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Some people wear the ‘4 hours of sleep a night’ as a badge of honor to show how much effort they put in after hours. Sometimes this can pay off, but at what cost? More-so, if you’re not being productive with that additional time, does it really matter? We don’t believe that you should sacrifice your health in pursuit of your goals, and that there are some simple things that you can keep in mind that will help you increase your productivity as your grow your business.
Starting an online business as a side hustle is a great way to increase your monthly spending cash and diversify your income. The great thing about the internet is that you can do work from almost anywhere. This can lead to a huge increase in your personal freedom. The stability, accessibility, and flexibility are reasons enough for many people to pursue an online income stream. What many who embark on this path will find, is that the road is not always easy. This is especially true for those of us who already have a traditional 9-5, which is exactly how we started out. After a long day at work, it can be hard to motivate yourself and be productive during the limited time you have before you go to sleep and start all over again. We’ve compiled some tips that can help you get through it:
- Set a Routine – There are countless accounts from history of highly successful people and their daily routines. Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs and Winston Churchill all had daily rituals that they followed that resulted in great success. Humans are creatures of habit, and we become comfortable in what we know. If you can harness that intrinsic aspect of yourself to push yourself into new areas in a systematic way, you too can be successful. Aspects of successful routines that we have noticed include regular exercise, a healthy breakfast, and intermittent breaks from work (or even sometimes naps!) to ‘recharge’ your mind.
- Embrace the Morning – We all start the day with a certain amount of mental energy. As the day wears on, we deplete this every time we complete a task, make a decision, or interact with a customer. For that reason, many prominent psychologists say that we do our best work in the morning, when our mental energy is at its peak. To harness this, don’t open your email first thing, as this can lead to distractions and allow outside input to influence the goals you have for the day. Instead, set a few hours each morning aside that you can use to tackle a large, long term project or two. Put your maximum effort into these and keep at it every day. Over time you will notice great results. For people who are grinding it out after a 9-5, make some time before your commute to plan out your evening.
- Prioritize, Deflect, Address – On any given day, you’ll have lots of things to do that need your attention. The age old adage ‘work smarter, not harder’ is exactly what to keep in mind when you’re planning your day. First, prioritize your items in terms of importance. The best way to judge importance is by assessing what kind of an impact they have on your organizational or personal goals. If they don’t directly contribute, then you should strongly consider deflecting them. You can do this by delegating, setting a reminder for later, or simply by pushing back on the request. The last step is to begin addressing your top priorities. By doing this you should seek to understand and solve the underlying problem or question. Clarity about what you’re doing is key, so that you can close out items without them popping back up in a couple of days.
- 80/20 Rule – When everything seems important, prioritizing can be challenging. The 80/20 rule can be applied in lots of situations. The concept in this case is that 20% of the things you do result in 80% of your results. As a part of your morning routine (after you’ve worked on your big projects!) take some time to look at the things you have to do with the rest of your day. Try to determine which ones are most relevant to the results that you’re looking to achieve. Tracking the things that you deem as a part of your 20% and then measuring your results can help you refine this practice further, so that you always know what the most important action items are.
- Put away the phone – No, this doesn’t mean stop calling people back! What it does mean, is minimize your distractions and the time that you spend on social media. Behavioral addiction is real, and many people let social media take up a disproportionate amount of their lives. When you’re trying to get work done, put your phone somewhere that it won’t be constantly vying for your attention. The messages and media will still be there when you pick it back up. Be the master of your time and learn to control the draw of scrolling through social media during your productive hours. For many people, if even half the time spent on social media is instead spent on reaching their goals, they will already be ahead of the crowd.
Hopefully with these tips, you’ll be able to become a more productive employee and get more done with your personal online business. No matter what you do to be productive, the best thing is to keep your eyes on the prize. Know what your end goal is and always put your maximum effort into the things that help move it forward. Do that, and take some time every day to move toward them, and you’ll be on your way to success. For more tips and tricks, sign up for our newsletter!
