start figuring out your agenda for the week, we want you to be really aware of what goals are long term and how you can create projects and tasks that are aligned with that. BUT make sure those IPA’s are first! You will never ever run out of admin, so you need to prioritize and put what is most important first, which is making that cash dollar.
Get Some People In Your Corner And Join The Goal Crusher Club
If you want someone to help you get your shit together and to be all up in your business, then we want you to be apart of our membership. You can join over at goalcrusherclub.com. Inside this intimate community we are going to get to know each and every one of you and your business. We are helping you do monthly check-ins to see what your progress is, plan for the future and know what you need to be working on. We are also working together in a virtual co-working environment and you are getting to join an intimate Mastermind with your peers. Talk about having people in your corner! We already have a group of awesome babes inside and are so excited for you to be joining.
Quote This
It is a combination of things that help to create a successful business and human being.
Highlights
Sexy Goals And Why You Should Break Them Down Backwards. [0:04:49.1]
The Wonders Of Good Sleep And Personal Downtime. [0:07:19.1]
Focusing On What Your People Want Before Pushing Your Own Agenda. [0:11:22.1]
Clearing Distractions And Optimizing Your Workspace Environment. [0:17:50.1]
Refine Your Processes For An Efficient Workflow. [0:19:49.1]
What Are IPA’s And Why You Need To Focus On Them. [0:22:22.1]
Get Some People In Your Corner And Join The Goal Crusher Club. [0:25:45.1]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Goal Crusher Club, Seven habits, Increase productivity, Workspace environment, IPAs, Refine Processes, Workflow, Organization
