Have you ever met a person who appears to be always busy, yet doesn’t truly get anything done? Do you sometimes feel this way? As an entrepreneur, how do you know if you are being productive or just busy? 

Here is our ultimate guide to help you evaluate your entrepreneur productivity, learn about the importance of focus and organisation, how to manage distractions and procrastination and tips to help you fast track your productivity success as an entrepreneur.

Step 1: Evaluate your productivity 

Here are some questions to get you thinking about your productivity. 

1. Do you set up goals?

Entrepreneurs who are effective generally have goals. They concentrate all of their work on working towards those objectives. Of course, there are always going to be distractions and sudden things that come up, but those distractions shouldn’t take priority over the big picture.

2. Do you concentrate or multi-task?

People that multitask often appear very hectic. They’re always doing something, yet they’re hardly ever doing any one thing extremely well. You’ll be extra effective if you concentrate on doing one thing at a time.

3. Do you delegate your work?

Occasionally you may tackle tasks that would be better delegated to someone that might even be better than you. You can consider hiring a virtual assistant and pass on small and repetitive tasks so you can focus on managing the brand, making partnerships and growing your business.

If you are unsure where to find people to help you, you can start with looking for freelancers or virtual assistants on Onlinejobs.Ph (my favourite outsourcing platform), Fiverr, Freelancer or Upwork.

4. Do you say no?

Entrepreneurs that are productive recognise how to say no to things that will likely take them away from the vital tasks and not benefit them in their business growth. It’s important for you to understand that you need to know when to say no to protect your time and prioritise things that will help you grow in your business. 

5. Are you able to let some things go?

It may sound counterproductive to remove some tasks from your to-do list. But you might realise that you have actually given yourself tasks that really won’t move you in the right direction and will just take up more of your time. It’s alright to remove things off your list and focus on the things that matter.

6. Do you have a schedule?

Entrepreneurs who are productive have a tendency to have a clear schedule for every day, consisting of what needs to be done and when they need to be done. If you’re not planning in advance, chances are you’re staying busy yet not efficient.

7. Do you complete your projects?

You can be hectic doing something all day, every day and never ever get a task completed. If you find yourself starting a lot of things without finishing them, it’s time to consider your priorities.

8. Do you really feel calm?

When you spend your time extremely hectic yet not accomplishing much, you could feel a sense of anxiousness. You might worry about all the things you need to do that aren’t getting done.

Step 2: Focus Leads to Better Performance

In a world where instant gratification is treasured, it can be difficult to remain concentrated and also efficient. Being focused is needed to be effective.

If you’re struggling to focus, here are a few tips to help you avoid distractions and accomplish your goals quickly and easily.

1. Set up Physical Boundary

Regardless of what environment you work in, setting up a physical boundary can help you limit interruptions. If you have an office with a door, close it when you need to concentrate. If you’re in an open working space, let those around you know that you need to stay focused for a certain period of time.

If you have a home office, make sure that your family and friends are aware that when you’re working. Always make sure you get changed out of your pajamas, have a shower and do what you need to put yourself in the right mindset and setting.

2. Make a Daily to-do list

Having a daily to-do list can help you get more done throughout the day. You can manage your to-do list with Asana or Trello. They are both great project management softwares. You can also use a notebook, sticky notes and/or white board to physically write down your tasks for the day. 

Don’t have more than 3-5 major things to be completed for the day. If you have larger tasks, keep the checklist shorter. Don’t set your day up for failure by giving yourself too many things to do for the day. You will likely become overloaded with all the tasks.

3. Maximise Time Monitoring Apps

If you find yourself easily sidetracked by email, social networks, as well as various other websites that are time-wasters, you might want to make the most out of computer apps that set those boundaries for you.

These apps, as mentioned previously, will automatically block you from using particular websites to make sure that you don’t get distracted by them. You can use the technique of time-blocking to help you allocate certain tasks for different timeslot. You can choose which timeslot to obstruct or keep free.

You can use a platform such as Clockify, which is completely free, to help help you track your process and manage your tasks and progress. You can also use Google Calendar to help with managing and monitor what you do in certain hours and time slots.

