Best Kept Secrets of productivity revealed

Best Kept Secrets of productivity revealed

Productivity is something you strive for in your everyday activity, because let’s face it you are human and are mostly limited when it comes to using our time efficiently in a smart manner since you have just 24hrs a day, I will show you how I get 25hrs in a day and I will share with you some top secrets from some leaders and my personal mentor, hint it is my mum, she is the most successful person I know not just with money but with her family as well. Productivity is “An economic measure of output per unit of input. Inputs include labor and capital, while output is typically measured in revenues and other GDP components such as business inventories” (Source Investopedia) but you are not here to discuss the economy, simply put productivity is operating efficiently in an effective manner, setting up your operations to provide the maximum output expected from every input through smooth almost error free operations, if you want to set-up your business for success and be productive today? Then apply these four best kept secrets of productivity

·        Organization and early planning

·        Avoid procrastination

·        Be flexible

·        Be an EARLY riser

Organization and Early Planning.

You probably have heard about this but have not taken the time to listen. Every business has a business plan for a certain reason if you plan early you can adjust to changes easily without deviating from the overall objective of your company. Thomas Sankara was the president of Burkina Faso from 1983-1987 and what he did in four years no African leader has done in half a century, he paid off his countries public debt, Produced enough food for his country to be self-sustainable, created a vast rail network connecting the entire country, reduced corruption and he did all that in four years because he had drawn up these reforms for the country even before he became president which gave him and organized set of regulations and rules to govern a nation. Now you might be thinking I am not running a country well you are running your business, your household and least off all your life, you have to plan early, setting your goals and objectives in a cohesive and organized manner so you have a blue print of what you are working towards. Most organizations set budgets and it is not enough to set budgets without organized and accurate planning, having this in place reduces execution time making you more efficient in whatever project you are engaged

Avoid Procrastination

Procrastination is the nemesis of early planning and organizing, this is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline. That paper you are supposed to write but you will just watch your favorite TV program and do it after thirty minutes, then finding out that you are out of time and you have to rush over it. My mum hates it when people postpone their task for future dates, if she gives a task she expects you to start working on it immediately something that has stuck with me since my childhood days. Always start small and see the big picture but start now or you will never get started. So if you intend to start a blog, an online business or plan to spend more time with your family, there has never been any best time for you to start but now and follow my mums rule of working a little of it from now to complete what you plan on achieving

Be Flexible

Flexibility is being able to adjust to situations, if you want to be productive you will have to be very dynamic, when you starting now to follow your plan you have to know there will be obstacles and you have to work around it, go through or jump over which ever method to get it done but not changing you overall objective. Apple and Google are good examples of companies that are flexible. Looking at Apple you realize they started with personal computers then adopted the iPod which was a more innovative design from Sony’s Walkman, this gave them and edge in the tech industry. They latter launched the iPhone before finally trying to make a comeback with their Mac computers, in achieving their overall objective of being the market leaders In the tech industry they were flexible enough to adopt other products that established them in the market, flexibility is king to being productive because as you adjust to situations and are dynamic to the ever changing environment you remain competitive and more productive. I have a task for you, identify flexible businesses and people around you and adopt the strategies they apply that keeps them dynamic.

Be an EARLY Riser

When running a business, it may seem like there are never enough hours in the day. Tapping into the power of mornings, a time of day when there are less demands, might be the key to increasing your productivity. Getting up early every morning boost your commitment for the day and helps you set clear plans for the day. Harvard biologist Christoph Randler discovered in 2008 that early risers are more proactive. They were more likely to agree with statements like "I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself" and "I feel in charge of making things happen.” Randler's research also revealed that "morning people" are more likely to anticipate problems and minimize them efficiently, which leads to more success in the business world. Some successful business leaders and entrepreneurs attribute their success to early rise routine. For 15 years, Starbucks President Michelle Gaas has set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. to go running. Gretchen Ruben, popular author of The Happiness Project (Harper Perennial, 2011) wakes up at 6 a.m. and works for an hour before her family rises.  Time-management expert Laura Vanderkam highlights what makes mornings special and how we can use them more efficiently in her book What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast http://www.amazon.com/Successful-People-Breakfast-Mornings-ebook/dp/B007K3E2YK(Portfolio Trade, 2013)

There you have it, the best kept secrets of productivity revealed. I would want you to apply this techniques to your business and see the level of success you would achieve, kindly leave a comment in the comment box below to let us know if you have other productivity secrets, and if you have any questions as well just leave them below and I will reply to you personally.