When most small business owners think about being productive, they think about being more productive on the computer. “How do I go from scheduling tweets in 10 minutes to scheduling the same number of tweets in five minutes? How do I write a blog post twice as fast?”
Ironically, the best methods to be productive turn out to be the old-school methods. Even more ironically, this article was written by a 17 year-old who doesn’t know a world without the internet. Putting the irony aside, here are four old-school methods you can use to boost your productivity.
#1: Use Sticky Notes
Sticky notes are great for daily reminders, goal achievement and writing down ideas. Every night, I will write the goals I must accomplish the following day on a sticky note. This approach allows me to wake up the following day knowing exactly what I must accomplish.
My desk always has several sticky notes on it. While typing this blog post, I counted the number of sticky notes on my desk – there were 14. All of these sticky notes had ideas and goals that I would have forgotten about.
It is much easier to forget than it is to remember—and I can easily back that up. The human mind has tens of thousands of thoughts. Every. Single. Day. Do you remember 1,000 thoughts you had yesterday? Try to remember tens of thousands of them. Unless you have a perfect memory, you will find it very difficult.
Sticky notes allow me to write down my important thoughts so I don’t forget any of them.
#2: Write In A Notebook
I have a notebook just for my business. For the more detailed, time-consuming goals, I write a detailed plan that guides me through achieving that particular goal. If I know I have to write a book in three months, I will identify what I must do day-by-day and when I can take days off.
Creating a detailed plan provides the clarity that allows you to accomplish a goal. Thinking of a goal and saying, “I want to accomplish that goal,” isn’t enough. Writing a detailed plan in your notebook will give you an idea of how you will accomplish the goal. Once you know how to accomplish something, you can.
#3: Weekly Score Cards
Every week, I take out a piece of paper and write down five to 15 important goals I must accomplish in a given week. Day by day, I look at the weekly score card and check off all of the tasks that I accomplished. My goal is to accomplish everything on the score card.
When I notice myself accomplishing all of my goals, it’s an indication that they were too easy. Each time I accomplish every goal on a weekly score card, I make next week’s score card more challenging. Constantly raising the bar higher allows me to achieve better results for my business.
#4: Read Books
You do need to take breaks to avoid burnout. However, the way you use the break determines how you feel when you resume your work. If you watch TV during your break, you will still feel a sense of burnout. Watching the TV on a couch makes us passive, and going from passiveness to immediate action is a slow transition.
Reading books on the other hand is an active activity. You must read the text, flip the pages and absorb the content. To get the best out of reading books, read books related to your niche so you can learn more about it. If you don’t have any books related to your niche, either find a good novel or search the web for valuable information.
The Old-School Still Works
Just because a particular activity gets the “old-school” label does not mean that activity is outdated. Although there are many websites and tools designed to increase your productivity, the old ways work the best.
The old-school methods allow you to bring your productivity to a new level.
What are your thoughts on using old-school methods to boost productivity? Are you an old-school-er? Sound off in the comments section now!
