Let me guess.
You should be doing something else rather than reading this article. But due to some unknown force of nature, you decided to be less productive by reading an article about how to be more productive. You deserve a pat on the back.
But in all seriousness, this may be the last article you may ever read on the topic of productivity because these productivity hacks are awesome.
Do The Hard Task First Thing
Have a task that has been keeping you up all night? Maybe it’s a business activity you dread.
No matter what the task is, make sure you do it first thing in the morning and get it out of the way.
Why?
In the morning you’re at your peak. Meaning you take the task head on with the best of your ability plus if you get the hardest task out of the way early your day is only going to get better and easier.
It’s a win win.
Extra productivity hack* Humans run on a 24-hour internal “clock,” which is why we all typically go to sleep, wake up, and experience alertness peaks and valleys around the same time every day. We refer to that 24-hour cycle as a circadian day; by creating good productivity habits you can hack your way to creating a productive circadian cycle.
Get A Pen and Paper
Do yourself a favour and grab yourself a pen and piece of paper.
As powerful as our brains are our memories are notoriously unreliable.
If you try to memorise all your tasks for the day you’re going to have a lot of unfinished tasks and your stress levels are going to go through the roof especially when you remember you forgot that super important task at 9 o’clock at night.
A pen and paper can also come in handy when you come up with ideas throughout the day. Jot them down then at the end of the day go through them and see which ones are viable.
Outsource
E-commerce business owners live a tough life particularly if you are rolling solo.
Solopreneurs have a lot on their plate because not only are they the business owner but they are the head of marketing, operations, customer service etc.
So why not outsource?
Bringing in an intern or a freelancer to help with small projects like managing your social media or handling customer service emails is a great way to free up some time for more important tasks you may have on your agenda.
Outsourcing your e-commerce operations to a 3PL provider like KeepSpace may also be an option if you’re finding packing orders, managing inventory and returns a time consuming task.
Get A To Do System
Everyone is different, so you need a to do system that works for you. That might be:
- A notepad
- Sticky notes
- Paper calendar or agenda
- Digital calendar
- Task app
I’ve always used Google Calendar to book important meetings and events. For everyday tasks, you can’t beat Asana or Trello. Both of these task apps are simple to use and beautifully designed and come with a tonne of features which allow you to make your tasking as simple or as detailed as you like.
Theme Your Days
If your finding that your days are jam packed full of tasks and you don’t know where to start. Theming your days can be a great way to break into a solid routine of getting stuff done.
For example, you can make Monday your marketing day, Tuesday operations day, Wednesday customer service day etc.
Knowing what you are going to work on each day is a great way to build a weekly routine and a great way to streamline productivity.
Take A Break
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to take a break.
Dividing your typical 8-10 hour day into 3 cycles of 2x 15 mins breaks and 1 1 hour or 30 minute break is going to make sure your mind is going to stay relatively fresh throughout the day.
Another popular technique is called the pomodoro technique. This technique requires you to work in 25 minute intervals after each 25 minute block you take a 5 minute break. On the fourth interval, you take a 1 hour break.
You can learn more about the Pomodoro technique here.