4. Use a Timer

It’s impossible to be entirely concentrated on a job for hours at a time. You may find it practical to set a timer for 15-35 mins that will permit you to stay concentrated for that period of time. Then give yourself a 5-15 min break to get a beverage of water, walk a bit or just take your mind off of work to ensure that you can feel really refreshed.

Dividing work into smaller sized chunks can keep it from feeling overwhelming and boring. It can keep you from feeling like procrastinating on a huge task that will be time consuming.

5. Do the most challenging tasks first

This is a big one. For some entrepreneurs, it’s valuable to just get the most annoying and challenging tasks over with, before moving on with the rest of the day. This is an excellent way to prevent procrastination. By finishing those challenging tasks first thing in the morning, you will feel like you have accomplished something good and set your day up for success.

Step 3: Managing Distractions

In a perfect world, you would be able to focus on your work completely with nothing to distract you. However, in the real world, it doesn’t always work that way. In fact, we nearly always get distracted. So just how do you take care of all the distractions and keep your performance level high?

There are many different things that can trigger you to get sidetracked. Constant phone calls and checking emails that seem to need your immediate replies can often be sources of distraction. You might also get distracted by your coworkers who want to talk to you.

There’s an entire online world including social media that you can easily get distracted by. Even if you only prepare to check a resource for a moment, you can throw away hours without even realising it.

And if you work from home, you might feel the distraction of home chores drawing you away from your work. A lot of the time when individuals work from home, it is very likely to get distracted by friends and family. 

Even if you’re surrounded by distractions, you can set up a work environment to combat them and be productive. It is necessary to develop priorities for your day. If possible, avoid looking at your email and social media throughout the day.

What you can do is allocate a specific time of day that you’ll deal with those replies. For example, you may choose that the first thing you’ll do each early morning is to respond to any kind of new emails or calls rather than doing them throughout the day. 

In the meantime, you’ll keep disturbances down by sending phone calls to voicemail as well as shutting down your email window. While this does not work for every office environment, it can benefit many.

If you truly enjoy spending time on social media or hanging out with coworkers, you can arrange a specific time for that, rather than allowing it to become a distraction. You can allocate your lunch break to be a time to kick back and also do things that can take your mind off of work.

You can also set up two or three 10-min breaks throughout the day for social time. Knowing that time is coming can help you stay encouraged to be on task for the remainder of the time. If you work from home, it’s essential to establish borders with the people in your life so that your work takes top priority.

You don’t need to answer every phone call. If you feel home chores are calling your name every day, schedule time to work on those to make sure that you do not have to worry about them.

Finally, if you’re sidetracked by ideas that hit you throughout the day, it’s great to compose them down. Keep a note pad close by to ensure that you can create them down as well as provide yourself consent ahead back to them later on.

Step 4: How Productive Entrepreneurs think

If you wish to come to be a lot more productive, it helps to recognize exactly how productive individuals think. Even if this kind of thinking does not come naturally to you, you can adopt these concepts and use them in your own job life.

1. Top priorities matter

Some of the most efficient entrepreneurs are clear when it comes to their concerns. They recognise that some things are more important than others and they’re able to focus on the most important things first.

Begin your day by making a checklist of tasks and also placing them in order of priority. This will certainly help you to complete the most important things first and even assist you to eliminate tasks that truly aren’t needed.

Recognizing top priorities also makes it simple to pass on tasks and also prevents things that may stop you from achieving your goals.

2. Prepare for success 

Productive people typically make a plan. They might arrange their next day at the end of the current work day. This makes it very easy to jump right into work the next day without having to take too much time to decide what to do next.

3. Remove time wasters

There are several things throughout the day that could threaten to take you away from your productivity. Effective individuals understand how to put those time-wasters on the back burner and stick to the important job.

It could be social social, chatty colleagues, emails, text messages, phone calls or checking out and getting distracted with the internet. All of these can prevent you from focusing on getting your work done. Establish those things aside as well as arrange a detailed time when you’ll permit yourself to take part in those things.

