Getting er done is not rocket science. It is about doing the important stuff and ignoring the unimportant stuff. This may seem obvious, but too many people allow distractions during their productive, work time. Avoid these things until after your work is done or you’re on break time. If you do these during break time, make sure you set a timer.

1. Social media. Yes, I know, you need to market yourself and be friendly with friends, colleagues and customers. You also need to set aside specific times of the day to do this. Treat this as a business task too. It should be fun and entertaining, but it should not interfere with your work time. Plan those times as part of business building, even if you view it as fun time.

2. Avoid distractions. This is easier said than done, but many people distract themselves by thinking they can take a quick peek at email or Facebook or something else. Do not do this until the allotted time.

3. Don’t let others distract you. If you have a friend who thinks they can text or call you at anytime during the day, be sure to silence your phone so it doesn’t distract you. Close your instant messenger programs. Do not set it to busy or go invisible. If you do that, it’s still in the back of your mind that someone may be on the other end and you need a quick chat with them. Or, they will ignore the busy sign and send a message anyway. There are also people who send offline messages even if it looks like you’re not online. They don’t know you’re invisible but their message still gets to you and distracts you.

4. Only use reference and research websites during work hours. If you must open your browser to do some research, then only do the research and close the browser. Do not allow yourself to get tempted to do a quick check of email or social media.

5. Don’t drop everything because a friend wants a spur of the moment lunch with you. This falls under the above tip of turning off your cell phone. Yes, spontaneity can be fun, but it also has its place. People need to know that you can’t drop everything for their whims. This is especially true if you work from home. If you start allowing these minor instances, it will only get worse and they will think they can interrupt you any time they please.

Start actively focusing on your work tasks and mentally prepare yourself to stop allowing distractions to take over your day. This is your business you’re trying to build or run. Don’t let anyone or anything interfere with it during your work time. It will pay off in the long run if you get super focused and control the distractions in your life.

What do you do to make sure you get er done? Leave a comment, I read them all.

Phoo – Flickr:DailyPic

Productivity and being able to get er done truly is a mindset. Part of it comes fromgiving your full attention to the task at hand and being focused. You need to know how to achieve that quality of being able to produce good results consistently from your work. And there’s one of the keywords, consistently.

If you aren’t consistent in your daily work habits and maintaining your focus, it’s likely you’ll spend most of the day just spinning your wheels. Productivity is the measure of proficiency. Now that doesn’t mean you have to do everything perfectly, it simply means you need to take actionable steps to get things accomplished. One way to do this is to break down your projects into manageable, daily tasks.

However, unless you decide to have a productive day, every day, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get er done. Productivity, like many other worthwhile things in life, is a mindset. It goes along with a success mindset. Having the right mindset is crucial to any endeavor, especially when it comes to time management and getting results.

Try using daily affirmations. Each morning, before you begin work, you can look in the mirror and repeat affirmations to yourself. Some good ones include:

• I am exceptionally productive.
• I do my work diligently each day so I have more free time.
• I am in control of my time. I make the best use of my time.
• I manage my daily tasks with ease.

Spend time working on your confidence. People often hold themselves back because they lack confidence in themselves. Sometimes we hold ourselves back as a way to self-sabotage. Something has been instilled in us that causes us to believe we can’t do a good job or we don’t want to take the responsibility for our actions. Get away from this mindset. You do not have to be perfect to accomplish something, you simply need to start (and finish) your task list. Building your confidence will help you develop a better mindset for getting your work done.

Set goals. If you don’t have goals, it’s hard to decide what is important and critical to work on. You’ll likely end up flitting the day away because you don’t have a goal or an end result in mind. Write down your biggest work related goal and then break it down into smaller milestone goals. This will help you to realize you’re making progress.

Listen to or read something motivational. Get the right mindset on. Follow a busy person on social media, someone who always seems to be uber productive. Let this inspire you to become as productive or even more productive than that person.

Many people get dressed for work, even if they work from home. As you are getting ready (or dressed) for your work day, be sure to put on your most important garment—your mindset.

Make a commitment with yourself. Decide you will be more productive and less distracted and then take steps to make it happen. Part of your mindset and your productivity begins with making a commitment. If you aren’t committed, you’ll waste the time you should be doing the steps to get the results you want.

What do you do to make sure you get er done? Leave a comment, I read them all.

Photo – Flickr:DailyPic

I hear over and over again that people can’t get done what they say they want to do. Like everything in life, the ability to get er done comes with practice. Here are some habits to put into place and start getting the results you are looking for:

1. Focus on the task at hand. Master this!

2. Check email infrequently. Do not obsess over email or social media. Work time should be productive time. Most people do not expect you to sit on top of your email all day. If they do, you need to explain that you have specific times for checking and responding to email.

