If you can’t delegate a task, use these 2 steps instead of procrastinating and avoiding.
Maybe you drag your feet when it’s time to review the financials or outline your next speech. Maybe for you it’s evaluating whether to partner with another company or exhibit at an upcoming show.
Here’s how to increase your productivity and enjoy the process:
1. Time-box and gamify it. Set a timer on your phone for ½ the time you think it’ll take and force yourself to complete it before then. Constraint not only makes you super-efficient but the challenge will motivate the achiever in you.
2. Manage your mind by priming your brain. Your feelings are the fuel for your actions so feel good first. Thinking, “I don’t want to do this” feels bad. Thinking, “I’m going to feel great when this is done” feels much better.
How you feel about anything is driven by your thoughts, which means it’s completely within your control.
When you wrap up on time, you’re not just finishing a task, you’re reinforcing the habit of keeping your word to yourself.
It becomes part of your identity and spills over into all other areas of your life, like health, fitness, and relationships.
If you don’t finish in time, don’t judge. You’ll never get a good result by feeling bad.
Start again by setting another timer for ½ of the remaining time you think you need.
Each time you begin again without self-criticism, you teach yourself that you don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be persistent.
This allows your parasympathetic nervous system to relax which boosts your resilience.
With this two part strategy, you increase your enjoyment and efficiency, as well as your self-confidence.
You also create a lot of extra time for activities you love to do and excel in, which is your ultimate objective.
Do you feel trapped, exhausted and frustrated by your business? I grew my business by turning it in to an asset and making it work for me. You can too. Check out my book, Loving Your Business.