4. Take responsibilities 

Entrepreneurs who are efficient are happy to take responsibility for both their successes as well as their failures. Rather than trying to blame someone else, stay accountable for their job.

5. Learn from your mistakes

When you’re working to be extra efficient, it helps to understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process. Productive entrepreneurs understand that they will make mistakes along the way but they try to learn from the mistakes instead of getting thrown off course or quitting because of the mistakes.

6. Reliable devices

Productive entrepreneurs also know that it is necessary to use the right devices to do the work. That can mean having a high-quality computer system, fast internet connection, the appropriate software applications and also the right workspace setup. When you have what you require in your workspace, it helps you to get more done quicker.

Take a moment and think about how productive you really are. Where can you make changes to become more productive? Small changes can help create big results.

Here are some tools and softwares to help you start automating your systems.

Social media tools

You can use these tools to post on social media channels. They are great tools that have additional functions to help you better analyse your results.

• Tailwind– an amazing Pinterest and Instagram tool, helping you schedule photos & videos with auto-post, with incredible hashtag suggestions and analytics tools. One amazing tool is the Tailwind Tribes, a great way to grow your reach quickly and find collaboration opportunities.
• Later– With later, you can visually plan, schedule and analyse posts for multiple social media channels including Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Later allows you to rearrange your posts easily and provide great analytics.
• Meetedgar– MeetEdgar saves you time by managing the content on all of your networks. Edgar uses machine learning to read through your content and generate quotes for your social media updates, including your Facebook page, Facebook group, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts.
• SmarterQueue– SmarterQueue is an all-in-one social media management tool and you can discover high-quality content and you can add it straight to your queue and help you more engagement. You can use SmarterQueue for Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Email autoresponders

These email autoresponders to automate your email process and segment your list so you can serve your customers even better. 

• Convertkit– You can easily create email automation, along with tagging and segmentation with your list. Convertkit allows you to create forms that you can embed on your website and standalone landing pages. One of the best things about Convertkit is, they have just released a new plan, which is completely free. They also have a new eCommerce feature, where people can buy directly through the landing pages.
• GetResponse– GetResponse is an email marketing software with additional tools like landing page creator and you can also host your webinars directly through GetResponse. It is easy to use, with a drag and drop builder.
• MailerLite- A lot of small business owners, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs start with Mailchimp but I would highly recommend MailerLite. Mailchimp might also be free but a lot of my clients and other marketers find their emails get stuck in their audience’s spam box. MailerLite helps to create advanced email marketing campaigns with features like automation, landing pages and surveys. You can start for free with their free forever plan.
• ActiveCampaign– ActiveCampaign is another popular email marketing automation. ActiveCampaign has the ability for creators to A/B test their emails and easily split-test the email campaigns. You can also send targeted emails straight to your website visitors, optimising the overall customer experience.

Chatbots

Chatbots can significantly increase your level of productivity. There are different chatbot services to help you with your customer support and answer frequently asked questions. 

• Manychat– Facebook Messenger chatbot that you can easily integrate on your website, allowing you to sell products, book appointments, nurture leads, capture contact info, and build relationships all through Facebook Messenger. Manychat has amazing support and free video course to help get you set up
• Chatra– Chatra allows you to add live chat to your website and talk with your website visitors in real-time or use the messenger mode and reply to messages at your own pace.

These are amazing plugins that will be able to help you improve your SEO rankings on your website and figure out the right keywords to target:

• SEO Yoast– SEO Yoast is one of the most popular plugins to optimise SEO for your website. You can use SEO Yoast to help you optimize your keywords, keyphrases, synonyms, related keywords and provide powerful analysis for the readability of the pages and tell you how to improve your website.
• RankMath– Rank Math is a powerful WordPress SEO tool that is completely free. It helps optimise your Search Engine rankings. It is easy to use for anyone to optimise the content with built-in suggestions. You can easily customise SEO settings and how you want your website to appear in search engines.
• SEMRush– It is one of the most powerful tools to use to improve your SEO performance. SEMRush offers a lot of different tools and features. You can get insights into your competitors’ strategies in display advertising, organic and paid search, conduct a deep link analysis, understand referring domains’ authority and a lot more. It is on the expensive end and you can start with the free trial first.
• Ubersuggest– Ubersuggest is a great tool, created by Neil Patel. You can use it for free with a limited number of searches a day, which should be enough for a new business. Ubersuggest is great to help you find the right keywords you can target for, allowing you to get insight into the strategies that are working for others in your market so you can adopt them, improve them and gain an edge.

