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Small Business Articles from Make-it-Fly®
 Keys
to Personal Productivity
Understanding Yourself
is the Secret!
By Victoria Munro
Printable version
We live in a fast-changing world.
Products that were state of the art yesterday have become
commonplace today and will be obsolete tomorrow. With
ever-increasing amounts of new information to process
daily, and escalating demands on our time, many feel
they’re on overload. In addition, if you’re
in business for yourself, you need to gain and maintain
a competitive edge. You can’t afford to be inefficient.
You need to find practical solutions that will increase
your personal productivity.
Knowing yourself
is key to becoming more productive and reaching
your desired destination.
Key One:
Identify your core values
– What are those non-negotiables that are really
important to you? It’s worth investing some time
to define your personal values. Unless what you’re
doing lines up with your core values, there will always
be an inner struggle, and temptations to become sidetracked
may be overwhelming and make efficiency impossible to
achieve!
Key Two: Define
your future dreams – What do you truly
want in life? Written goals that lead you towards your
aspirations will motivate you. Research studies performed
over a 25-year period revealed that those who had written
goals at the beginning of the study not only reached
them, but also had achieved greater financial and career
success than those without written goals. We’re
also told that only 3 percent of the population have
written goals. Don’t stay in the other 97 percent!
Writing goals doesn’t have to be difficult. Keep
it simple, but put them on paper, and adjust them as
you move forward. Visualize your dreams – think
about them, talk about them, write about them and create
realistic, step-by-step goals to reach them.
Key Three: Acknowledge
your strengths and limitations – Identify
your strengths – focus on them, utilize and develop
them. Seek creative ways to delegate tasks in those
areas where you don’t shine or you find more challenging.
Beware of self-imposed limitations, and accept the reality
that you can’t do everything or please everyone.
Key Four: Be
aware of your barriers and weaknesses –
Be alert to the stumbling blocks you consciously or
unconsciously raise that can trip you up along the way.
Do you tend to overbook your time? Say “yes”
to requests you should decline?
Procrastinate in certain areas? Rationalize self-defeating
behaviors? Fail to make and/or stick with your plan?
Being sensitive to your areas of weakness is a healthy
first step to dealing with them.
Key Five: Know
when your prime time is and make the most of it –
When are you most productive? Schedule demanding projects
then and, if necessary, turn off or forward the phones
so that you can focus.
Understand how much rest and exercise you need, and
make sure you get it. Recognize when you need to take
five minutes or an hour away from a project to re-energize.
You will be much more productive. Keeping a healthy
balance of work, play and rest will enable you to go
the distance.
Key Six: Keep
your eyes on your major motivator – Remember
your answer to the question, “What’s in
it for me?” This has remarkable power to motivate
us. Increased productivity and efficiency will require
new behavior patterns and habits, and it will take effort
and discipline. Keep in mind your ultimate goal and
the benefits to you personally. This can inspire you
to stick with it.
Key Seven: Learn
from your past and plan for your future –
Evaluate how you’ve been spending your time. For
several days, keep a record of exactly how you use your
time. On this basis, identify your most productive activities,
your time wasters and areas where you can ‘cut
the fat.’
Keeping in mind your long and short-term goals, employ
a daily planning method. Try listing all the tasks you
need to do that day, then prioritize them using the
ABCD method.
| A
= |
Absolutely
imperative that this get done today |
| B
= |
Important,
but not as important as “A” and, if
it’s not accomplished today, you and you business
will both survive |
| C
= |
Needs
to be done, but can be rescheduled if necessary |
| D
= |
Delegate
this one |
When we understand ourselves,
we can apply the keys of personal productivity to keep
on track. We can design an effective plan to
reach our dreams – one that will move us towards
our goal and dream, help us to learn along the way and
enjoy the journey.
(727 words)
© 2005-2007 Victoria Munro.
Click here
for printable version.
About the Author: Victoria Munro is
co-founder (along with husband Dave Block) of Make-it-Fly®
LLC, a company dedicated to creating success for
small-business owners through creatively designed programs
and tools. Victoria has started and run nine different
businesses. To receive FREE business success articles
with tips to help you with your business, sign up for
their award-winning ezine, “In-Flight Refueling,”
at: www.Make-it-Fly.com,
and receive a free copy of the eBook, Get
More Done in Less Time: 101 Quick and Easy Time Tactics
& Tips.
You’re welcome to “reprint”
this article in your ezine, print publication
or on your website, as long as it remains complete and
unaltered (including the “about the author”
info at the end). Please send a copy of your reprint
to info@make-it-fly.com.
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