6 Simple Tools To Boost Your Productivity

If you own or work at a company such as a dealership you’re an authorized seller and have a mass amount of business coming through you and or your employees at an almost incessant pace. It can be a challenge to manage daily tasks outside of servicing new customers such as setting up appointments, doing meetings, updating emails, following up on your established customer base and drawing up contracts. Here is a list of 5 simple tools and tips that will help get you organized and boost your productivity.

Tool 1: Time Tracking

Every business experiences periods of high activity and low activity during any given day. Being able to track those times will leave you better equipped to plan daily tasks and activities that can operate simultaneously in a state of homeostasis. For example, if you or your company directly services customers, peak times will generally be early morning, late evening or at lunch. This is usually the case since persons tend to utilize services either early morning, on their way home or on their lunch hour. That will typically give you on average 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon to schedule other necessary tasks. A great tool that can get you started on tracking your time and activity is Evernote. This is an easy to use app that will help you to keep track of everything you do and what you need to get done. It is a very efficient way to do time tracking.

Tool 2: Time blocks

A time block is a designated period set aside for a specific task. Used effectively, this tool is guaranteed to boost your productivity and keep your tasks organized. Once you have an idea of the time you have available, you can schedule tasks such as calls, emails, appointments and follow-ups during your down times. From here you can decide which times during the day is most conducive to which activity. You can also decide which days you will utilize for which activity. This maximizes the results you can get from the effort you put in. Your time block should look similar to the example below.

By scheduling your day as shown above, you can easily commit to a meeting at a particular day and time as you will know when you are certain to be available. You can promise to call on a specific day and time with the full assurance you will meet that commitment because you know exactly when you will be making phone calls. It also ensures a certain amount of work is done on each task within a reasonable time frame. The more efficient you are at time management the more productive you will be. The more results you will have from the efforts you put in on a daily basis.

Tip 3: To Do List

Preparing a to-do list at the beginning of every day or at the end of a current day for the following day is a great way to boost productivity. With a constant barrage of tasks, it is easy to forget or have an urgent matter get lost in the clutter. When you add it to your list, it can easily be scheduled at an appropriate day and time. This list can be hard copy or electronic. The good thing about lists, if you are unable to complete a task, it can easily be carried over to the following day or next available time/task bracket. To keep track of your personal tasks as well as those of your employees Basecamp is a great option. You can not only keep yourself organized but assign tasks to specific individuals and check on the status. Both you and your staff will be reminded of when tasks are due to be initiated and completed.

Tool 4: Your Daily Planner

There are daily planners that can be used for notes, however, there are executive planners that lists entire days and along with time slots for at least 12 hours in the day. These also carry a small area for notes and tasks that can be written in at the bottom of the page. Effective use of a diary along with your to-do list will ensure you are always abreast of your daily tasks. Staying well organized is a sure way to boost your daily productivity. Alternatively this can be done electronically or by the use of apps and free software.

Tool 5: Disconnect

Electronics help keep us connected, however, when it comes to business, they can be more of a hindrance than a help if not used responsibly. It is a great practice to turn off notifications and keep your phone on silent if you are not expecting an urgent call. Restricting phone use to its specified time of day keeps you focused on current tasks. It also prevents you from allocating time you have not yet accounted for, or making a hasty decision or promise you are unable to deliver on.

Tool 6: Bulk Messaging

When following up on customers or running promotions. It is easy to fall into the trap of responding on a per need basis. There are services such as mailchimp that allows you to send messages in bulk. This is useful when you have to send acknowledgments and other electronic correspondence that follows a set template. These emails can be scheduled. This is especially useful for promotions.

The same is true of social media posts. Instead of updating every site manually services such as hootsuite can send an identical message to all your social media sites in one sitting. You can also schedule posts. This helps to ensure regularity. Statistics show that having regular posts on your social media is a great way to increase engagement and boost interaction.

Conclusion

By organizing your time, contacts, employees and tasks on a daily basis you can see a dramatic increase in productivity from both you and your team. You may not be able to do everything but you can certainly ensure that the most important things get done.

Sources: Chron, Medium, SEtalks