Here are some other platforms that can help you automate your process and help you with creating amazing content for your audiences, without investing hundred and thousands of dollars outsourcing to other people.

• Designrr– Designrr helps you create Leadmagnets and products easily by transforming your Blog posts, Podcasts, Videos and PDFs into eBooks, Show Notes, Dynamic Flipbooks, Transcripts, PDFs and Web pages. It is an intuitive software that can help beautifully transform your content. They have amazingly great deals all the time for you to check out.
• Camtasia– Camtasia is an all-in-one screen recorder and video editor that is used by many entrepreneurs and businesses. You can easily use Camtasia to make video tutorials, how-to videos, Youtube videos and a lot more. You can easily record anything on your computer screen, add effects and share the videos with your teammates or audiences.
• PLR.me- Done-For-You PLR Content For Coaches That You Can Brand As Your Own, from courses, articles, products, worksheets, and content. Get 10 FREE download credits (that do not expire) PLUS 2 download credits each month (but these ones expire each month, i.e. they do not roll over).
• SmartMockups- Smart Mockups helps you generate professional and stunning mockups, from technology mockups, social media mockups, print mockups and packaging mockups. You can easily customise the mockup on Smart Mockups platform.
• Styled Stock Society– Styled Stock Society is a brand library and designed specifically to help entrepreneurs make your business look amazing and cut down on the time and money you spend trying to make your brand look and feel like you want. Besides the images, you also get workshops, mockups, ideas, templates and they can help your entrepreneur save time.
• Basil and Bark– Basil and Bark has incredibly gorgeous photoshop and Canva templates for you to use for every occasion you can think of. I love their templates to help you with your webinars, presentations, social media and a lot more

Step 5: Organisation helps with your Productivity

If you’re having a hard time staying productive, it could be because of a lack of organisation. For some people, company organisation comes naturally, but for many people it calls for some power to discover organization abilities.

Even if you’re not inherently organised, there are lots of things you can do to boost your company one action at a time.

1. Clean Your Workspace 

If your workplace looks like it was the victim of a recent natural disaster, your productivity will certainly suffer. The first step to having a better organisation is cleaning your workspace.

This means eliminating rubbish, arranging documents in folders or binders, designating storage space areas for office supplies, and also throwing out things that you no longer need.

2. Organise your Digital Folders

If your computer desktop has fifty files on it and your email checklist has countless emails, it’s time to clean up those places. See to it that very important documents are saved in folders and get rid of the unused applications and files. 

Invest a day in organising your email so that unimportant emails are erased and vital emails are organized into folders so you can get to them easily when you need them. If you have unread mail, check the.

3. Make use of a Planner

Effective entrepreneurs start each day with a purpose. Using a day-to-day organiser, either on paper or digitally, can help you to stay on track as well as being more efficient. It’s best to plan ahead for the next day’s work at the end of your work day to make sure that you can bestartgin fresh the following day as well as understand what needs to be done.

4. Focus your efforts

Instead of bothering with attempting to do every little thing at the same time, find out what to focus on as opposed to multitasking. Establish an assigned time or times daily to check email, make your phone calls, as well as work on social media. Outside of these time slots, focus on spending the time on more important tasks.

If you find it hard to close all the open tabs and struggle with focusing, then check out these tools to help you:

• OneTab– a free Google Chrome plugin to help you put your tabs into different folders in one place
• StayFocused-a free Google Chrome plugin that limits the amount of time that you can spend on certain websites
• Freedom– an app and website blocker used by over a million users for Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and Chrome so you’ll be more focused and productive
• Rescue Time– multi-platform solution that monitors your usage of apps and websites, for OS, Chrome, Firefox, Android and iOS

5. Do not put things off

In some cases it’s tempting to delay tasks that are challenging, annoying or you just simply don’t want to do. Yet all this does is put you behind schedule and put off the unpreventable. When you need to do something, just use self-control to finish the job and also carry on. Once you get it done, you will feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, helping you save time and energy.

