Get Maximum Productivity with Less Stress

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INTRODUCTION

What does “success” mean to you? If you own your own business, it might seem like running yourself ragged is the only way you can achieve it. Unfortunately, the only thing you will achieve that way is an early grave or enough health issues that you’ll seriously question going into business for yourself in the first place. But that doesn’t have to be the case. You can get things accomplished, grow your business, have fun doing it and all without your family raising the premium on your insurance policy.

All kidding aside, do you feel like you are spinning your wheels sometimes? The plan is to get several things done each day but you always end up with more to do the next day. The “to do” list never shrinks. You don’t know where to start to figure out why this is the situation because there isn’t enough time in the day for it.

Frustration begins to set in. That’s when stress takes over. Will it spur you on with greater determination or beat you into a corner?

If you keep reading, you will find out how to regain control over your business day again. Learn tips for shrinking that “to do” list so that by the end of the week, you can cross everything off. Find out ways to bring your focus back to the activities that will move your business in a positive direction so you can plan for the next phase of growth.

It may not seem like it now, but stress will become your best friend. Master it instead of letting it rule your life. Who’s ready to find satisfaction in their business again?

THREE TYPES OF STRESS

The Good, the Bad and the Manageable

There is such a thing as good stress. It’s called “eustress.” The prefix “-eu” comes from Greek and means “good” or “well.” If you have to have stress, it’s the kind that you want. So, what is good stress?

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Think of the day that you began your business. It was both exciting and scary but you had taken the first steps and there was no turning back. That rush of emotion and quickening of the pulse is considered positive. You had charted a course and gathered what you needed to make the trip.

The point of such positive experiences is motivation. We all need a kick in the pants at one time or another to move out of a stagnation mode into a more active participation. A business that is comfortable in its measure of success gets a reality check from a competitor moving into the territory. Attending a business conference and seeing what others with the same type of enterprise are doing to create success, brings fresh ideas that you could implement.

Hitting a point where you are gaining more clients and working longer hours than before can be a good form of stress. At this junction, care needs to be taken. It could all go downhill fast without measures in place to deal with the increase. It is here where good stress meets bad stress to see who wins.

What about bad stress? Most of us have encountered that more often than not in our lives. The stress response remains the same but it is the perception that is different. You might have heard about the “fight or flight” syndrome? This is what happens when we feel threatened. Heart rate speeds up, adrenaline pumps through your bloodstream, pupils dilate and muscles tense with energy as they prepare to face the threat.

This is a high alert response. When the body is on high alert all the time (during times of chronic bad stress), it takes its toll. You may experience bouts of insomnia, loss of appetite, mood swings, irritability, hopelessness, withdrawal from friends and family, illness and lack of focus and concentration.

Many of these symptoms arise from worry: How will I meet payroll? Will I make the client’s deadline? When will I have time to finish all of this paperwork? What if the business doesn’t grow? Why can’t I seem to get things done?

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Now, it’s time to learn how to manage your stress. For all of us, whether in business for ourselves or not, a balance is needed between the good and the bad in order for life to continue to move forward. Too much bad stress and you feel like a permanent resident of the hamster wheel of life - spinning your wheels but getting nowhere.

PRODUCTIVITY TIPS: KEEPING IT ALL GOING

As we said above, running your business well is a matter of balance not a balancing act. It’s not about juggling. All those balls in the air will eventually come crashing down. The object is to keep things leveled out both at the office and outside of it. You are not a machine but you will learn how to keep everything moving as efficiently as an assembly line.

Organization

Have you ever seen heard someone exclaim that their messy desk was a sign of productivity? Don’t believe it. They may know where everything is but their mind is a jumble. Either is bad for your stress level. So, let’s move on to some task that will keep both the mind and the office in order.

Keep a notebook – What do you do each day? Have a dedicated notebook on your desk to record all of your activities. Did you talk to a client? Take notes about the meeting. Did you check email? Write that down too. This way, you can look back at the end of the day and see what you accomplished. It’s hard to keep everything a client said in your head. Now, you don’t have to. Review your notes so you can proceed with confidence. Keep a clean INBOX – At the start of the business day, check your email. Decide to use this time to add action items to you list (we’ll talk more about a list later on) or remove one as needed. Write it all down though. Now you can prioritize according to the urgency of any messages. Send messages as well if you need to. While your email is open, conduct all the business you need so you that you are not checking it twenty times a day. That is counterproductive.

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As far as cleaning your INBOX, if you don’t need an email anymore, delete it. If there is correspondence that you want to reference later, create a file for it. Try to leave as little as possible in this box. People get overwhelmed off the bat when they open their email and see a billion messages waiting to be read.

