Q: A goal for myself personally, and for the benefit of my business, is to be the most productive and effective I can possibly be with my time. What personal systems or methods do you recommend to increase personal productivity?
Matthew Bell, Founder and CEO
Bell Interactive
A: Improving one's personal productivity starts with understanding the world you have created for yourself. What are the high points and low points of each day, week or month? In other words, have you built some negative routines into your day or week that zap your time without you knowing it because they have become unconscious habits?
The first point, then, is to create a schedule for a day or a week that is built around the business. You would start by describing the types of tasks you encounter on a daily or weekly basis. Tasks can be sorted into several categories: (1) tasks critical to the long-term growth of the business; (2) tasks that are urgent now, but may or may not be important to the business long-term; (3) housekeeping tasks that keep the business running on a daily basis; and (4) nonbusiness related tasks. You want to spend the largest amount of time on the tasks that are critical to the long-term growth of the business and those urgent-now activities that are also related to long-term business growth. The key is to look for the big ticket items and perform them on a consistent schedule each day.
If you are a morning or afternoon person, you may schedule your day or week to deal with the big-ticket items at the same time every day or week. While great athletes know the conditions under which their bodies perform the best, you need to understand your rhythm and how to use it in support of the business. Another feature regarding this time effect is to have a system for letting employees know what you are doing: "I'm working on the business, no conversations until 10:30 a.m." These activities will help to support a high-productivity culture in the organization.
Finally, take some time at the end of every day (15-20 minutes) to review your day, determine how you may or may not have protected your time and think about the critical tasks for tomorrow.
Michael Sheppeck is an associate professor of management at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business.
