8 Productivity Tips from Entrepreneurs (That You Can Use, Too!)
Everyone always asks me how I do everything I do (full-time PR job, founder/president of Come Recommended, national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com, author, founding partner of MyPRMatch.com, etc.). Needless to say, productivity is an important issue for me in order to balance all of my commitments — and also have a life outside of them!
So, I was incredibly excited to read a long cover story about productivity in this month’s Inc. magazine. I always find it interesting to see how other people manage their hectic lives. After all, there is no one “right” way.
“A lot of productivity is capturing ideas. I use a wiki — it’s more valuable than e-mail for running a company — and I have a page for every person with whom I interact frequently.” — Garrett Camp, founder of StumbleUpon
“For me, a big part of productivity is being agile. I like to leave a lot of blocks in my day open. I’m only 50 percent scheduled, though occasionally it gets as high as 80 percent. That’s imperative, because often something comes up out of nowhere.” — Scott Lang, CEO of Silver Spring Networks
“If I think something is going to take me an hour, I give myself 40 minutes. By shrinking your mental deadlines, you work faster and with greater focus.” — Krissi Barr, founder of Barr Corporate Success
“[My executive assistant] e-mails me a daily memo, which I read after I go home every night. It’s in four parts, and the first part is my next day’s schedule. Then comes a list of questions that cropped up during the day — maybe someone wants to know whether I have feedback on the new Hudson Yards Catering logo. She aggregates them so she doesn’t have to interrupt me repeatedly during office hours. I’ll respond to those right away. The third part of the e-mail is FYIs: information I don’t have to act on but might like to know. Maybe my mother called to make a reservation for her neighbor next week at Blue Smoke. Or there might be a change in my schedule. Finally, there is a section of longer-term reminders. I promised to write a blurb for a friend’s book. I want to plan a vacation, so I need to check on my kids’ school schedules. We started the memos only last year, and I don’t know how we managed without them. I care about the details. This way, I don’t worry that I’m missing anything.” — Danny Meyer of the Union Square Hospitality Group
“Being in good shape gives me energy. I’ve lifted weights since college, so I get up every morning at 3:30, and I’m at the gym by 4. There are three gyms near my house, and I used to rotate through all of them, because the angles on the machines are different: They work the muscles differently. Now I just alternate between two. By 5:30, I’m home and then out on my bike. I ride 25 miles before breakfast.” — Jordan Zimmerman, founder of Zimmerman Advertising
“No meetings. No phone calls. Everything is documented [via e-mail] so the number of ‘let’s talk again’ or ‘get together to clarify’ or ‘get on the same page’ are gone.” — Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks
“I have a to-do list so I don’t forget things. But I don’t prioritize tasks. I just know what needs to be done, and I check tasks off in the order I do them.” — Caterina Fake, founder of Hunch
“If you’re having trouble getting started on something, you’re going to have trouble finishing it. Delegate it sooner rather than later.” — Julie Ruvolo, co-founder and COO of Solvate
What are your tips for productivity?
Jeri Hird Dutcher
I set my priorities and schedule them as reoccurring calendar items on Outlook. In the time remaining, I schedule the “to-dos” for the day. All have reminders set so I don’t have to keep watching the clock and remembering when to start the next thing.
Posted 3-5-2010