5 Entrepreneurs on Astonishingly Simple Ways to Increase Productivity

By Heather Hess Robin Lewin (Guest Post)

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Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash
Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash

The working population across the globe is much serious about productivity because it is practically, a key determinant of success. Every person strives to be massively productive no matter in what capacity or industry they work. Every field of work requires professionals and experts to align their productivity on a top level because it is all about yielding good results in a fairly reasonable time.

However, something as simple as keeping track of time and just working sincerely has become a dire problem because productivity is an aspect which is often overlooked in professional practice. Most working environments, schools, and organizations impose a strict time capsule on employees to harbor productivity. But it remains a subject that is not taught at academic level nor much organizations train employees for it.

In an increasingly competitive world today, people are vying towards success. The prosperous entrepreneurial eco-system around the globe is thriving; more and more individuals want to take the road of entrepreneurship. In fact, according to a report from GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), around 27 million people in the United States alone are entrepreneurs. Staying productive is everything for them.

Even if you are not aiming for Silicon Valley in your career, productivity is still a primary aspect you should be focusing on when it comes to working. Today’s work environments are more vulnerable and demanding than ever, and to stay on top of your practice, you increasingly need to stay productive. Failure to do so usually results in bad working habits which hinder growth and aggravate health problems because then people would lead themselves to work late and overwork.

Your sleep can take a nosedive, as a result, and this is another problem as Christopher Barnes, an assistant professor of the Foster School of Business and the famous “Sleep and Work” TED Talk asserts that sleep deprivation can affect work performance.

As a matter of fact, you are not the only person constantly looking for a fix of productivity because most people who work are met with this problem sooner or later in their career. This is why the world has resorted to successful entrepreneurs for offering their sound advice in resolving the problem of productivity.

Entrepreneurs have a proven track record of staying productive, which is a factor constantly impacting their business practice. In other words, every successful entrepreneur out there has a recipe to stay productive, so that they can remain elite professionals and continue to pursue their ambitions of changing the world for the better.

Their credible advice is not rocket science, neither requires you to wake up at 4 am in the morning and jog. It does not even have to do with an insane recipe of coffee or taking your dog for a midnight stroll (although it’s pretty fun). The tips mentioned in this article are simple habits and it can be said that they are “astonishingly simple but woefully infrequent practices.”

Following are some advice on productivity by some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world today:

  1. Work fewer hours

“It sounds counter-intuitive, but working less has enabled me to be much more productive. In the past after working long hours, I found myself avoiding difficult tasks, learning little, remembering less and making mistakes.” – Brad Shaw (President and CEO of Dallas Web Design Inc.)

However, working less does not mean working flexible hours. Working flexible hours can hamper your productivity. People do not amass success if they do not have fixed working schedules, a study published in a journal states.

  1. Clear the clutter

“A cluttered work area is distracting and it takes away from what you should be doing: working. A clean area allows you to stay focused on what needs to get done. Moving stuff around to make room or adding to them mess is a productivity killer.” – Andrew Lanoie (entrepreneur, private investor, advisor, founder and CEO of Four Peaks Capital Partners)

  1. Start your mornings with the most important task at hand

“All success in life comes from task completion. The key to success in life is task completion. If you don’t complete tasks you have no future. And so if task completion is the key then what you do is complete more and more important tasks. And if you start every day by completing the most important task your brain actually releases endorphins. Endorphins are another chemical and it’s only released when you do something that is life-enhancing. When you do something that enhances your life that furthers you it makes you happy, it releases energy, it raises your self-esteem.” – Brian Tracy (motivational public speaker, authored and published over 70 books, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International)

  1. Say no and save time

“You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.” – Warren Buffet (billionaire investor, business magnate, public speaker, philanthropist, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway)

The approach of “saying no” can be manifested in a number of ways. Simply stopping yourself from checking email over and over again after work can be a starting point. But why? Email saves time and streamlines workplace communications. It works fast and cuts in-person meetings.

52% of Americans have a strong habit of checking their email, as reported by the American Psychological Association. Frequently checking email (especially after work) accounts for appalling health problems, as this research suggests.

  1. Break the communication barrier because it is taking your time

“A major source of issues is poor communication between depts. The way to solve this is to allow the free flow of information between all levels. If, in order to get something done between depts, an individual contributor has to talk to their manager, who talks to a director, who talks to a VP, who talks to another VP, who talks to a director, who talks to a manager, who talks to someone doing the actual work, then super dumb things will happen. It must be ok for people to talk directly and just make the right thing happen.” – Elon Musk (entrepreneur and investor; founder and CEO of SpaceX; co-founder and CEO of Tesla, Inc.; co-founder and CEO of Neuralink; co-founder of PayPal)

You may read a tone of advice on the internet but it is all about implementing the great words of professionals and experts in your life. When do you start?

 


Hess is a passionate writer fuelled by subjects of business and entrepreneurship. An avid reader, art collector and travel enthusiast.

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