4 Awesome Productivity Tips That Changed My Life This Year

This year was great for me. My income quadrupled, my workload slowed and business grew faster than I could have imagined.

As? Simple: deliberate productivity.

I'd like to share four of the most important productivity tips I've used this year that have helped me make the last 12 months the most incredible year of my life. I will also tell you how to apply this to your life to make 2018 your best year!

1. Employ time-blocking

Having a list of things is not bad. But why do so many people create a big list of things to do and never do?

This year, I decided that a list was not enough. I had to plan the time of my day to complete these tasks. This concept is often referred to as a "time blockade" and it's so simple but so powerful that you'll kick yourself out for not doing it before.

Just get your to-do list and assign each item a place in your calendar. It does not matter if you use a physical calendar or an online calendar. Just block the time to work on every element of your list.

Then, when you are in your time, do not let yourself be distracted. Turn off your phone, do not check your emails (unless you're in your "Check email time" block) and do it!

2. Do your most important work first

When I really prepare my day, there are usually only one or two things to get the business moving. Yes, there are countless tasks and items on my to-do list. But one or two things are much more important than the others.

In the past, I often put these elements aside because they required the most effort or had the biggest "unknowns". I went through e-mails, scheduling meetings, and doing hundreds of other tasks before reluctantly going through my main task.

As a result, the only thing I really needed to do to boost my business was often nonexistent, and business growth was slow.

This year, I made a change. First, I decided to do my most important job first.

3. Multitask appropriately

Multitasking rarely works, despite what almost everyone says. If you perform multiple tasks, you will perform each task less efficiently. Your brain is trying to move from one task to the next, and you lose a lot of the day.

Last year, I decided to do less multi-tasking and focus more on the task. When my wife spoke to me, I left the computer. While driving, I refused to send SMS. During a Skype call with the rest of the BiggerPockets team, I closed the browser window.

Of course, I always fight with it. At this time, it is difficult for me and many people to be present. But last year, I made the conscious decision to do fewer things and focus on one more thing.

The only exception to the "no multitasking" rule is, of course, listening to audiobooks.

4. Use the power of processes

This year, I started thinking of everything as a process, a system. Like something that could be documented, repeated and outsourced. Instead of "doing a webinar," I created a complete "webinar process" that allowed me to host more than 50 live webinars, each one new, with a few hours of work per week because everything is done as part of a process

The best part of a process is that the job can be outsourced. I specifically worked with a virtual assistant in this webinar system and was able to reduce 80% of the workload. Now configure the webinars, delete the emails and follow the results of the conversion. I just have to introduce myself and teach.

So, these are four productivity tips that have helped make my 2017 year the most profitable year of my life.

But I want 2018 to get even better, so I'm looking for help! What's your favorite productivity tip? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Apply For: School jobs College jobs Coaching jobs Training jobs Content Development jobs Online Tutoring jobs