3 Powerful Ways for Business Owners To Be More Productive in 2024
Sometimes when I’m speaking on the topic of productivity I can see the audience thinking, “There’s no way I can do that!”
Most of the time, what they really mean is “I don’t want to do that”.
That’s OK. Productivity is a continuum, and some principles are a lot easier to put into practice than others.
At one end of the spectrum you’re so distracted, unfocused, and only able to do the tasks that you see in front of you, where you’re accomplishing almost nothing. Even though you might sometimes feel like this is you, most of the time you’re not really at the extreme end of the continuum.
This completely unproductive side of the spectrum is very stressful. People here aren’t being lazy; in fact, they do a ton but without finishing anything. They’re busy, don’t have time for things like hobbies or friends, and are well on their way to burnout.
On the other, very productive end of the spectrum, you have systems that have automated processes to eliminate a lot of administrative waste and you focus on one prioritized task at a time. You’re able to focus without distractions.
As you might imagine, there’s a lot less stress when you’re as productive as possible. You have time to spend outside your business doing the other things that lift you up and bring you joy.
Most entrepreneurs are somewhere in the middle. The more of the productive principles you’re able to adopt, the closer you’ll be to the less-stress/more-joy end of the spectrum.
But of course, there are tradeoffs, as with everything else in life. You might decide that one of the principles is a bit too much for you to adopt. That’s fine, but you won’t move closer to the joy end.
Also, for some of you, these principles might be big changes. Those take some time to get used to, as well as require some courage to give up on what you’ve been doing and do something different.
The big movers for having a more productive day in your business
Although there are plenty of little tweaks that can improve productivity slightly, there are a few that give you big benefits. One of these is much less controversial than the other two. You might look at one or two of these and think, oh HELL no. Understandable, but keep reading to see if there’s a way you can still use it to your advantage.
I’ll start with the least controversial one first.
Setting up a schedule that makes the most out of your brain’s focus time for cognitively demanding work.
Most business owners intuitively understand when their brains are best able to do work on spreadsheets, strategizing, working with numbers, or other cognitively demanding work. We only get about four to four and half hours a day of this time, so it has to be done wisely.
In other words, this time (which is based on sleep chronotype) should be dedicated only to this demanding work each workday. Save your meetings, admin, emails, calls, texts, etc. for any other time.
I think most people get this, and it makes sense. Over time your schedule might get a little looser, but you can always set up your calendar again when you notice the time slipping.
2. Creating a physical and digital environment that is expressly designed to help you focus.
This doesn’t sound hard, at least until you get into the details of what this means.
It covers processes in your business. The more you can automate routine administrative tasks (or hand them off to an assistant) the better. Tech helps and hinders when it comes to productivity. It helps when you switch manual administrative tasks, maybe some that you currently have on a spreadsheet, to apps that do the work for you.
In other words, using a CRM, bookkeeping app/software, social media scheduler (if you use social media), appointment setting app (like Calendly or Appointlet, which is what I use), automated email funnels, and the like will help you be more productive by clearing a lot of manual entry or back-and-forths out of your way.
Where people start thinking “oh hell no” is when we start talking about disabling all notifications (yes, that includes email), closing the office door periodically so you can get your work done, taking apps off your phone, closing browser tabs, and so forth.
However, in order for you to get the most out of #1’s time management principle, you have to be able to focus and pay attention to nothing but your cognitively demanding work during those 4 to 4 ½ hours. That means no interruptions.
3. Using your phone during the workday for mostly the same things that you could use a 20th-century phone for and using good phone “hygiene”.
As you can imagine, this one is a problem for lots of people, probably including you. Because what could you use a 20th-century phone for? Phone calls.
No apps, no notifications. There is an exception here for texts/emails if otherwise you would have called to do something, and the person you’re trying to reach uses texts and/or emails.
What is good phone “hygiene”? Moving it out of your bedroom so you can sleep and so you can’t look at social media/texts/emails either first thing in the morning or while you’re in bed at night. Setting aside the phone when you’re talking to someone in person or even on a web conference. Removing it from the vicinity when you’re in focus time with work that’s hard on the brain.
Doing these three things is going to propel you toward the joy end of the spectrum. None of these are impossible, by the way. You can turn off all your notifications, and you can close your office door, and you can remove apps from your phone.
Some of these changes might be too big for you to take on right away. But even if you modify some of them, you’ll still be closer to joy. Not as close as you would be otherwise, but a step in the right direction is still a step, even if it’s small.
Let’s take a peek at what that might look like for each productivity mover.
Optimizing your calendar for better time management
Here are a few facts that work together to help determine how to optimize your schedule.
