Self Management - 3 Tips on How to Improve Productivity and Accomplish More (Plus Bonus)

It's hard for self-employed people to find motivation to do their job. This article will give you 3 tips (plus a bonus tip) on how to increase your productivity and accomplish more.

Becoming better at self-management you will become a better leader and be able to coach others to do the same.

3 Tips on How to Improve Productivity and Accomplish More (Plus Bonus)
By Damian V. Ray

I'm writing this post mostly for self-employed people. If you are an employee, there's not too much you can do.
If you have a 9-5 office job, you have to stretch those few "real work" things for 8 hours, mixing it with washroom and smoke breaks, Facebook, and checking your email every 5 minutes.

You know what's gonna happen if you finish your work in 2 hours, don't you?

Your boss is gonna say: "This is amazing! It's only 11am and you've already done so much! Here's more work for you! You are the best!"

(There's a way to make that 9-5 time more productive without doing more work, simply read The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, he is an expert on the subject.)

And if you work at some minimum wage place like coffee shop or fast food restaurant (I've done that too), your manager is not gonna let you rest for more than few minutes. You're gonna run back and forth like a hamster, but there's nothing productive in that job at all.

So, this is How to Improve Productivity for freelancers.
You know how hard it is to organize your time and accomplish some decent amount of work when all 24 hours of a day is yours and nobody is there to make you do things except yourself.

If you work from home, there are tons of distractions: TV (I had to cancel my cable at one point to physically remove this distraction from my life), food and tea (Ya, ya, another cup and another cookie), and of course, - email, Facebook, YouTube... And suddenly you feel like your place needs to be cleaned... And the weather is so great!..

You know what I'm talking about.
So, what do you do?

I tried so many different approaches.
I've tried to put myself on the 9-5 "normal people" schedule, - the WORST thing ever!
I've tried to enjoy days and work nights, - the HARDEST thing, especially when your day was amazing and the only thing you want is to go to bed with a smile on your face. Oh, sorry, - no smile because you feel guilty for not having done any work!

I've tried to work in coffee-shops, - that was a pretty successful attempt and I was working like this for few years, but 5 cups of coffee and a brownie within 4 hours, every day, is not too healthy and is not too cheap (that was my second biggest monthly expense after rent).

Then I read The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss (I actually read it 4 times) and that book gave me the most valuable tips. My productivity improved. But still, - I'm not that disciplined.
But, one very important thing that I took from Tim's book was, - we are not even suppose to work long hours.

Humans are not designed to be productive for long periods of time.
That took a huge mental mountain off my shoulders. After reading all the explanation, I realized that all my life I was feeling guilty for not working at least 8 hours a day, - which is pretty much not possible in the first place!

I could actually spend 8 hours in front of my computer, but that was mostly waste of time, - watching YouTube, reading jokes, and, again, - feeling guilty and eventually depressed.
That was the time when I almost smashed my laptop into the wall.

After reading the book, I suddenly felt relieved!
I don't have to work too much to accomplish more!
In fact, it's damaging for your mental health to spend too much time in front of your computer, feeling guilty for not being productive.

So, after few more experiments, I came up to the best combination of simple adjustments that worked amazingly great and made me feel good about myself and how much I accomplish.

Tip 1: Wake up early.
I usually wake up at 5am.
Work is not the main reason for me to do it. Besides, I don't even do work-related things every day.
(I will write another post about WHY I wake up at 5. Many people ask me about it anyway. They cannot understand why I do it when I don't have to go anywhere.)

But when I feel like doing work-related things, I wake up at 5.
I have time to exercise, have breakfast, and then finish HUGE amount of work in 2-3 hours. And guess what: It's 10am, my work is done, - and I can go out and enjoy the rest of this sunny day!

Tip 2: Plan your work.
There are many people, including Tim Ferriss, that recommend to plan your work in the evening, so tomorrow, when you start working, you know what to do and you don't slack off.

I tried that, and I tried to do it in the morning before I start working...
What I found is that it doesn't really matter when you do it.
Probably the best time to plan your work for tomorrow would be right after you finished your work for today.

But sometimes you feel tired, so you can go out, have a coffee and plan it in a coffee shop.
Again, doesn't matter when, - just Plan It!

Tip 3: Put more things on your plan than you can accomplish.
This one is very simple but took me long time to figure out.
You see, I have never EVER done 100% of what I've planned. Never!
I put, let's say, 4 things on my to-do list. And I finish 3.

Next day I put 3, and I finish 2.
And then one day I planned 7 things, and I finished 5!
Suddenly I don't feel bad for not clearing my list out: 5 out of 7 is better than 3 out of 4!

Bonus Tip: Brake things down into tiny pieces.
Imagine you are a web-programmer (like I used to be). And you start working on a new website.
Let's say, you make your plan for tomorrow:

1. Make database.
2. Make site structure.
3. Fill up all the content.
4. Test everything.
5. Email my client and get the money.

That sounds easy, right? Then if it's so easy, why do you feel stuck and don't know what to start from?

Try this:

• Turn on my computer (1 min)
• Make database:
• Start the database software (1 min)
• Create table "Users: UserID, UserName, UserDateOfBirth, UserEmail, UserPassword, UserActiveFlag, UserComment" (2 min)
• Create table "Sales: SaleID,... " (2 min)
• ... create other tables...

Make site structure:

• Make empty index.html file (30 sec)
• Make empty contactus.html file (30 sec)
• Make empty order.cgi file (30 sec)
• ... etc.

Make Index.html:

• Copy-paste basic html5 page structure from my library (1 min)
• Make page DIV structure (5 min)
• ... etc

And so on. Break each line of your plan into really-really tiny pieces, each piece should take maximum few minutes to do.

• Benefit 1: You will never feel overwhelmed again.
• Benefit 2: It'll be much easier to follow the Tip 3, - now you can put a hundred of things on your plan, but because each thing is so small, you can finish them all in few hours without even thinking about it, and then go out and enjoy your day.
• Benefit 3: If you follow Tip 1 and wake up early, it will be way before afternoon.

Now everything comes together into a system:

• [Day before] Make a plan and break everything down to very small pieces.
• Put MORE on your plan than you think you can accomplish.
• Wake up early. Don't forget to exercise.
• Do every task, - do it quickly, few minutes each, without even thinking about it.
• Feel like you've done enough? Stop! You're done!
• Plan things for tomorrow.
• Go and enjoy your day.

And if you follow it, you are going to be more productive and you are not going to feel tired or guilty.
And this is how to improve productivity, work maximum 3-4 hours a day and accomplish more than other people in 8 hours.

Visit my blog at http://www.DamianRay.com for more articles
Article Source: Damian V.Ray

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