Jim Butler: 3 Ways to Get More Done (Part I)

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I just finished a new 495-page book and got it in the top 10 in my category within the first two days it was available. I am often asked, How do you get so much done? Here are three secrets I use to get more done that I would encourage you to use in your life and business.

1. Work by Deadlines
A deadline is a stop time by which something must be completed. Too many entrepreneurs have start times, but no stop time. They’ll spend too much time working on something that they don’t need to.
Use the timer on your smart phone to schedule a start time and an end time for what you will do. It will ring or beep when the time you’ve allotted is up. Then, when the timer stops, you have to stop working on that activity. To be more focused and productive, you have to have a beginning time and an end time.

I have been able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time, by using this method. When you set the clock, don’t let anything distract you from your goal to complete the task in the next 30, 50, or 90 minutes blocks or whatever time allotment you give yourself. If you do this, you will get so much more done.

If you set aside just 50 minutes each day of productive time (and you eliminate all distractions so that this time really is productive), you’ll find that you will gain 188 hours a year of intense productivity (if you just do this once per day for 5 days a week). I would encourage you to set a goal to try this for the next month. Come in at least an hour and a half earlier than anyone else will be at your store. Turn off your phone, disable your Internet access from your computer, close your email program and focus on one thing that can help you business to grow. If you will do this consistently every day for 1 week and then one month, you’ll be amazed at how much more you are able to get done.

Be clear about why you are doing what you are doing. The more clarity you have and the more tied your daily activities are to your goals, the more productive you will be.

Deadlines work to get things done. Use them.

Check back next week for the second way to get more done…