The #1 Productivity Tactic to Take Your Small Business to the Next Level in 2021 (Part 2 of 2) | Ep. #35

You said that this would be the year that you’d set big goals and achieve them. Now you’re looking back, wondering where the time went, and feeling frustrated by your lack of progress. Don’t fret! Today we’re sharing our number one productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[00:57] Intro
[01:58] Use This Productivity Tactic to Take Your Small Business to the Next Level
[03:14] What It Really Means to Be Productive
[07:33] How to Do Less
[12:39] The Benefits of Doing Less in Your Business
[16:4] Doing Less in Your Business Means You’ll Have More
[18:06] Bloopers

[Theresa] Last week Meghan shared her top marketing tactic to take your small business to the next level in 2021. Be sure to check that out if you haven’t yet.

Today, I’ll be sharing my #1 productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level.

[Meghan] One consistent theme that you’ll find threaded throughout our episodes is to start small. It’s why Theresa and I opted to share only one concept each. Starting small makes incorporating changes easier and more likely to stick. And, over time, these small changes add up and produce good results.

[Theresa] That’s right, Meghan. So let’s get right to it.

Use This Productivity Tactic to Take Your Small Business to the Next Level

My top productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level next year is to do less.

[Meghan] Do less! That’s not surprising, especially since doing less follows your core messaging.

[Theresa] I’m a big fan of doing less. For those of you who have not heard my story, I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Earlier in my entrepreneurial journey, I was working 16-18 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I was doing everything! Every strategy and tactic that came into my line of sight, I tried. I pulled on the thread of every suggestion given to me by trusted mentors. Saying no was not in my vocabulary. If an opportunity arose, I latched onto it.

The harder I worked, the less progress I made. Plus, it adversely affected my relationships, my physical health, and my mindset.

[Meghan] Theresa has shared this story in past episodes. It’s really why she ended up on the path to productivity. And, I think that many business owners can relate to her story since many of us have experienced the same thing.

“The harder I worked, the less progress I made. It adversely affected my relationships, my physical health, and my mindset.”

What It Really Means to Be Productive

[Theresa] I think so too. You know, my experience is my reason for what I do. But the path to productivity was not smooth. There were many lessons along the way. One of them being that I was thinking about productivity all wrong.

At first, my goal was to figure out how to squeeze 10 hours of work into 2 hours of work. To me, it made sense to start there because I knew I was wasting a lot of time. The logic was that if I could work more efficiently, I would fix two problems.

First, by being efficient, I would be more focused and less distracted. Sayonara, shiny objects!

Second, that increased efficiency and focus would alleviate the overwhelm and anxiety I felt every dang day. While I understand that the terms “overwhelm and anxiety” are so overused, I don’t know how else to plainly say it. And it was physical. It felt like a fully-loaded, 80,000-pound tractor-trailer was parked squarely on my chest.

[Meghan] That feeling is so awful! Many entrepreneurs can relate to that feeling I’m sure. I know I can.

So, were you able to improve your efficiency? And, if so, did it help?

[Theresa] I made some progress, but not what I was hoping for. What I came to realize was that I was only looking at half of the equation. Efficiency is only a part of productivity. The other part is effectiveness.

[Meghan] Will you explain what you mean?

Do Work that is Effective, Not Just Efficient

[Theresa] Sure. Before I do, I want to throw this out there. I know we’re focusing on a productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level for the sake of this Podcast, but you’re more than just your work. So some of the principles I’ll share with you today can apply to all the other areas of your life. Just keep that in mind, OK?

[Meghan] OK, sounds good.

[Theresa] When you’re being effective, you’re doing work that actually matters. It’s work that means something to your business, contributes to your growth, and facilitates progress.

If you can’t articulate how a task, strategy, or tactic directly affects your bottom line it could be that it’s not effective for you.

Doing effective work in your business contributes to your growth and facilitates progress.

Let’s use social media as an example. Perhaps at some point, you received the advice that you need to post on Facebook several times a day in order to build your authority and generate leads for your business.