3. Do ONE task at a time. Multi-tasking is a time waster. I talk about this in my book Get ER Done: The Green Beret Guide to Productivity.  We didn’t multi-task much in the Special Forces.  It was a good way to make a fatal mistake.  I know you think you can get three things done in half the time, but it simply does not work that way if your attention is spread across several tasks. Do one thing at a time and you will get more accomplished in less time.

4. Find or develop and master shortcuts. If you can’t develop your own shortcuts, then ask around and find out what other people do as shortcuts to daily mundane tasks.   For example, if you create products and put an About Me section at the end, save that into a Word file so you can copy and paste it into all future projects.

5. Do it right the first time. This one will take some mastering. There’s a saying, “Of course I don’t look busy. I did it right the first time.” This is so true. It may take some work, we do get better by repetition, but strive to do it right the first time so you don’t have to constantly re-do everything you work on.  I had a team sergeant when I was first starting out in Special Forces.  He always reminded us to do it right the first time.  He asked for a professional job no matter what we were doing painting the barracks or cleaning our guns.  This saved time in the long run.

6. Use your peak times to your advantage. Pay attention to the time of day you have the most focus and are most alert. Do the difficult tasks during this time and save the mundane “auto-pilot” tasks for when you aren’t at your peak performance.

7. Write it down. Keep an on-going list of things you do throughout the day. This will also help you keep track of your time. If you send out 3 emails, write a little note in your journal. Be sure to note who the emails went to and the subjects covered. At the end of the day you’ll know exactly what you accomplished and what wasted your time. Plus, if you ever need a reference to look back on, you have it all written down.

8. Take breaks and clear your mind. If you start feeling fuzzy headed and lose your focus, it’s time to get up and move around. Go for a short, brisk walk, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. If you keep coffee or tea at your desk, then take time to go enjoy a cup away from your workstation.

9. Close all computer programs that aren’t work related. You don’t need your task bar full of distractions. Just glancing down and seeing you have your browser open to Facebook can distract you in an instant.

10. Prioritize. This seems simple, but sometimes it isn’t. Take a look at the things you want to get done and decide exactly what you need to get done. These are often two different things. Ask yourself which things actually go to building your business. If writing an opinion piece for your blog isn’t business related, then save it to write at a non-work time. During work hours, only write about things that increase your business.

I talk more in depth about some of these topics in my book. As Green Berets we didn’t have access to any secret weapons or powers. We just used our time and other resources much more efficiently and were able to get amazing results.

What do you do to make sure you get er done? Leave a comment, I read them all.

Phoo – Flickr:DailyPic

If you want to get er done,  it will take awareness of the things you are doing and some preparation. Planning to get er done.

Here are a few tips to help you get prepared for a get er done day.

Make Lists

Make a list of things you need to accomplish in a week or a month. Break this list down into daily manageable tasks.

A lot of really get er done people make a list of things they want to accomplish each month. They also break this down into weekly steps so they know what to accomplish each week. However, they also break this down even further, into daily actionable steps.

If you’re not used to doing this, you may think it takes up too much time, but in reality, it will save you time in the long run because you can get focused a lot quicker.

Actually Read the Lists

Read your daily task list before going to bed and then again as soon as you sit down to work.

If you end your work day at 5:00 pm, you need to leave the work in your office and enjoy your family time. But, it’s also a good idea to look over tomorrow’s list right before you go to bed. This allows your brain to prepare itself for the work ahead. Your mind never sleeps, even if you’re asleep, your mind is still awake and working away. You might as well give it something get er done to work on while you sleep.

Make New Lists

At the end of each work day, either make a new task list for tomorrow, or double check the list if you’ve made it ahead of time.

This is similar to the idea of actually reading your lists, but this is also when you can adjust your next day’s task list if you need to. Maybe you had some free time today and worked on something that was on the next day’s list. You’ll want to mark this off and possibly fill it in with another task.

Set Up Reminders and Timers

Timers and reminders are wonderful tools. They not only help you remember what you need to do and when, but they also allow you to focus on work. It’s much easier to get super focused when you’re not watching the clock. Simply set a timer and get busy. The little bell will let you know what’s next on your schedule.

Track Your Time

Track your time with a program like Chrometa. Programs like Chrometa will track everything you do on your computer. If you’re working in Word, on email, or something else, these types of programs will record it all. This gives you an “eye-opening” visual of where your time actually goes. If you find you’re spending too much time on email, you can start cutting back and spend more time on work.

