6 Dead-Aim Tactics for Busy Working Moms to Crush Deadlines
Busy working moms always feel like they have far more tasks to do than time in the day to do them. Their aim is to be able to get more done with the time they have.
One thing that really works for people is deadlines. The problem with working for yourself is that often you don’t set deadlines unless you’re a service provider and your client sets a deadline. But, you should work on taking advantage of deadlines for everything that you do because it’s going to help you focus more and force you to work faster and more efficiently when you set a time to be done.
Set Realistic Deadlines – Don’t set long deadlines or deadlines that are too short. Be super realistic when you determine how long something is going to take you to do, looking at your schedule for when you’ll do the work.
Understand Your Work Flow – Creating a workflow is important so that you can understand the order of operations needed to complete a project or even a task. After all, there are certain things you do even to publish a blog post. It must be outlined, written, edited, optimized, and published. Additionally, images need to be created and actively formatted and put in the system. What order does this happen in and who is responsible?
Know Where Bottlenecks Can Happen – When you set a deadline, you need to understand where bottlenecks can happen so that you can actively avoid them. For example, if you outsource a portion of work that is holding up other work, make sure you get it to the person in time to enable you to work on your portion when you schedule it.
Remember Parkinson’s Law – Remember we talked about this earlier in the challenge? This law states that work expands to fit the time you have to do it. Therefore, the shorter you set deadlines, the better for your productivity.
Set Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, & Yearly Deadlines – Deadlines aren’t just for deliverables, deadlines are great to remind you of where you are within the workflow. For example, you may have a deadline for creating an outline, then another deadline for getting the writing done on a given blog post.
Deadlines Break Up the Work — Having deadlines for all sorts of things throughout the day is going to help you focus better. Because let’s say you have a blog post about a certain topic you’ve set a deadline for in six weeks. If you don’t have periodic deadlines for various aspects of the post, when are you going to work on it? Probably the due date. That means it won’t be the best work you can do, and you may not meet your deadline.
When you set deadlines throughout your day, you’ll feel even more accomplished and be even more motivated to keep going. When you can see the results of your work at the end of the day then tomorrow will be a day you look forward to because you’re being so productive.
9 Surefire Ways to Stay Constantly Motivated
It’s important to stay motivated during your workday because that’s what’s going to push you forward and make you more productive. If you feel tired, bored, or even hungry during your workday, you’re just not going to be motivated to get things done.
Sleep Well – Working all the time might feel as if you’re being productive, but there is a huge difference between being productive and being busy. When you find the time to sleep each evening without worry or stress interfering, you’re going to be more motivated the next day due to being well-rested.
Exercise – If your work is sedentary, you must find time each day to get moving and exercise. If you have a physical hard business, then you may want to find time in the day to get a massage instead. The point is to take care of your physical body in the way it needs to be taken care of.
Eat Right – Like sleeping and exercising, if you don’t eat the right food for your body’s needs, you’re going to be tired and unmotivated. You may experience brain fog, tiredness, and other symptoms. Take the time to eat right and you’ll find that you feel much more motivated every single day.
Spend Time with Your Family & Friends – Everyone needs friends and family. Emotionally if you don’t satisfy that need for personal time with your friends and family, it will be hard to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Remember, you can combine exercise, eating, and social activity.
Develop a Daily To-Do List – Create a to-do list for each day based on the deliverables that you must produce at the end of any period. So, for example, if in six weeks you have some form of deliverable due, you’re going to go back six weeks to start adding different parts of the work to your schedule each day so that it’s not all done in one day.
Break Up Large Projects – When you have large projects due, break them down. If you’re writing a book, for example, you don’t write the book only. You must outline it, develop characters, organize it, and more. Schedule these things, working backward from the due date.
Create a Schedule with Deadlines – Don’t leave anything open-ended. If you want to be organized, everything needs a deadline. For example, for your business, you need to close out your books each month. If you don’t, you’ll have to work harder next month or quarter, or worse, at tax time. Keep it going and organized with daily due dates for everything you do.
Take Breaks – Work in breaks to your schedule. We discussed the Pomodoro method and one reason this works is the built-in breaks and the forced focus you give each 25 minutes of active working time.
Keep Your Work Area Organized – Every evening when you’re done with work, take the extra time to organize your workspace, including your schedule for tomorrow. That way when you are ready to work the next day, it’s all there for you.
When you focus on being productive, getting things done that make a difference, as well as making time for your personal life by taking care of yourself and spending time with loved ones, it makes a huge difference on your level of motivation. If you cannot see the end of the day as successful then that’s going to affect your motivation. Make sure you can point to at least three things that you did on any given day that was productive.
3 Smart Ways Busy Entrepreneurs Embrace Relaxation
It’s so easy to work 24/7 as a business owner. The problem with doing this is that while you may appear busy and effective if you’re working all the time without any rest and relaxation, what’s the point? You’re going to burn out, be tired all the time, and not be as productive as you would be if you better scheduled your time to include plenty of rest and relaxation.
A Matter of Health
If you’re not healthy, you won’t be able to focus. Focusing is an important part of getting your work done accurately. Being healthy will enable you to have the energy required to think clearly, get work done, and be productive.
Everyone needs intentional exercise as well as rest and relaxation. If you’re going and going all day long without a break until you fall into bed to sleep fitfully for four hours and then try to do it all over again the next day, you’re going to burn out. But, if you schedule in things to take care of yourself during the day, it’s going to make a huge difference.
Try scheduling regular self-care opportunities such as eating good meals, getting a massage, going for a walk, and reading books for leisure. It’s okay to go to a museum during the workday. It’s not as crowded as it is on weekends and can get your creative juices flowing while also giving you important exercise.
An Important Component of Productivity
Sleeping, resting, taking time to be bored and get your imagination working is going to really help you become more productive. For example, let’s say that at 2 pm today you want to go to the museum to walk around with your spouse and go out for an early dinner at that new vegan café nearby. When you look at your schedule, you know what must be done so that you can really go, so you’re going to focus more and get it done.
Having a time limit for each activity you do also helps. You may not go to the museum for an unlimited time. You may choose to go from 2 pm to 5 pm, at which time you’re coming back to work for a couple of hours. That break during the day is going to help you become even more productive and creative because it’s going to be something to look forward to.
Add to Your Life Satisfaction Quotient
Everyone needs to ensure that all aspects of their life’s needs are met. You need work (money), love (family, friends, pets), and emotional and spiritual needs to be met. If you’re not working toward a well-rounded life to include these different aspects, it’s going to be hard to have true satisfaction in life. But, if you make a point to schedule into your workday plenty of rest and relaxation – however you define that – your life is going to be even better.
If you’re not happy, healthy, and ready to get to each day then it’s going to be hard to be productive. You will not feel like working. You’re going to put off being productive and procrastinate more because you’ve not scheduled things to look forward to in your day. Make rest and relaxation a priority for your workday routine and you’ll soon discover a big secret that many wealthy business owners use to get ahead.
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