6. Stick to a Regular timetable

It’s less difficult to be productive when you stick to a regular timetable instead of doing things in a different way daily. This may sound boring but over time you’ll discover you really like the uniformity of a routine and you’ll get even more done in much less time.

Step 6: Prioritising Your Work

One of the very best methods to boost your performance is to prioritize your work. But if you’re new to goal setting and time management, it can be tough to know how to do this. Here, let’s have a look at how to prioritise your work as well as get the most out of your time.

1. Brainstorm

The first thing you have to do is make a checklist of whatever needs to get done. This consists of tasks for customers, tasks on your own, and various other jobs that require you to get done to help with your work. Think about every piece of work you think you need to do.

2. Figure out Time-Sensitivity

Some tasks need to be done quickly while various other tasks aren’t as time-sensitive. Take the list you brainstormed and divide the jobs into two groups– urgent vs. not urgent. Urgent things are those that have a deadline that’s coming up soon.

3. Determine the importance

Along with understanding what is important timewise, it’s also crucial to figure out the importance of each task. A job is essential if it helps you sustain the general vision of your organisation and helps put you on a path to larger objectives and priorities.

Some tasks are not as vital, but require to be done. And you might even find there are jobs that aren’t really that crucial at all and can be deleted from the list. Rank the urgent and also not urgent lists by importance.

4. Know Your Limitations

You can end up being overwhelmed if you give yourself an unrealistic variety of tasks to complete. Be reasonable regarding what you can achieve in a given amount of time. Overwhelming your to do list can end up causing you to paralyse and get less done.

5. Set Time Limits for Tasks

If you spend too much time on a task trying to perfect it, you need to give yourself time limits so that you will not focus on one thing for too long while overlooking other tasks. That may mean throwing some of your perfectionism out the window.

6. Establish Deadlines

When you feel like you have all the time in the world to finish a job, you’re much less likely to get it done in a practical amount of time. Especially as entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, it’s easy to get in your head and delay putting out your work. Set deadlines so that you can be inspired to finish in much less time and get more done.

7. Allow Time for your tasks you enjoy

Occasionally you will want to do things for your business that aren’t particularly crucial at the time. Don’t forget to provide yourself time to work with projects you like and enjoy doing. When you really feel fulfilled and happy completing these tasks, you’ll likely be a lot more productive.

When you discover just how to prioritize your job you’ll understand which tasks require to be done today and which ones can wait. In the long run you’ll obtain even more and also you’ll feel far better about the work that you do.

Step 7: Understanding your Procrastination

Putting things off is one of the worst things you can do when you’re trying to be productive as an entrepreneur. Procrastination is among the most common factors why entrepreneurs don’t achieve as much at work as they want to.

If you’re struggling with procrastination, there are things you can do to get back on course as well as boost your efficiency.

1. What’s the source of your procrastination? 

The first thing you need to do is identify the issue. There are many factors that might bring you to this situation. It could be that you do not appreciate your job, you have stress and anxiety about interacting with a particular person, or that you feel intimate by a big project.

Understanding the reason for your procrastination can help you handle it. For example, if you have a large project that’s stopping you, you can bring this project to smaller tasks. When you can strike a little at once, you won’t really feel the necessity to put it off and you can develop momentum.

2. Develop Accountability

If you have a tendency to avoid taks and put off work, it can help to have a accountability companion. This could be a colleague and even a friend if you work alone that you report to at the end of each day.

You can share your to-do list at the beginning of the day and also come back at the end of the day and understand what was completed and what was not. Just knowing you’ll be speaking with somebody later can help you remain productive to get a whole lot done.

There’s a tool online called Focus Mate and it pairs you up with someone around the world and you stay accountable for a short period of time. With the pressure and knowing that someone is working at the same time as you can hold you accountable and help you work more efficiently.

