Be more productive
- They focus on hours even down to the minutes, not days. Most people default to hour and half-hour blocks on their calendar; highly successful people know that there are 1,440 minutes in every day and that there is nothing more valuable than time. Money can be lost and made again, but time spent can never be reclaimed.
They are Driven – always working, moving thinking. They seldom waste time.
- They intently focus on only one thing in bursts of uninterrupted time.
They work in one to two hours periods, without interruptions.
What task will have the biggest impact on life, ministry and work?
What accomplishment will get the vision successfully operational?
That’s what you should dedicate your mornings to every day.
They minimize interruptions – process e-mails only a few times a day. Ultra-productive people don’t “check” their e-mail throughout the day. They don’t respond to each vibration or ding to see who has intruded into their inbox. Instead, like everything else, they schedule time to process their e-mails quickly and efficiently. For some, that’s only once a day; for others, it’s morning, noon, and night.
- They turn to-do lists into plans.
Automate – repetitive tasks (autoresponders, Social media schedulers, Online banking etc.)
Delegate – Ultra-productive people don’t ask, “How can I do this task?” Instead, they ask, “How can this task get done?” They take the I out of it as much as possible. Super-productive people don’t have control issues, and they are not micro-managers. In many cases, good enough is, well, good enough.
They follow the 80/20 rule. Known as the Pareto Principle, in most cases, 80% of results come from only 20% of activities. Ultra-productive people know which activities drive the greatest results. Focus on those and give minimal attention to the rest.
Train the people who show up and get involved – they will minister to the 80%
Procrastinate – It turns out that only 41% of items on to-do lists ever get done.
Reduce duplicated decisions; they process things and tasks only once. How many times have you opened a piece of regular mail—a bill perhaps—and then put it down, only to deal with it again later? How often do you read an e-mail and then close it and leave it in your inbox to deal with later? Highly successful people try to “touch it once.” If it takes less than five or ten minutes—whatever it is—they deal with it right then and there. It reduces stress, since it won’t be in the back of their minds, and it is more efficient, since they won’t have to re-read or re-evaluate the item again in the future.
To-Do-Lists usually rob us of priority. We put things in our schedule by what can be accomplished in the time allotted. That is not the most effective method. It should be done by what will add the most significance to life, work and play.
Now schedule priorities on your calendar. Highly productive people put everything on their calendar and then work and live by that calendar.
- They make it home for dinner. Yes they value work, but also value personal significance at home. They value family time, exercise, and giving back. They consciously allocate their 1,440 minutes a day to each area they value (i.e., they put them on their calendar), and then they stick to that schedule.
5. They use a note pad or journal. We often lose great ideas because mind clutter. Ultra-productive people free their minds by writing everything down as the thoughts come to them. A great way to avoid distraction during prayer is to have a notepad available to write down important things that come to mind to attend to after prayer time is complete.
6. They limit meetings and stick to a tight agenda. Meetings are notorious time killers. They start late, have the wrong people in them, meander around their topics, and run long. You should get out of meetings whenever you can and hold fewer of them yourself. If you do run a meeting, keep it short and to the point.
7. They say “no” to more things than not. When you are saying Yes to something you are saying no to an infinite amount of things you could or should be doing. Make sure it is significant to what God has called you to. - They practice a consistent routine for mind, body and spirit – The most productive people nurtured their bodies in the morning with water, a healthy breakfast, light exercise, and they nurtured their minds with meditation or prayer, inspirational reading, or journaling.
Energy is everything. You can’t make more minutes in the day, but you can increase your energy to increase your attention, focus, and productivity. Highly successful people don’t skip meals, sleep, or breaks in the pursuit of more, more, more. Instead, they view food as fuel, sleep as recovery, and breaks as opportunities to recharge in order to get even more done.
Adapted from original post found here