You run multiple tasks every day, as a CEO. Asides from holding your employees accountable, you have to review the new marketing plan, go through some documents, and complete the research you started last week. In addition, you are also expected to have a meeting with your C-level team before noon, the same day. How does one person get all these done?
Here are five productivity hacks for today’s business leaders.
Stay ahead
To get things done promptly, you need to be on top of things. To be on top of things, you need to stay ahead by getting to work before anyone else. Every day, show up early to see what needs to be fixed before the head of your operations or IT department. You need to be in the know first; as a leader, you should see the issues first, understand their nature, and device a strategy on how to tackle them. Seeing things late can undermine your credibility. When your credibility is tarnished, your company is at a risk of crumbling. When you spot a myriad of issues that need to be fixed, sort them out – take on what you can handle efficiently and delegate the other tasks to the hands that can best handle them. When working on your tasks, don’t put a dozen of projects on your plate; instead, focus on three most important tasks at a time.
Focus on three tasks a day
If you try to work on many projects at a time, you will get burnout, procrastinate, and, at the end of the day, end up accomplishing nothing. The smartest way to stay productive is to prioritise three tasks a day and the way to do this is simple. Before you leave your desk at the end of every day, set out your three most important tasks for the next day, and stay focused on getting them done. It sounds simple, of course, but sometimes, business leaders begin and end their entire day in their inbox, reading the gazillion e-mail messages received. How do you accomplish your three most important tasks and still find the time to check your e-mails? Let’s talk about that next.
Spend 10-15 minutes on your e-mail
Your e-mails are just as important as your other priorities. In today’s digital world, your e-mail is your point of contact, where your prospects, customers, and partners reach out to you for questions, inquiries, and even sales. Therefore, not checking your e-mails is tantamount to leaving money on the table. But when your inbox is filled with hundreds of e-mails every day, checking them might compromise your focus on your most important tasks. To save time and boost your productivity, check your most important e-mails for only 10-15 minutes a day. As for your other e-mails, you have two options: Either trash or save them for another day. You have to be very economical with your time.
Use the 2-minute rule
A CEO’s day can be unpredictable. While handling the most important tasks, other issues that need urgent attention might pop up in the middle of the day. What would you do in this case? Use the two-minute rule. The rule states that if a task can be accomplished in two minutes or less, get it done immediately. Besides your most important tasks, you can get unforeseen tasks done only if this can be accomplished within the two minutes time frame.
Meetings shouldn’t exceed 30 minutes
Meetings are necessary, but they often take a toll on time. Many talks, debates, and arguments dominate more important agendas. Only minor constructive decisions are juiced out of many meetings. Therefore, you need to understand this reality if you’re serious about hacking your way to getting more done. Instead of allotting an hour or two to your meetings, allocate 30 minutes or less for meetings each day. Cut fluff and noises out of your meetings and focus only on key discussions that will add value and take your business to the next level.
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