Keep a calendar – This is not just for work commitments but also family life. Create more than one. On your desktop you can create as many calendars as you need and color code them. Then, merge them together so you can see everything at a glance. Social commitments and business ones are important enough that you don’t want to mix them together. If your son has a soccer game tomorrow afternoon, don’t schedule any business work.

De-clutter

We’re back to that messy desk again. No matter what anyone says, a neat office where everything has its place lowers your stress level from the moment you walk in. At a glance, you know where to begin the day’s activities. There is room to move without tripping over files, toys and other stuff.

Use office organizational tools. File cabinets, wire baskets, hanging files, paper shredder and more can move most of the clutter from your desk into a permanent place somewhere else. People often get bogged down in a mountain of paper. One tool that may help is a scanner. The Neat Desk scanner ($379.00, Amazon.com) allows you to dispense with most of those documents in favor of an electronic file on your computer.

Cultivate the skills necessary to keep your business running as efficiently as you can. Forsake paper files for electronic ones. Many of us have Microsoft Office on the computer but don’t utilize its full capabilities. Improve your computer software skills to cut down on clutter and stress.

Create templates for oft performed activities. This includes client invoices, contract worker agreements, confidentiality statements, meeting notes, and business contacts to name a few. Invest in software to help keep finances

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and bookkeeping straight. There is a time investment at the outset to get these systems set up but then it’s a matter of plugging in information when you need to.

Reduce your mental clutter as well. Have you ever tried to juggle several conversations in your head at one time? It can reduce your creativity if your mind is always full of everything else. Stop overtaxing those brain cells. Record meeting notes (as we stated above), enter all activities (both personal and professional) in your calendar, keep an up-to-date to-do list, and have it all at your fingertips. Now, your mind can be free to focus on business matters that need your attention like marketing, advertising and expanding.

Daily Scheduling

Believe it or not, many will sit down at their desk each morning without a clue as to how they will proceed for the day. Sure, there are always a lot of tasks that need to be done, but by not prioritizing them, productivity is slowed and you may still be playing catch-up at the end of the day or week.

Use the “first things first” rule. Take a look at your calendar at the beginning of each week. What projects or activities are due that week or the week after? Generate milestones to get these tasks completed on time. Then, within that list, decide which task is most important on any given day and put it at the top of the list. This method ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

Try time boxing. If you’ve never heard of it, basically, it incorporates putting each part of your business day into virtual boxes. Each has a time limit or a time maximum. For instance, some experts advise that you work at 90-minute intervals. Because we have short attention spans and the mind begins to wander, this is the maximum span in which to be productive.

Time boxing has several benefits: overcoming procrastination, increased focus, increased efficiency, motivation, balance, and it moves more tasks off your plate. If you work as hard as you can for 90 minutes, you can move on

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to something else or continue with the same task. So, set an alarm if you have to.

But, this method is not just for business tasks. Just like you schedule everything, put it all in a time box. This includes break times, time for family errands and time off. And, each task is focused upon. When you are working on business, everything else melts away. The same goes for family time. Now, it’s not a perfect world, but by scheduling possible interruptions you can cut down on activities that are non-productive (web surfing, playing games) and those that can steal away time from important tasks (running to doctor’s appointments, carpool).

One of the biggest myths in business is that multitasking is the best thing since sliced bread. When you split your mind into two, three or four parts, nothing gets done to satisfaction. You may do a little on this task and a little on that one but it all amounts to naught because it still remains on your to-do list. Focus on one task at a time for better quality work and lower stress levels.

Add a daily wrap-up to your schedule. This is about 20 or 30 minutes at the end of your business day where you quickly review what you accomplished. Decide on action items for the next day’s list and begin prioritizing them. Use this time to check your email again and see if there are any client communications you need to tend to. There is a feeling of accomplishment each day and a readiness to work when you return to the office on the next. Stress managed for another day.

Set Goals

Without knowing where you are going, you will never get there. Take time to set yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. We talked a bit about the weekly and daily goals above. You are defining your motivation for being in business with goal setting.

Create actionable choices. Many of us falter here because we use results as our goals. Here’s an example. You set one of your yearly goals as “grow my

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business.” That says a lot and nothing at all. It doesn’t tell you “what” to do to achieve it. Instead, choose something like this: “Add 4 new clients a month.” “Hire qualified contractors.” “Attend a business conference in my area.”

Each one of those last statements requires you to do something. And, each will bring you closer to your goal of growing your business. If a client needs you to write content for them on a monthly basis, your goals can encompass research, presenting that research to the client and then writing based on the client’s final decision.

Don’t be afraid of deadlines. They motivate you to focus on the task at hand. Besides, clients like them so that they can plan accordingly as well.

