Hey You!
How is it going? Are you plugging away at your online business? Or, are you struggling to knock things off of your do-to list?
Today, I’m sharing my four most valuable productivity tips. As online business owners our ability to get things done is vital to our success. Although technology and information have improved our lives in many ways, they have also created many more demands on our time and attention.
If we are truly going to reach our maximum potential in our online businesses then we must master productivity. Watch the video (and please overlook my quirkiness – I think I need to do some more of these to increase my video cam comfort level), and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below. I’ve also provided you with an outline of the video content below the embedded video. 
4 Steps To Increasing Your Productivity by 200%
1. Batch tasks in 90 minute increments. Science shows that humans can work at peak performance for a maximum of 90 minutes at a time. If you can complete specified tasks in 90 minute increments, you are going to be amazed at all that you can accomplish in one working day.
2. Be Present. This is a newer concept that I’ve been exploring in my personal development. The concept of “being present” is just another way of saying “living in the moment.” I recently purchased Marie Forleo’s Live in the Moment Booty Camp (yes, that is an affiliate link). It’s a downloadable home study course in which she shares her approach to “self-improvement” and transformation. I can’t even being to tell you how incredible and eye opening some of her thoughts are. Male or female, the principles she shares in this home study course are unbelievably powerful and eye-opening.
One of the concepts Marie discusses is based on the Pauli exclusion principle, a principle of physics, that basically states that no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. And, when you apply this principle to productivity you essentially find a tool that enables you to reach the most intense level of focus you’ve ever experienced in your life!
To put the Pauli exclusion principle into practice become aware of what you “think about” while you’re working. If you’re having a conversation in your head about something else, then you are not fully focused on what you are doing. Use your heightened level of awareness to bring all of your attention and energy to the one task you are engaged in at that particular moment. If you can do this, you will be amazed at how quickly you can work.
3. Eliminate distraction. Turn off your BlackBerry, iPhone, Twitter, and Facebook – you’re not social networking or building your business — you’re procrastinating. Eliminating these distractions will improve your ability to focus.
4. Do your most distasteful task first. Brian Tracy calls this eating the frog. Just get that dreaded work out of the way. Once you’ve got the thing you least look forward to over with, you enable yourself to enjoy the rest of your work day.
The key to increasing your productivity by nearly 200% using these 4 steps is to use these techniques together. When you plan ahead by batching your to-do list, work without distraction, focus with maximum intensity, and get the worst out of the way first, you simply can’t do anything but accomplish whatever you have set out to do. That feeling of accomplishment alone is worth it!
So what do you think? Have you used any of these techniques to increase your productivity before? Is there any one technique you’ve never tried before? What do you do to maximize your productivity? Let us know in the comments below!
P.S. Make sure you download a copy of How To Become A Young, Sassy, & Smart Female Entrepreneur – Online and The 7 Secrets of Success in Online Entrepreneurship for Women both resources are totally FREE and from what my readers have said VERY HELPFUL, so get your copy today. Oh! And if you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up to learn more about the upcoming release of a Girls Guide to a Kick-A$$ Online Biz. You are not going to want to miss out!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow Marlee! I’m loving the video.
As previous readers mentioned, I struggle the most with #4. However, forcing myself to do my most distasteful task first was the only way I could finish writing my eBook as soon as I did. But, I hate to admit it, I’m now procrastinating from getting the sales page done. Thanks for the wake-up reminder. After my 1 hour of blog catching up, I’m going to write some more of that sales page.
I also like your idea of working 90 minute intervals, or rather 45 minute intervals. I’m going to see if I can adopt that technique.
Christina
Hey Christina!
Thanks for stopping by! Great to see you here. I’m so glad you were able to knock out your ebook.
Your statement is such a testament to how much you can get done when you put your mind to it and
tackle the tough things. I’m so excited for your ebook. Can’t wait to hear about your launch!
This is definitely what I needed to hear. Tomorrow I’m going to bite the bullet and get tons of work done. 90 minutes at a time. I can do it. 90 minutes… Man, I could go on about each one of these 4 points and how much I need to work on each one. Let me just say… There’s definitely room for improvement.
Here’s another productivity tip that helps me that kind of goes along with #2: Work on something until you finish it. A lot of times I work on writing a blog post for half an hour and then I work on writing an ebook, and then I remember that I never finished that blog post, but oh, I need to respond to that Twitter comment, too. So what I’ve been trying to do is just work on one thing until it’s DONE, and then move on to the next thing until it’s DONE, and so on.
And “Metamorphoself” is a FANTASTIC blog name, btw!
Thanks for stopping by Tristan! I love your blog! You are doing great work there, keep it up. I also really like what you shared about productivity tip number 2. Working through until you finish a task is a HUGE part of using intense focus to complete whatever you are working on. It’s exactly the scattered mindset that you mention that slows down your productivity. Glad you found this content useful. Hope you won’t be a stranger!
Ugh. I needed to hear that bit about eating the frog. Usually I put off the tasks I hate until I get into trouble, lol.
I like Marie Forleo, too. Good to hear that you like that course. Maybe I will consider getting it!
Cheers,
Tia
Hey Tia!
Yes, eating the frog is definitely something I struggle with every day. What I have found, however, is that the more I do it, the easier it gets (as with most things). As for Marie’s course – it wasn’t what I expected, and not everything she sets forth fit for me, but for the things she did share that I was able to wrap my mind around immediately, the knowledge she shares is incredibly mind opening and empowering. She’s a pretty cool chick.
Love the video Marlee! I didn’t know that we could work at peak productivity for 90 minutes. That is good to know. I like to take breaks every 45 minutes or so too!
Definitely good advice about being present too. You want your workday to be like a constant state of flow.
Very much enjoyed reading/watching this. Keep it up!
Hey! I think #4 is definitely a key with me. Sometimes I get so hung up on the hard part of the post that I just start dreading it and procrastinating and wasting so much time.
It never turns out to be as bad as I thought it was going to be, anyway. Plus it does feel good when you knock it out and it’s finally done.
I’ve been doing some YouTube stuff and taking some lessons from Gideon Shalwick (I think that’s the name -at work now lol). If you haven’t seen any of that I’ll email links when I get home. He’s good at outlining the whole video marketing deal.
You are so right John! #4 is very hard. I struggle with that one the most too. The irony is just like you said, when you actually do the thing you like
the least first, you are energized by having it off your plate. Resisting the worst makes it worse.
I took a look at Gideon’s site. Thank you for the suggestion. He has a lot of great content there. I will definitely be putting some
of his tips to use. I think what I really want to do is just be more relaxed via video cam, so watch out for my next one – I’m thinking
it’s gonna be super informal. I just gotta keep it real – nothing else works!
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