I’m always looking for ways to be more productive. It’s a never-ending quest – I don’t know that I’ll ever be satisfied thinking “that’s the best I can do”. Even a little 1% improvement daily can lead to huge gains longer term.
That’s why I read a lot about how other people approach their business and how they operate to get more done.
The best people to look at are those who are prolific. Sean Mize is one of those. He seems to always have a huge catalog or work behind him and whether you like his practice or not you have to acknowledge he produces LOTS.
So what is a hack or two we can learn from Sean?
Well, there’s three things he claims are responsible for his ability to achieve so much.
- being consciously aware of which part of his day/actions delivers 80% of his results and zeroing in on doing more of that. If you triple your expenditure of time on those activities you triple your productivity exponentially.
- working on the One Thing daily that will give the biggest bang to reaching his goal. Obviously one needs to know what the highest priority goals are to reach your overall objective. Then realise what activities you need to work on to do that each day.
- having a clear 90 day plan with goals, monthly actions and weekly actions which then translate to daily activities – all dovetailing into reaching the bigger picture.
In truth, the last point has to come first. I know a lot of people who have a daily set of actions – post to the blog, create a video, write an article – but the activities fail to be tied into an overarching goal and so the traction is slow and directionless. They are more a random set of activities to produce stuff but without a clear goal other than “have more product out there”.
For me, the biggest impact is having a clear strategic goal or set of goals. Everything falls out of that and if you apply the Pareto Principle and the Rule of One Thing then you are far more likely to see success.
So, what would happen if you adopted these productivity hacks?
1. follow a clear 90 day plan
2. action the 1 Thing rule
3. apply the 80/20 principle in your favour
I know I need to get my 90 day plan better structured to deliver my results. You?
My problem is that I lose my motivation sometimes. It might be for a week or it might be for a month, but it’s gone and no amount of will power makes me get on the computer and work.
It could be depression, but I don’t think that is all that it is. Sometimes, our online work can feel very isolated and I think it gets me down without knowing it.
I hear you! When I lose my moto I remind myself to keep doing something each day or each week no matter how small. Eventually motivation returns and you’re not so much on the backfoot. Bear in mind a short break clears the head and puts things back in perspective. When you start to feel isolated make sure you put in the effort to connect with people. Either virtually eg through a FB group or hitting someone up for a coffee date. And of course, be kind to yourself!
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