Instant Productivity Hacks Every Dealer Needs to Know Productivity Hack #1: Clean your desk. Clutter on your desk leads to clutter in the mind. A messy work-space can make you feel disorganized, unfocused, or even downright panicked as you look at all the papers and junk around you. It doesnt take long to clear things off--especially if you have a lot of trash lying around--and the benefits of working on a cleaner desk are immediate. Productivity Hack #2: Establish a micro-routine. For example, you could break each hour down into a repeatable process: 15 minutes of communication catch-up, 15 minutes of simple tasks, and 30 minutes of a difficult, larger task. Productivity Hack #3: Be Concise. When writing emails, get to the point quickly. A good rule of thumb is to limit your email to five sentences or less. Productivity Hack #4: Do the things you want to do the least, first. Prioritize those items that you are most likely to procrastinate, your day will go much more smoothly when they are no longer on your mind. If youre like some people...instead of trying to plow your way through it, break it up into sections of effort. Youll trade one large task for several smaller ones, and it will be easier to motivate yourself and measure your progress. Productivity Hack #5: Avoid unnecessary work. If we just do any work that comes our way, we can be cranking out the tasks, but not be productive at all. You’re only productive if you are doing work that moves you towards a goal. Eliminate non-essential tasks from your to-do lists, and start to say no to new requests that are not goal-oriented. Productivity Hack #6. Do Most Important Task (MIT) Find a way to prioritize the work that is important, and do it early enough so it doesn’t become urgent If you do not take these steps, then you will be overloaded with work that you simply do not need to do. Cut out the non-essential tasks, and focus on those that really matter. Productivity Hack #7. Eliminate, Automate and Delegate First, eliminate anything you can from your to-do list; determine if any task can be automated with technology or templates; and finally, delegate any task that don’t need your personal attention. Productivity Hack #8: Wake up early (intentionally put as #7, would you have continued to read on if it was #1? :) ) Decide what you’d like to accomplish each morning, and build your morning routine around that. Like to exercise? Put that in there. Healthy breakfast? Go for it. Check email? Fine. The mornings are a fresh start, peaceful and free of ringing phones and constant email notifications. If you get your Most Important Things (MITs) done in the morning, the rest of the day is just gravy. Productivity Hack #9: Get to work early, and leave early. Work fewer hours. This is one of my favorite tips. My best days come when I get into work early, and begin my work day in the quiet morning hours, before the phones start ringing and the din of the office begins it crescendo to chaos. It is so peaceful, and I can work without interruption or losing focus. I often find that I get my MITs done before anyone comes in, and then the rest of the day is dealing with whatever comes up (or even better: getting ahead for the next day). (MIT=Most Important Things/Task) Productivity Hack #10: Work offline The internet is fantastic, but a tempting place. If you have difficulty avoiding its distractions, work offline or take your work somewhere without an Internet connection to force some focus. Productivity Hack #11: Break in the middle of a task. Breaks are important. Taking 10 minutes to clear your mind can give you enough of a mental boost to save 15 minutes of eventual effort. Even though it might be tempting to take a break when you finish a task, since youve reached a natural milestone, its actually more beneficial to break in the middle of a complex task--that way, its easy to jump back into things. Productivity Hack #12: Make a next-day task lists. Its true that focusing on the present helps you get tasks done faster, but working on your next days to-do lists will help in two ways: First, youll help your future self by setting a prioritized list of items in advance, and second, youll be clearing your mind of tasks you dont need to worry about today. Productivity Hack #13: Use Voicemail. A wise business owner once stated, “I tend to return calls at the end of the day, and if someone really needs to reach me I have my assistant’s info on my voicemail and let her decide if it’s really an ‘important’ call.” Of course some calls and more important than others during the day, however resist the urge to answer every incoming call during your work day (excluding sales and emergencies, of course). Each one will put you a further step behind and eventually it’s 4PM and you’ve got nothing to show for the day. Productivity Hack #14: Outsource The secret to outsourcing is to first realize that you’re not the only one who can get things done. And that maybe another shop or entity can do whatever you need done, better and faster. And that’s that. Lie to yourself if you have to. Task like CRM data entry, outsourcing your Reconditioning needs, customer sales, transport, supply runs, and many other task that can be outsourced affordably. You know your business and its needs the best- try it. Doing this leaves your brain more refreshed and *allows you more time to work on business rather than in your business* You do want to expand, right? Think like it. If you currently cannot afford to outsource, try making it a goal to reach soon. Productivity Hack #15. Get rid of your low priorities. The low-priority tasks on your list will only serve to distract you or make you feel more pressure throughout the day. Find a way to get rid of them. If they take less than two minutes to complete, do them. If they take longer, then either delegate them to someone else or schedule them for completion on a future date. Like what you read? Then here are some more productivity hacks to help you maximize the efficiency in yourself, your business, your team, your environment, and so on and so forth.. Productivity Hack #16. Work on Sunday night--just a little. You need to take time to relax on the weekends in order to keep your sanity, but working Sunday night can be a great way to catch up and prepare for the week ahead. On Sunday night, you wont be bothered with phone calls or emails. Instead, you can look at the week to come with a refreshed mind and tackle a few tasks while youre at it. Productivity Hack #17: Optimize your commute. Depending on how close you live, you could have half an hour or more time to catch up on voice-mails, make voice memos for the day ahead, listen to Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar or an audio-book or just relax with some calming music. Make the most of your trip. Productivity Hack #18: Go somewhere else once in a while. The mind craves stimulation, and staying behind the same desk day in and day out can get stale and stressful. At least one day a week, make an effort to work in a new location. It can be a home office, a coffee shop down the street, or even a picnic table in the park. Its a great opportunity to get a fresh perspective and a calmer environment in which to focus. Productivity Hack #19: Exercise Daily. Exercise burns up cortisol, the hormone our body releases in excess when we’re stressed. It also releases endorphins, burns up excess blood sugar (so you don’t become a typical diabetic office drone), blah – blah – blah. Seriously though, exercise might seem like something you don’t have time for, until all that sitting around catches up with you, in the form of anxiety, heart attacks, strokes, etc. The ailments caused by inactivity kill productivity. ‘Nuff said. We hope at least some of these productivity hacks help eliminate some of the micro-annoyances keeping you from staying on schedule and set you up to get more things done in less time. Given the pace of our pay here, buy here, outside financed or cash sales business model and non-stop escalating customer service →Your life may never fully calm down, but taking small steps to make your life easier will improve your performance and give you more of that irreplaceable resource--time. By Jason Demers, Bernard Marr, and ZenHabits
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 11:00:01 +0000
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