3. Complete the Least Desirable Tasks First

This is so powerful! If you’ve been avoiding certain tasks due to the fact that you dread them, it’s great to simply get those done first. This frees you from needing to think about them any longer as well as gets them off your to-do list.

For example, if you have to take care of a dissatisfied client or just work on a job that you find boring, it’s better to get it over with. Once you have actually finished the task, you will feel accomplished and you can carry on to work on things you enjoy more.

4. Get Rid of Interruptions

If you’re currently having difficulty with laziness, disruptions and interruptions from social media, email, the internet, then turn off your phone, shut your email window, and don’t go into social media.

Again, here are some tools to help you with focusing and prevent you from getting distracted.

• OneTab– a free Google Chrome plugin to help you put your tabs into different folders in one place
• StayFocused-a free Google Chrome plugin that limits the amount of time that you can spend on certain websites
• Freedom– an app and website blocker used by over a million users for Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and Chrome so you’ll be more focused and productive
• Rescue Time– multi-platform solution that monitors your usage of apps and websites, for OS, Chrome, Firefox, Android and iOS

5. Pat Yourself on the Back

When you do get something done that you were tempted to put off, pat yourself on the back. Allow yourself time to take a break and relax.Then you can get back to work with a refreshed attitude and a sense of accomplishment.

Step 8: Productivity leads to happiness

Productivity in your work life can help you to be happier, and happier people have a tendency to be more effective. It’s definitely important to understand how performance brings extra happiness in your life and what kind of benefits it can have.

1. Appreciating What You Do

Work in a field you really appreciate can help you be more productive and help you to feel better about the work you’re doing. It’s hard to be happy when you’re doing work you do not appreciate and might make you feel overwhelmed and also uncontrollable.

2. Confidence in Your Capability to Accomplish your Goals

When you’re efficient, you can really feel much more fearless with your ability to do what requires to be done for your business. Efficiency offers you concrete proof of your achievements.

3. Financial Flexibility

When you’re more effective in your work, it can generate more sales and help you reach your financial goals. While money can’t buy happiness, it definitely helps to know that you’re not battling to have fundamental needs met and can even spurge on some things you love.

You might be able to generate income by making more sales in your home business or become qualified for a higher paying position with another business if you show how productive you can be. Ultimately, you’ll have more self-confidence and also happiness.

4. Helping others

When you’re productive and able to get your own work done, you’ll have more opportunities to help others. Maybe the focus on your business is to help others and solve their pain points. By being more productive, you will be able to achieve more, reach more people and in results, help more people with the problems that you can help them solve. Research shows over and over that when you serve others you really feel happier. 

5. Extra Time for Fun

When you get your work done in a set amount of time, you will have more downtime to do what you like. Many people invest hours and hours at work without actually getting anything done, leaving them no time to spend time on things they enjoy. They may feel that they work hard, but they’re not actually effective.

Instead of spinning your wheels and always losing time, being productive allows you to get your job done and after that have time for the things you enjoy, with the people you love. 

6. The Right Way of thinking

Productive entrepreneurs are more likely to develop a positive frame of mind based on what’s most important. When you have strong priorities in work as well as life, you’ll discover that happiness comes to you more easily. 

If you’re having a hard time to be productive, you’ll find that focusing and also generating quality work can help you to feel more positive with your job and also your life. Some people are naturally productive while others need to work a little more at learning how to be productive.

You’ll find, however, that the investment of time in being more productive will be in return bring more happiness, free time, financial freedom and a happier way of life.

Conclusion

After evaluating your productivity, you might come to realise that you might not be as productive as you had hoped. Remember that it’s ok and it takes small steps to optimise your productivity. Everyone is bound to have days when it’s hard to be productive and you need a break, that’s ok too. Give yourself a break and allow yourself to take necessary breaks.

Through this ultimate guide, I hope you’re able to evaluate your productivity and through learning about the importance of focus and organisation, you learn to know how to manage distractions and procrastination and tips to help you fasttrack your productivity success as an entrepreneur.