What is the hardest task on the list of an entrepreneur? Putting it down, taking time to rest, and remembering what you are building this or that business for – to enjoy the other parts of life, like Vitamin D every once in a while. Am I right?
Lately I’ve been putting a little extra time into researching productivity techniques that will allow me more time with my friends and out in the sun, while not cutting into building what I’ve been slaving over for years now. I see it done and I know it’s just a few slight shifts that will allow for it.
Here’s what I’ve gathered so far.
Set Work Hours
I found this app for mac’s called Billings that I purchased for invoicing purposes. When I got to using it a bit more I found that you can create work slips, like time cards, that start and stop at your pre-set preference. I’ll start a 2 hour timed ticket and file it under a specific client, and it’ll let me know when the ticket is up and file it directly in an invoice for me. Pretty nice. Previously, I constantly found myself picking up a mountain worth of work at a time and picking away at fifteen things at a time until the wee hours of the night. No good.
Find Your Space
I always worked from home or from a coffee shop where I always met friends unexpectedly. One difficult but small tweak that will free up some frisbee time is finding somewhere you will not see anyone you know, bring nice headphones, and don’t come out of your cave until your timed slips and task list is finished. Then leave it there for tomorrow when you are done for the day. Believe me, I know it’s fun to put in a movie and work in sweats; but it will take three times as long to get half the amount of work done.
Integrated Task List
The most important thing is to stay organized. If you don’t have a system where you can quickly input a task and forget about it until it’s time to do it, you must get one. The most crippling feeling for an entrepreneur is feeling scattered and trying to take on your entire list of client’s to-do’s in one sitting. If you can’t fully focus on one project at a time, your system is flawed. You must have enough faith in your task management system to be able to put all your focus in one place for a set period of time.
Obviously, there are a million more tips for the wand’ring entrepreneur than I have listed here. These are just ones that I have found recently. Please, share what you find to be helpful.
Enjoy your weekends and your evenings again, they are the most important times of your life.
