009: Seven Steps to Get More Done in Less Time [PODCAST]

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How can you chase your dream when you are busy working over 40 hours per week in your day job? Between work and home life, there is no time or energy left. And, on top of that, it seems work has become a 24 hour contact sport where you never get away. The clients I consult with complain that time is one of the biggest reasons they cannot make something happen. Others get more done in less time and seem to be making it work. In this podcast I will provide seven proven strategies for getting more done in less time and reducing your extra hours at work. Also, these same strategies have made many people more productive in 4-8 hours per day than most of those people working 10+ hours per day.

Photo courtesy of IStockPhoto [/featured-image]

Seven Strategies to Get More Done in Less Time

1. Get clarity on what is important and where you might be wasting time

• Get a clear picture of high priority items.
• Get a clear picture of where you waste time.
  • Email
  • Drive-bys
  • Meetings without planned outcomes
• Use tools to help you manage your priorities and your time – NOZBE

2. Get customer buy-in to your clarity list

3. Schedule the most important items first thing in the day

4. Deal with those time wasters faster

• Email
  • Seven steps for more effective communication via email 
  • Delete like a mad man
  • Read email only two times per day
• Meetings
  • Agenda – Ask for or set an agenda and purpose for each meeting

5. How to make your lunch hour low-calorie and high output

Use the lunch hour productively by

• avoiding lunch with co-workers,
• having team meetings,
• doing your Q2 activities (workouts), or
• networking with others such as doing reverse interviews.

6. PTT – Plan Tomorrow Today

• Focus on only 6 actions per day
• Useful tools
  • GTD
  • Nozbe
• Focus on your next actions

7. Become less accessible after hours

• Avoid doing email or calls after hours.
• Do not respond to text messages after hours.
• Segment your phone numbers with a Google voice number.

The key is to start taking action today so that you have time to go after those other dreams. If nothing but trying to spend more time with the family, these strategies will help you begin to see some progress quickly.

 

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