Since everyone is making New Year’s Resolutions, why not make one to be more Productive?

I recently finished reading Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Time Mangement for Entrepreneurs.  An yes, if you have not noticed - I am a BIG FAN of the No B.S. Books.  I really enjoy Dan’s very straightforward approach.

While reading the book, I realized that most of us waste A LOT of our day on unproductive activities - myself included.  How many times do you get to the end of the day and ask, “Where did the day go, I feel like I just started working?”  If you say that at least once, you need to rearrange how you work.

Step One:  One of the best and smartest things I did to increase productivity was to work from home.  For all you “I can’ts” out there - try it.  Maybe at first you work at a coffee shop for a couple of hours per day.  A little time away from the office.  I really push this concept because it accomplishes two things; 1. You have uninterrupted time to accomplish business building tasks (turn off your cell phone) and 2. It teaches your employees some independance.  They will start to solve problems on their own instead of asking you each and every question that pops into their head.  You know you get these questions….next time ask them how they would solve the problem and see what happens.  You want your employees to be able to work without asking you questions all day - otherwise how could you ever take a real vacation or attend a business seminar?

When you are working outside the office, work on your business NOT in it.  By this I mean don’t do the work the client is paying you for.  YES, I know that sounds crazy, but you must spend time thinking and planning how you will grow your business.  Then you must work on the action steps to get it accomplished.

My favorite quote from business owners is, “I just don’t have time for marketing.”  I want to reach across the table and just shake them. SILLY - that is your NUMBER ONE job!  As the Owner/CEO it is your responsibility to make sure you have continous interest in your products or services.  So spend your new time on building your business.

STEP TWO: Next, get rid of the “open door” management concept.  This is a plain and simple “come interrupt” me invitation.  I was never a fan of it and I am glad to see more and more entrepreneurs pushing it aside.  Again, I have found that if employees can’t run to you with every little question, they start to figure out A LOT of it without your help.  So, please quickly come to the realization that you are important to the business, but not as the “Question Answerer.”  For those of you who feel power or prestige because of this,  GET OVER IT.  This power trip is holding back your business. 

Try closing your door for periods of time, so you can accomplish more work in less time.  Also, make sure to turn off your cell phone and turn your office phone to do not disturb (or just take it off the hook).  Don’t worry, a great little invention called voice mail will capture everything.

STEP THREE:Finally, schedule your day from beginning to end.  When I started doing this, I accomplished 4-5 times as many things than before.  Why? Simple, I was able to put 100% of my focus into the task and not let anything interrupt me.  Believe me, it is much easier and less time consuming to return five phone calls in 20 minutes, all at once, than to accept each one as it comes thru. 

Also, I start work at least two hours before everyone else.  It is AMAZING how much work is accomplished in those two hours.  If you can’t start early, stay after everyone else is gone.  I can guarantee you your productivity will skyrocket.

After reading my three suggestions to making your day more productive, I hope you will take all three and implement right away.  If not, at least implement one.  Then, share your gains and successes with us, post your progress below

In the United States, people work on average 2000 hours per year.  The average person in the United States takes 10.5 vacation days per year.  Most people do not take any vacation, instead continue working.  Then once people go on vacation, they will bring a cell phone, PDA or laptop on vacation, thus never really checking out of work. 

The US is number one in productivity, surpassing the number two county, France, by more than 300 hours per employee.  The interesting part is that France ranks fourth in the world for total average hours worked, but second in productivity.  Isn’t that powerful?  In France, employees take, on average, 25-30 vacation days per year and have a 35 hour work week. 

Knowing the statistics about France and how vacation has worked in relation to productivity, I think it is safe to say that higher productivity is not necessarily derived from more hours worked.  As Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  If I am sitting at my desk working or in meetings all day, how much creativity and business thought gets accomplished?  None! 

One of the reasons I think this is an important topic, especially now with all the “recession” drama we deal with at our office, in the media and with our banks, because now is the time to be thinking outside the box about how to make your business outstanding.  I recently went on a short cruise, which means no access to internet or phone (without paying a hefty fee).  I will admit, I had BlackBerry withdrawals but it turned out to be a blessing.

I was able to read books I had not been able to get to. I was also able to just hang out and do “nothing.”  What a fantastic feeling to not have a schedule or agenda for the day.  When I got back I realized that the time away, although short, did wonderful things for my creative thinking process.

I was recently reading a blog post from Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko’s, and one of his comments was that he used to take three weeks off at a time.  He quickly realized that if you take one week off, you have one week of work on your desk when you return.  If you take two weeks of vacation, you have two weeks of work on your desk.  But, if you take three weeks of vacation, people find a way to get the work done without you. I think it is a great idea, simply for the fact that every Executive should have procedures and plans in place, so that if she was not around, the company would still be able to function.

So, forget about how bad everything seems to be right now, take a long weekend and recharge your mind.  I am sure your company and employees will benefit in the long run!