5 Extremely Simple Productivity Tips that will Save You Hours of Stress and Frustration

As a solopreneur, productivity is your best friend…or your worst enemy.

At the end of the day, being successful is all about productivity. It’s not about working 20 hours a day or getting lucky, while those can play a part, it’s mostly about being productive. When you spend time on your business, it should be full focus, zero distraction, and effort.

A person can work 3 hours a day on their business and be 2x more productive than a person who works 8 hours if they’re being efficient.

So, how can you be more productive and efficient?

1. Set 3 goals per day - Most people don’t set goals properly, they are dreams they throw out with no clarity. Every day you should have 3 goals for the day that work towards your bigger goals. 3 is a nice number because it’s not an overwhelming number but it’s an amount that ensures you accomplish a significant amount and make progress. Don’t try to overdo it, it’s about consistency and 3 goals per day is a consistent effort.

2. Learn to be disciplined - This is one of the harder ones to do but it’s what 80% of productivity is about. Being disciplined. Don’t pick up your phone and get distracted by social media for 30 minutes at a time. Don’t turn on the TV and get sidetracked for hours. Don’t check your email every 15 minutes. Don’t hit the snooze button 5 times in the morning. There is no secret to this other than reversing the action whenever you do it. Eventually, you’ll build the good habits to not do these things, it just takes time and practice.

3. Keep a to-do list - This is something that you’ll hear “contrarians” say is useless and just a waste of time but they’re just saying it to get attention because it goes against the grain but it’s one of the best and simplest things you can do. Each night, you should write your to-do list for the next day. Don’t clutter it with a million small tasks but it should include tasks relevant to your 3 goals and anything super important you have to do. Why is this important? It prevents you from forgetting things or sitting around wondering what to do in the morning. You start your day by looking at it, you see exactly what needs to be done, and you get started. Then, after each task is complete, a 2 sec glimpse will show you exactly what needs to be worked on next so again, you’re not wasting time figuring it out.

4. Do NOT multitask - People will argue that they can multitask and get more done but they are wrong and liars. It’s been tested and scientifically proven to be a myth. Every time you go back and forth between tasks, you’re brain is having to take time to transition. You’re more likely to make mistakes or forget things and no matter what, at the end of the day, you won’t accomplish any more than if you worked on 1 task and then the other.

5. Time block - This is the best advice I can give, time blocking is the magic sauce of productivity. It’s very simple, just block off time for given tasks. Literally, create blocks for your entire day from the moment you wake up. If you wake up at 8am, block of 8-9am to wake up and get ready. Then, create a block from 9am to 10 or 11 to work on your biggest task. Then block off 30 minutes or an hour for lunch. You see how this works. It’s all about setting a designated time for each thing and sticking to it. It’ll help avoid distractions and having things take longer than they should. You can also create blocks for relaxing, breaks, or catch up if you need to.

These are tips to be more productive that take a very small amount of effort but produce huge returns in the long run. All combined, you can exercise all of these tips in 15-30 minutes per day and they will save you hours of work, frustration, and stress.