Delegate

This is important. You might run an Internet business or a home based business but you are not a one-man (or one-woman) machine. You don’t have to do it alone. And, as your business expands, you will see that much of the stress is derived from trying to fit 30 hours of work into a 24 hour day. It’s okay to ask for assistance. Just make sure that you are getting to right help.

Communication is the key here. Say what you mean so that your instructions are clear. As long as everyone understands, then they will be on the same page and that reduces stress. You can trust that the project is getting its needed attention by the right people.

Here are some suggestions to help you out in this area.

Project Planning – With more than one client and various needs, it can be hard to stay on top of everything. Use project management software such as Basecamp. For a monthly fee, you can set up projects, assign contractors and clients to them, communicate with your team and upload information. The system can send reminders to you about milestones (you set those up as well) so you stay abreast of all that is going on across all of your projects.

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Enlist help - Some tasks are beyond our expertise. Yes, you can limp along or take the time to learn them but isn’t it better to get someone who is already familiar with the task? That saves you time and money.

Who would you hire? To balance work and life: virtual assistant, accountant, bookkeeper, project manager, affiliate manager, baby sitter, and house cleaner. Each person can free you up to focus on business task while they handle the items that can be outsourced. Be sure that you take care to find the person with the right fit for your needs in each case.

Use social media – Any business that wants to reach more people needs a social media outlet. And, these outlets can also be helpful when it comes to managing your business. Keep in touch with your project team using Twitter. No matter where you are, they can communicate changes, updates and such with you. Set up Facebook groups for management team members to interface with you.

Automation – Some things can be set up in advance to run on a schedule. If you are running an email marketing campaign, use a service like AWeber to deliver to your target list. Do the same for monthly newsletters to your website subscribers. On your website, upload bulk content and then schedule blog posts and articles to change on a weekly or daily basis.

Connect with Others

Sometimes it feels like you are out there alone, but it doesn’t have to be that way. All business owners need support of all kinds to keep going. Create your network of support by connecting with other business men and women.

Online forums and groups – One of the foremost social media sites for business owners is LinkedIn. Set up a profile and then connect with others in your local area as well as those who share your niche business. Participate in conversations that are aimed at helping each other to succeed. This is a great solution for those who run online businesses and have very little time for outside meetings.

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Local business groups – Local business groups can also offer support in a more personal way. Learn about business loans, fundraisers, meetings and other ways that small business owners stick together in your area.

Consult a business coach – Just like any other type of coach, their job is to help you to be the best that you can. They can redirect your focus towards the goals that you originally set for yourself and your business. Unlock that creative flow and see where you are going wrong not only in your overall business plan but with daily productivity issues. Because they have had business experience and know many of the pitfalls you might be facing, utilize their suggestions for positive change in your enterprise.

Connecting with others extends to family and friends. Don’t spend all your time on business. Make time for those who you care about, one of the reasons why you work so hard. Spending time away from the pressures of work is also a great stress reliever. It shifts your perspective to other priorities in life that you may want to achieve as well. This is a good thing.

Say No

It is okay to back off every once in a while. Tell a client that you can’t handle their work right now. That sounds counterproductive, but the reality is that if you don’t have the resources or man hours to complete the project successfully, it can be more detrimental to your business to perform poorly for a client.

Don’t be afraid to defer a response to a client in order to decide if you can help them. It gives you time to check your schedule and find options. Set up an automatic email reply for inquiries so that everyone initially hears from you within 24 hours.

Avoid over scheduling yourself, whether in family situations or in your business. That almost certainly leads to stress and disappointment for everyone.

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And, saying no doesn’t mean never. It could be a potential business partnership. Ask if you can table the discussion until you can evaluate your current business position to see if you can take advantage of the opportunity. Delay can be a positive thing when presented correctly.

Evaluate Again and Again

Usually, the exact goals that we start out with in business are not the ones that we end up with even a year later. It is okay to reexamine your goals and tweak them as needed to fit changes in perspective and in our situations.

What may have worked in the beginning might not necessarily work now. There are an infinite number of systems, software and solutions to your business needs. Use as many as you find necessary. Investigate as many as you want to see if they work. Are you still finding productivity each day a problem? Consider how you can streamline different areas of your business operation to make it work more efficiently.

Is stress wearing you down? Investigate where it is coming from and get rid of the cause or change it in a positive way.

CONCLUSION

Productivity is important in business especially when it is your business. Stress can get in the way of that if balance is not maintained. Before things get too bad, investigate ways to increase your efficiency and lower your stress levels. Utilize business aids both online and off, organize your business life, remove the clutter both of mind and office, set goals, delegate responsibilities, connect with others, disconnect when you need to, and continually evaluate ways in which you can improve.

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