How To Be More Productive in 2 Hours and 53 Minutes a Day

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Claudia Rossi, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

In today’s hectic world, there usually aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we want. Whether you work in a corporate setting or own your own business, it can be challenging to meet our own expectations, and frustrating when we don’t.
When I first started my business, I’d begin each day with a long list of tasks and would end the day feeling surprised and disappointed when I failed to accomplish them all.
It wasn’t from a lack of desire or effort to complete them, but as a small business owner, there were always more things to do than there were hours in the day. And as in most businesses, unexpected things happened many days to derail my best-laid plans.
A recent article in Inc. Magazine states that the average American worker is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes out of their typical 8.8-hour workday per day – which means a lot of time is wasted on non-essential tasks like checking social media accounts, socializing with co-workers or texting friends.
I have an accountability buddy that I check in with every week. On Monday, we send each other our top 3 goals for the week, and on Friday we touch base to see what we’ve accomplished. For months, I would beat myself up over not completing all my stated goals and wondered what I was doing wrong. Now that I realize how little “productive” time there actually is in a week, I’ve re-framed my expectations and developed a system to make the best use of my time.
• Set realistic goals that you can achieve in bite-sized chunks. Small goals lead to big goals lead to major accomplishments.
• Be clear on what your real goals are. If you consistently fail to achieve your goals every week, maybe they aren’t your real goals.
• Post your goals where you can see them every day. It’s easy to lose track of what we want to accomplish once we get caught up in the activities of the day.
• Identify the top money-making activities that only you can do. For all other tasks, evaluate whether they are necessary right now or if you can delegate them to someone else.
• Prioritize your goals and work on the most important ones first. It’s common for people to get derailed by constantly checking email and social media accounts, which can drain hours out of the day. Focus on your most important tasks first thing in the morning and you’ll see your productivity dramatically increase.
• Acknowledge that unexpected events will happen and build time in your schedule to deal with them.
• Celebrate everything that you accomplish each week, big or small, even if you don’t meet all your goals. Big dreams don’t happen overnight, and although we can learn from the things we don’t accomplish each week, it’s even more important to celebrate what we do.
Whether you work in a fast-paced job, are looking for that next job, or own your own business, the key to setting realistic goals is to first know exactly what you want. If you find yourself consistently having difficulty in achieving your goals, consider consulting with a coach to help clarify your path forward.

Claudia Rossi is a certified professional coach who specializes in helping people uncover their strengths and find the career or business that they love. Request a free Strategy Call at My90000HourCareer.com.