Blaine Oelkers is America’s only Chief Results Officer™. He is a TedX speaker with 190,000 views and has 25,000 first level connections on LinkedIn. He is a lifetime work-from-home entrepreneur and has had his own small business for 30 years. You can find out more about Blaine and his offerings at selfluence.com or watch him at blainetedx.com.
It’s no secret that everyone wants to compress time to get more done in a day. As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats and maybe even have multiple businesses, so your time is stretched pretty thin. Often the day dictates what you get done (reactionary) rather than the other way around (intentional). Here are some ways to take control of your day.
Create positive habits.
Most people forget that they are habit masters. In 21 seconds a day, you can create a new habit. You have enough time and skills to develop that habit. Get laser-focused on your abilities and what you want to accomplish.
One way to do this is to attach the new habit to one you’ve already established, like brushing your teeth or picking up your cellphone at the beginning of the day. If you want to add meditation to your daily routine, clear your phone’s home page and keep your mindfulness app there so you can start your day with intention. Start with a simple habit, link it and see how it works.
Put thinking time on your calendar.
We get so busy that we often forget to do the most valuable thing of all—think. As a business owner, you need to spend time working on your business, otherwise you are just keeping up instead of growing. Place high-value items on your calendar so you can do those first.
The 30-minute hour.
Want to know how to get an hour’s worth of work done in just 30 minutes? You already know how to do it and you’ve already done it. Ask yourself: if I had two guilt-free hours during the day that I’m not going to work, what would I do? Here’s where multi-tasking comes in. Think while you’re on your Peloton or on a walk.
The most productive day of the year.
Most people are three to 10 times more productive on the Day Before Vacation. When you treat your days like the Day Before Vacation, you become highly focused, you delegate or defer tasks and the perfectionist is released. Done is better than perfect.
Here’s how the Day Before Vacation approach (PDF) works:
- Plan: Plan the day out—you have limited time! Get up 30 minutes earlier before the world attacks you with all their needs and start the day with a clear vision of what needs to get accomplished.
- Delegate: It’s the “who before the do.” You can’t do everything. Delegate it or defer the project.
- Focus: Learn to say “no.” No idle chitchat. Stay on schedule and use a timer. If someone requests 45 minutes of your time, ask if the task can be accomplished in 30 minutes instead.
All the tasks.
The best way to get things done is to shut out the world and its distractions. Multitasking is when you can do two things at once while maintaining the quality of both things. You can’t write an article and return emails at the same time, but you can spend time with your family while exercising. Go for a walk and listen to a podcast. Return phone calls while driving. Batch tasking is all about optimizing your time. Return all your phone calls or complete all your errands at once.
Take action!
What you think about, you bring about (WYTABA). Control the inputs of your life, what you are around, who is influencing you and then take action. Transformation happens in the action. Time flies, but the good news is if you pilot your time, you will pilot your life.
Watch the Full Time to Thrive episode featuring Blaine Oelkers HERE:
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