Top 10 Strategies To Be More Productive and Get More Done

I’ve worked out that there’s 60 days between now and Christmas (or a little less if you take into account when schools break up for the Christmas holidays).

I’ve been talking to lots of mums who’d planned to get career and work stuff sorted after the summer holiday. And here we are – half term.

Before you know it, you’ll be sorting out Halloween costumes, sparklers & sausages for bonfire night, and then we’re on the run-in to Christmas with everything that comes with that: end of term party, nativity play, PTA drinks and so much more …

Now you might be feeling cross and frustrated with yourself because you’d meant to your return to work sorted, or you’d planned to find your next career move, or you wanted to take a deep breath and go for that promotion.

Perhaps right now you can’t see the wood for the trees; you’re trying to balance ‘working from home’ with entertaining the kids, your conference calls get interrupted by the sound of siblings arguing over whose turn for the remote control, and to top it all off, the washing machine is making strange banging noises because somebody left Playmobil in their pockets.

Whereas what I’m thinking …  

Now is the time (maybe not right this minute) to crack on with fixing your clarity and confidence so you can nail your return to work, apply for that job or go for promotion before the end of the year. With a 60 day (two months) stretch ahead you can get a lot done, when you get super clear and take action!

So here’s my plan. I’ve got a stash of deals and specials for your career and leadership confidence finding and your ‘next step strategy’.

Nail It November for career, leadership and work-life balance

First and foremost, once half term is out of the way, November is officially Nail It November.

Which means that if you’ve been thinking about coaching or a VIP day with me, now is a very good time. ALSO I’m doing a new group coaching thing (at ½ the price of doing it on your own) so if you’ve always wanted to boost your career or leadership confidence, you can do that now for a LOT less. I’ll get that up on the website very soon (or send a quick reply if you want to know more).

In the meantime …

Top 10 strategies to be more productive and get more done

• Get clear on what is most important to you to focus on between now and Christmas.
• Make a Daily Nail It list – the top 3 things you will get done that day. Anything else you achieve is a bonus but so often when faced with a long to do list, we feel overwhelmed and demotivated which slows us down.
• Write out your Daily Nail It list the night before so that as soon as you get to your desk you know exactly what you need to focus on.
• Do the thing you’re dreading most, first. It’s the ‘eat the ugly frog first’ approach.
• Take regular breaks. That might sound like that wastes time but regular breaks boosts your energy and creativity.
• Use the Pomodoro technique. If you have a long report to write or a project to plan, have a Pomodoro hour. This is time management technique designed to keep you fresh and focused.
• Focus on just one thing at a time. We think we can multi-task but in reality we can’t. You’ll be more effective if you focus on one thing at a time.
• Schedule in Facebook time. If you have tasks to complete, how often do we find ourselves wasting time on social media? Give yourself permission to go onto Facebook but set a time limit. (Maybe use your Pomodoro break time>)
• Start saying No. Many of us are so used to pleasing others and saying yes to everything that we have forgotten how to say No. It’s important to manage expectations and if saying Yes means that you can’t give 100% or it means you’ll end up with no time for yourself or your family, say No.
• Cut out unnecessary meetings. Don’t you just hate those meetings that go on for ages and don’t stick to the agenda (or worse, don’t even have an agenda). Don’t go. Cut them out. Ask “how important is it for me to be there?” or “could we make this decision over the phone instead?” or “who could I ask to represent me and my team?”

If you want to be more productive and get more done, decide now which one of these top 10 strategies you will use in Nail It November.

p.s. if you liked this, you’ll love my weekly newsletter which gives you more tips & tricks on career, confidence and leadership for ambitious women  who want to balance work and life more confidently. You just need to sign up <here>> to get those straight into your Inbox.