Do you really need to read another article on being productive? Aren’t there too many distractions out there already?
What you need is fewer distractions – more ACTIONS!
The guru of ‘Getting Things Done’ is David Allen. He wrote the book Getting Things Done, created an app, a TED talk and everything else to do with improving productivity.
He offers a simple way to be more productive and a solution to the paralysis of being overwhelmed:
Identify the next action and do it!
All you need to do is determine the ‘next action’ to take on your big or little projects. Find the next step, and do it.
Here is a checklist of some potential next actions. If any of the below apply to you, then simply take the next step and make it an action.
Productivity Improvement Actions:
- Fire that relative or friend you should never have hired in the first place. Some potential next actions:
- Call your employment lawyer to find out how to do it properly.
- Request a meeting with the employee and tell them it’s time to talk about their future.
- Go find your best employee and thank them for doing a great job.
Profitability Improvement Actions:
- Fire your worst customer. If you are not sure who that is, your next action is to ask your employees who your worst customer is! Trust me, they know.
- Call up your best customer and arrange to meet with them. Thank them for their business. (They will be likely to give you more work!)
Quality of Life – Actions:
- Eat the Frog – This means take the worst thing on your to-do list that you have been avoiding and just do it! It’s likely to be one painful thing that you have been avoiding, but you know it needs to be done. Once that action is completed book yourself a morning off – pick the date and communicate to your team that you will be unavailable for the entire morning. (If you are really feeling crazy – go for the whole day!)
But what if you don’t have time to take a day off? Well if you got this far down the list and you still haven’t taken any actions, what the heck are you doing when you are at your business anyway?
Better yet, find an important and useful next action to take and then reward yourself with a day off! When you get back from your day off why not let us know how it went? We think this ‘fewer distractions more actions’ thing could really take off.