Focus

Prepare to focus on one item at a time. Do not multi-task.. I talk about this more in my book Get Er Done: The Green Beret Guide to Productivity. People have been falsely lulled into the idea that musti-tasking will accomplish more. For one thing, it doesn’t. For another thing, if your attention is divided, neither project is getting your best. Always focus on one thing at a time and give it your best. I think you’ll discover that you get more work done. Plus it’ll be better quality work.

Mindset

Have the proper mindset for work. If you need to meditate, listen to music or read something inspirational, do it!

Almost everything in life worth doing requires a healthy, positive mindset. Your work deserves the same attention and mindset as other areas of your life. Get the right mindset on and you might just have your best day, every day.

Organize

Organize and tidy your work space. This should be done at the end of each work day, but if you were tired or had to stop suddenly, always make sure it’s ready before you start work.

Close at Hand

Gather all the materials you need to work and have them close at hand.  If you have to get up and down ten times to go get something, that is not the get er done way. It’s wasting your time. Think about the things you’ll need before you start work and keep them close at hand.

Get Rid of Distractions

In my book, I tell how before missions we were separated from other teams and cut off from media to eliminate distractions.  It will work for you too.  Turn off distractions like cell phones, email, instant messengers, Skype, get off of social media. Distractions are the biggest cause of failure and poor quality work. Turn all of these things off and give your work the attention it deserves. You’ll have more free time to enjoy being social after you’ve accomplished all of your daily tasks. You’ll also feel better about yourself.

Put these get er done techniques into practice and you will find yourself being more productive with less effort. All it takes is getting started. Remember you don’t have to get it perfect. Just get it going.

What do you do to be productive? Leave a comment, I read them all.

Photo – Flickr:Andrea_R

Guest post by C.J. Hayden

Lately, I’ve been playing the “what if you were wrong” game with my coaching clients. It goes like this:

Client: Jane at XYZ Company hasn’t called me back. They must not want to hire me.
C.J.: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:Hmm, maybe I should call her and ask what’s up?

In this example, a moment’s consideration about the possibility that his thinking might be off base transformed my client’s discouraged paralysis into productive action. Examining where you might be wrong about marketing can be an extremely useful exercise for any entrepreneur. Consider these examples:

Client: I don’t want to limit myself by choosing a target market. I think I’ll market my business to anyone who might need my services.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:I might be spreading myself too thin if I market to everybody. Maybe it would be a good idea to narrow it down a bit.

Client:: The economy is so bad right now, I’m never going to get any big-ticket business. I’d better concentrate on small contracts until things pick up again.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:I guess that could be a mistake. I’ll never get any big-ticket business unless I ask for it, right?

Client: I introduced myself to all those prospects already. They’ll call me if they need me.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:They could forget about me if they don’t hear from me in a while. Maybe I should try to keep in touch.

Client: I heard that social networking is the best way for solopreneurs to market themselves. I’m going to stop my other marketing and put all my effort into Facebook.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:Maybe I should ask some other solopreneurs what their experience has been first.

Client: I don’t like making follow-up calls. It should do just as well to send emails instead.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:I could lose out on a lot of sales if people don’t read my emails. Maybe I should make a few calls, too.

Client: I got a great offer from my professional association to run a display ad in the conference program. I bet it will bring in lots of clients.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:Perhaps I should call my friend who advertised last year and see what results she had.

Client: Now that my website is up, I should start getting plenty of business online without having to do much about marketing.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client: Well, I think pay-per-click ads would be a great way to attract more clients to my website.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that, too?
Client:Maybe I shouldn’t let go my offline marketing until I see how well I do online.

As you can see, questioning your assumptions about marketing can lead to designing a much more solid strategy. You can try asking yourself what if you were wrong, but it can be even more powerful to have a friend, colleague, or coach ask you. And, as in the last example above, keep asking until you feel satisfied with your new conclusions.

There’s one more type of assumption about marketing you might want to question – not what you’re planning to do, but how you feel about doing it:

Client: Marketing is scary. It’s uncomfortable, too. I’ll never be any good at it.
Coach: What if you were wrong about that?
Client:I guess I can learn to do it better. Maybe then it won’t be so scary or uncomfortable.

The next time you decide to do something about marketing – or not do it – take a moment and play the “what if you were wrong” game. You may discover an entirely new perspective, and ultimately, be right more often.

Note from Mike – This applies to not just marketing. How many times do you or someone else say, “I don’t do this or that?”  Take a minute to think about what if you  were wrong.

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now!^TM:  A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals, Consultants and Coaches.  Mike Martel is a licensed facilitator for Get Clients Now! delivering this road-tested program to entrepreneurs, businesses, and organizations.  To either attend a Get Clients Now! teleseminar or bring it to your location get the details here.