We only get a few hours (4 to 4 ½) for cognitively demanding work (spreadsheets, financials, numbers, strategies, higher-order planning)
When you’re interrupted, it can take up to 23 minutes to get back to where you were (Interruptions can include ringing phones, any kind of notification on your phone or computer, someone asking you a question, etc.)
Switching from task to task tires out the brain
There is no such thing as multitasking; your brain is just switching very rapidly from one to the other so that you feel like you’re doing more than one thing at the same time
When we combine those, we end up with some guidelines for what the schedule should look like:
Cognitively demanding work done at the same time our brains are best able to do it, with no interruptions
Work is one task at a time
All other work (the stuff that doesn’t put big demands on your brain) done during the other hours you’re at work: meetings, phone calls, emails, texts, admin that isn’t already covered by tech or an assistant
Similar work is batched together at the same time, so for example you do all your social media content in a batch, all emails together (not read as they come in)
(Note: intense focus can last for only about 45 minutes to an hour, so you will need to take some brain breaks during focus time for 10-15 minutes. Not scrolling or reading emails, but maybe talking to a coworker about something non-task-related, getting water, playing with kids and/or pets, taking a stretch break.)
Structuring your environment for a more productive workplace
Modern culture has led to a busy, distracting environment where it’s harder to focus on one thing at a time and constant interruptions are the norm. Most of us were trained (I certainly was) that you’re supposed to respond to all emails immediately.
But if you really look at your emails over the past day or week, how many of them absolutely needed a response right away? Very few, if any. You can train clients and colleagues not to expect urgent responses, and most of the time a simple auto-emailer that tells the recipient you received their message and will respond later is all that’s necessary.
Some industries are heavier on phone calls. Here’s where hiring an assistant could come in handy, if you’re afraid that you’ll lose a sale if you don’t pick up the phone right away. Have your assistant triage the calls. This also works if you have a sick kid or parent where you might have to be ready for an urgent phone call but you want to make the most of your time at work.
Many people have developed FOMO (fear of missing out), especially when it comes to social media. You’ll learn more about that in the phone section. But that’s why people often resist turning off notifications.
How about if you just turn notifications off during focus time? It’s not a big deal to answer an email when it comes in if you’re in the time of day devoted to emails, but it can really destroy your productivity if it’s in the middle of focus time.
Say you're a bear sleep chronotype as I am and 9 am - 1 pm is your focus range. What if you just didn’t answer emails/look at social media/take phone calls/answer nonurgent questions during this time? Everyone else can have access to you from 1-5 pm.
Remember what the flight attendants say during the preflight announcements: put your own oxygen mask on first. All business owners need to do cognitively demanding tasks no matter what industry they’re in. Getting those tasks done during your best focus time is putting on your oxygen mask.
20th century phone productivity
Studies have shown that blue light, the kind emitted by your smartphone, tricks your body into thinking it’s daytime so it’s harder to get to sleep. And what problem are you solving at 9, 10, or 11 at night if you read an email? Probably you’re just keeping yourself awake, completely aside from the blue light problem. And you wonder why you have a hard time sleeping.
Hopefully, the good phone hygiene is somewhat self-explanatory and it’s not so hard to charge it in a separate room and keep it out of your bedroom. (If you need an alarm, you can get one from the store for about $15. Don’t use your phone.)
I think the bigger problem here is FOMO. Someone once told me that she had disabled notifications, but she couldn’t stop going into her social media. I suggested she take it off her phone entirely and only use it on the computer.
Because why do we have FOMO in the first place? We get to see what others are doing, minute by minute, and we start comparing ourselves. The more social media we consume, the more FOMO we feel.
So to reduce FOMO, reduce your social media consumption. The easiest way is to take it completely off your phone and access it only from your computer. (If you sell on social media, you can simply set up some emails to get the information and automate the response.)
It’s a virtuous circle: less social media, less FOMO, so you feel less compelled to get on social media, so you have less FOMO.
Remember that social media companies are not designing their apps to help humans be social, despite the name. They’re designed to keep eyeballs on their platforms as long as possible so your attention and time can be monetized. They’re deliberately designed to be addicting.
Have you ever tried to give up sugar? The first few days your brain REALLY wants some sugar. But if you’re able to hang on for a few days or a week, eventually your brain stops demanding it. Your social media use is tied to the same reward system as sugar. Back off for a few days and you’ll reset your baseline. Then it becomes much easier.
Recap (tl;dr)
There are a few basic principles that will help you move closer to the more joyful end of the productivity spectrum, but some of them are more controversial. You can modify them if you’re not comfortable going all out, which will help you be more productive even if you’re not optimized for it.
Need help with implementing these changes? I got you. Schedule a free consultation with me to set up a call so we can discuss if we’re a good fit to work together.