Increase Productivity

Here\’s a simple five-step technique that you can use to double and triple your overall productivity performance and output.

• First, start every day with a list of activities made out the night before.
• Second, organize the list by priorities. Put an A, B, or C next to each item before beginning. Your items are the most important of all the items for which there can be substantial consequences. If you do them or don\’t, your B items are items you should do, but that is not as important as your A items. Your C items are items that would be nice for you to do, but it doesn\’t matter if you do them or not. Here\’s the rule.
• Never do a B item when there is an item you have not done. Suppose you have several items; set priorities by listing them as A1, A2, A3, and so on. This is where you get the maximum payoff from your time.
• The third key to time management is for you to begin on your A1 task first thing in the morning and stay with it until it is complete. Work without diversion or distraction. Discipline yourself to focus and concentrate on that one item. Even if it takes you all day long, this is already the highest and best use of your time.
• Step four in time management is to keep focused by asking yourself three key questions every day.
  1. Question number one is What are my highest value activities? Ask your coworkers and staff this question as well, whatever the answer is to that question. That is what you should probably be doing at the moment.
  2. The second question you can ask yourself is What can I? And only I do that, if I do it well, will make a real difference. There\’s only one answer to that question at any given time. And that is what you should be working on.
  3. The third question, perhaps the best of all, is, what is the most valuable use of my time right now? Ask this question over and over again and make sure that whatever your answer, it is what you are working on most of the time.
• The fifth key to great time management is to develop a sense of urgency, a bias for action, move fast on opportunities and responsibilities.

Do it now. Develop a reputation for doing the job quickly and well. This alone can guarantee success in your business. Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in your field. Lifelong learning is the key to massive success in your business and life’s future.

All the leaders are learners for you to succeed greatly in a competitive field. You must stay ahead of your competitors by adding to your knowledge and skills continually. The highest-paid business people in America read two to three hours each day in their field. If you read only one hour per day in your field, that will translate into about one book per week, 50 books per year.

By reading one, two, or three hours per day in your field, you will not only stay current but also become one of the smartest and highest-paid people in your business. Listen to audio programs in your car; make your car a drive time university. The average car owner sits 500 to 1000 hours each year in their car. This equals 12 to 24, 40 hour weeks behind the wheel.

A good audio program contains the best ideas of 30 to 50 books. You can get the equivalent of attending university full time by listening to educational audio programs as you drive around. Finally, take every seminar and course that you can. Many people have become wealthy in business as a result of a single book, a single audio program, or a single seminar. Take time every day to upgrade your knowledge and skills, as Pat Riley, the basketball coach, said. If you\’re not getting better, you\’re getting worse. Your job is to get better every single day.