8 ways to work smarter, not harder (& reap the rewards!) - Part 2

I did say Part 2 would be along soon! So I won’t keep you longer…

5. Track your time

For just a week, track every moment of your working day. You can use a tool like Toggl to do this really easily - just record when you start a task and when you finish it, then at the end of the week take a look back over and review where your time has been spent.

Trust me when I say this is EYE-OPENING. Particularly if you’re 100% honest with how much time you’re spending on your phone or doing things that really aren’t worth your time…

Once you know what you’re naturally inclined to spend your time on, you can find areas where automation, systems and processes can swoop in to free up that time - so that you can spend it doing far more important things.

6. Batch and time-block

I’m certain you’ve heard of time-blocking. Mega successful entrepreneurs like Grace Beverly and Steven Bartlett and Tim Ferris all swear by it - but it’s also super simple.

Time-blocking basically means blocking out time in your calendar for the tasks on your to-do list. Easy

Where it starts to have a huge impact on your productivity levels though is when you combine time-blocking with task-batching.

Say you’ve got 3 client projects on the go at the moment, and you need to do the same 4 tasks for each of those projects. Your instinct might be to schedule a day for each client, right? So you can get through those 4 tasks for client one on Monday, for client two on Tuesday, and for client three on Wednesday.

But the philosophy behind task-batching points out that our brains are better-suited to routine and repetition - and actually if we were to batch all task 1s for the 3 clients in one time-block, all task 2s for the 3 clients in another, etc. we’d be more productive overall.

The same can be applied to things like creating content for your business. Instead of putting aside 30 minutes every morning to come up with something to post on Instagram, time-block 2 hours once a week to come up with a week’s worth of content instead.

Or, for the batching pro, time-block a whole day a month to create a whole month’s worth of content (and no, I’m not even there yet!).

7. Ditch the distractions

We’ve talked already about how important it is to set boundaries with social media so they aren’t a constant distraction, but that’s not the only distraction out there that’s determined to derail our productive plans…

I for one have been distracted by:

• An untidy desk

• A WhatsApp message that definitely doesn’t need to be replied to right now

• A notification from an app I haven’t even used in months

• A candle in slightly the wrong place on the coffee table

• Trying to accidentally-on-purpose overhear a heated discussion at the table next to me in the coffee shop

• My own never-ending thoughts…

Clearly, not all of those can be completely eradicated - I need candles, after all. But working smarter, not harder, is much easier when we try to remove as many distractions as possible.

Tidy your desk at the start and end of the week, turn off notifications on your phone, pop some Lofi beats on your headphones (try this playlist!) - whatever works for you, try to reduce digital and environmental distractions in whatever way you can.

8. Look after your greatest resource

… YOU!

Yes, you are the greatest resource you have in your business - so more than anything else, you need to take care of yourself.

It’s easy to say ‘take care of yourself’ but so much more difficult to do in practice. Often, putting yourself first means putting the business second - which, as business owners with big dreams, doesn’t come naturally to us!

Particularly in the busy times in our businesses, our needs will get neglected. But when you fall into that trap, you’re only hurting yourself. And your business growth will suffer in the long-term too.

So remember to take care of yourself. Take breaks from your desk (block breaks into your calendar!), get outside, workout, eat healthily, hydrate with something other than coffee - all the basics that you already know you should be doing.

Something else to try is to start noticing your energy levels throughout the day, week and month. Particularly as we’re women, our energy levels fluctuate so much and can have a huge impact on how productive we’re able to be - start tracking your energy, your mood and your cycle and see if you can make changes to your planning to work with those things, not against them.

And if you’re working as smartly as you can, but still struggling…
Then it may be time to consider hiring an OBM!

(Bonus: read this blog post to see whether it’s an OBM or a VA your business needs!)

As an Online Business Manager, I’ll be by your side as you level up your business. I’ll help you to streamline, organise, automate and identify areas where your business can work more efficiently to meet your goals. Plus, I’ll be right by your side to help you turn your big dreams into actual realities - without hustling or grinding or working 12+ hours a day to get there!

If you want to know how I can help your business thrive, pop over here to read more about me and book a call to chat!