How to Be Productive: Leave Your Office

Today I had to renew my passport. With such tight security at the embassy, I was asked to leave my cellphone and computer behind at the front desk.

I was horrified! What will I do while I wait? Fuming, I grudgingly took out pen and paper and started making notes. In 90 minutes here’s what I achieved:

1. A clearer vision of company directions, products, status and next steps
2. A revised PR and Marketing plan for the next 30 – 60 days
3. Two blogposts written
4. One press release written
5. Most importantly, clarity on the bigger picture.

I’ve been stuck on a few things and having the time away without distractions of emails, calls, Twitter and my kids running afoot made space in my mind for ideas to come through and connect in a different way.

In terms of boosting productivity and time management, I learned sometimes the office is NOT the most productive place to get things done, especially as a WAHM.

I’ll be scheduling a “get out of the office day” with just pen and paper at least twice a month and looking forward to letting my brain “work out of the box”.

Won’t you join me?

Time Management: Time Blocking To Prevent Entrepreneur Overwhelm

As busy entrepreneurs trying to have it all, it’s really easy for things to get out of control. It’s therefore important to prioritize your most important tasks, and then set a schedule so you can be practical when planning your day. Try using a time management technique for entrepreneurs called time blocking if you have several large projects on the go.

Time blocking is about dedicating a fixed amount of time for a given task, then doing your best to complete it within the available time frame.

How to go about time blocking?
Set an amount per day to work on a project. For example, 30 minutes (or even 10 to 15 minutes as you wish) on a sales presentation. Set an alarm and when the alarm goes off, move on to the next project or task.

Even if you didn’t finish it and have to schedule it into another time box, it has allowed you to move forward one step. I find that entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed with so many things to do often become paralyzed and end up doing nothing but obsessing on what they need done.

Stop complaining, and take action!
Instead, use that obsessive energy to start ‘doing’ things. You’ll often find that when you start to take ACTION on something, anything, that feeling of helplessness lessens.

Of course, you can choose to complete your project in one go, just remember to take a few minutes break here and there. That way you focus on your end goal without overtaxing yourself mentally and physically.

The important thing in entrepreneurial time management is to follow your timer. For some reason, deadlines make it easier to focus. Think of when you know that you have to finish an important proposal in an hour because the submission deadline closes. Somehow you get it done!

Another variation is to work on a task until you achieve a specific output – laying out two pages of your product catalog, finishing the week’s expense report, or contacting 10 potential customers.

Don’t worry too much about finishing projects so you don’t get overwhelmed. Focus instead on giving undivided attention to each and every step.

What’s your favorite time management technique?