By: Chelsea Meager, Founder & Creative Director — The Sole Circle

The ultimate goal of an entrepreneur is productivity. Yet, many entrepreneurs face challenges that can threaten their productivity. 

For example, researchers have found that around 29% of entrepreneurs have ADHD — and that’s not counting the numerous individuals who might be undiagnosed. However, these difficulties can be overcome.

Prioritizing productivity

The key to establishing productivity is to understand how to prioritize your productivity properly. For each task, big or small, take a moment to stop and think about how much effort, time, and focus it will require. Do you need three or four hours of deep focus to complete it? Or is it a more straightforward but necessary task requiring only 15 to 20 minutes of silence?

Once you have established the difficulty and priority of tasks, you will have a basis for setting your actionable, achievable goals. At the same time, it is important to define success on your terms, not by comparing yourself to others. 

Setting goals gives you metrics by which you can self-evaluate your success on an annual, monthly, weekly, and daily basis:

• Annual: Look at the big picture for the year. You can start with a dry-erase board, gather your notes from yourself, your mentors, and your employees, and start thinking ahead. Where do you want to be in 10 years, and what can you do to ensure you get ten big steps ahead this year?
• Monthly: Every month, gather a list of tasks you need to accomplish for your clients and your business’s overall operation. Depending on your preference or process, you can use paper or digital software.
• Weekly: After setting your monthly goals, you should duplicate them on a new page if you’re writing them down or on a new window if you’re working virtually. Then, you can organize that list into smaller increments based on what is due and when.
• Daily: Finally, take those weekly tasks and break them down further into daily to-do lists. Organize them from low to high priority, and start blocking off time as necessary to complete them. This is how you will get work done.

Ultimately, you must create goals and management systems that work for you and your team. Over time, you will determine how to adjust your goal-setting strategies to prepare yourself for success, figure out what seems easy and realistic for any given period, and learn how to push yourself just beyond your comfort zone to reach that ideal result.

How work-life balance is necessary for productivity

However, establishing a healthy work-life balance is a critical factor in how much you will enjoy your work. For entrepreneurs, it can become easy to overwork yourself to the point of experiencing burnout. According to one survey, over one-third of entrepreneurs experience burnout at some point in their careers. Although starting a business aims to make a living doing something you love, you can quickly stop loving what you do if you don’t have a healthy work-life balance.

The first step in creating a positive balance is planning a day. When you finish your day by writing down your task list for the next day, you’ll already start ahead of schedule because you know exactly what you need to do. This will help prevent you from falling behind, as you won’t forget or lose track of any items on your to-do list.

Setting your phone’s “Do Not Disturb” or “DND” status is also important in establishing a work-life balance. Generally, starting your DND around 10 pm is ideal, although this is not a hard and fast rule. Some may find that an earlier hour works better, while others prefer to wait until a little later. For those late-night grinders, start your DND about an hour before your planned focus session, but remember that putting yourself on DND doesn’t mean you have to go entirely off-grid — just limit the time you spend on other things that could disrupt your focus.

Work-life balance also requires you to get your morning off to a good start. The ideal way to get the morning started right is to wake up slowly, so don’t try to wake up and immediately hit the grind by checking emails. Instead, create a simple routine that gives you time to adjust to the new day. It can be as simple as drinking a glass of water, folding laundry, or picking up the house. The simpler the task and the less thought you have to put into it, the calmer you will start the day, and this feeling of tranquility will hopefully follow you throughout your day. It’s like a warm-up for your mindset.

To cement this positive and calm mindset, follow this simple routine with your method of choice to prioritize your inner peace and well-being. If you pray or meditate, set aside some extra time to do this in the morning. If not, you may be surprised by the power of simple breathing exercises. These activities will help you ensure your day starts and remains on track.

Finally, you should kick off your day with your favorite ritual. That might be a nice cup of hot (or iced) coffee for many. For others, it may be getting up and heading straight to the gym for an early morning workout. Whatever you need to do to help yourself prepare for the day and be stimulated and motivated to be your ideal self should become part of your daily morning routine. 

By creating ideal processes, setting goals that prioritize productivity, and establishing a healthy work-life balance, entrepreneurs can set themselves up for ideal productivity and, better yet, long-term happiness in their jobs. This will help business leaders establish longevity in their roles.

Published by Charlie N.