A lot goes into posting on Facebook, let’s say, five times a day. To do this task efficiently, you create processes around it. First, you construct a good content strategy. Then, you create a procedure for producing your content and another for scheduling your posts.

[Meghan] You put a lot of time and effort into developing your social media strategy. And you put even more time into tweaking it. It’s the poster child of efficiency. As a result, you’re a rockstar at posting content on Facebook.

However, over time, you notice that you’re not getting much engagement on your posts. And even more concerning is your audience. Somehow you’ve not attracted your ideal customer.

What went wrong?

[Theresa] One problem could be your audience. If you’re trying to reach college students, for example, they aren’t on Facebook. So, an efficient Facebook posting strategy won’t help you. That tactic, therefore, isn’t effective for your business.

[Meghan] And by continuing to run a Facebook strategy, you’re just wasting time. The best thing to do is dump the strategy or at least revise it.

How to Do Less

[Theresa] Which gets us back to: Do Less. Doing less is a key productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level. While you can do less by being efficient, it’s not enough to just be efficient at the work you’re doing. You need to make sure it’s the right work in the first place.

[Meghan] Exactly. Because when Theresa says to do less, she isn’t telling you not to work. She’s saying to work on the right things. But how do you know what the right things are?

[Theresa] The framework for doing less in your business is simple: Think. Plan. Do.

[Meghan] Think. Plan. Do. I remember this framework from when I went through your Plan to Achieve course.

The breakdown in this framework is so valuable because it makes goal setting and task management doable. These two things are overwhelming. In fact, I avoid both when I can!

But seriously, we all need to manage our tasks better in order to do less, and that demands better goal setting. So, you’ve got to address these things sooner rather than later if you want to manage your time and stress more successfully. Think, Plan, Do accomplishes that!

The framework for doing less in your business is simple: Think. Plan. Do.

Think About What You Want

[Theresa] Yes. In order for this productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level, you’ve got to follow this framework.

Phase 1 is Think. Before you do anything else you have to spend time thinking about what you want. You cannot skip this step. It’s critical.

[Meghan] We discussed the importance of thinking in episode 25 when we talked about the three things to consider before setting effective goals.

When you take the time to do this step, you gain so much clarity. It’s easier to set the right goals when you’ve defined your focus.

[Theresa] Yes. By narrowing your focus, you’ll automatically do less work.

Plan Your Goals and Your Path

Phase 2 is Plan. There’s a reason I talk so much about planning. Planning helps you focus your attention and your energy on the right activities for your business.

You begin planning by setting the right goal. Think of your goal as your North Star. It gives you your direction. While there may be many different paths you can take to get there, you can only follow one path.

[Meghan] You run into trouble when you choose too many paths to follow. Your attention gets divided. As a consequence, you end up doing more work than you actually need to in order to make real progress.

Not only do you do more work but also it’s tougher to reach your goal when you’re doing too many things. I do this to myself all of the time! But this year—with the help of Theresa—I got better at doing less to accomplish more.

Think of your goal as your North Star. It gives you your direction. While there may be many different paths you can take to get there, you can only follow one path.

[Theresa] In order to do the least amount of work with the greatest amount of progress, create a path that includes only the tasks, strategies, and tactics that will help you achieve your goal. It’s your plan.

If you follow your plan, you’ll naturally do less work because you’ll

• be focused on the right things instead of everything
• minimize distractions and deviations because you know what to do and why it matters
• say no to opportunities that aren’t a fit

[Meghan] So, what if you need to deviate from your plan? Can you change it?

[Theresa] That’s a fantastic question. You sure can! Just make informed choices. Always go back to that thinking phase before you course correct. Sometimes your goal may change. Other times there might be a strategy you planned for that didn’t work out like you thought it would. Or you might be presented with a golden opportunity that you simply can’t pass up.

If you choose to make a change though, don’t add it to what you’ve already committed. Instead, replace it with something else in the plan. No matter what, make sure that any changes make sense and that you’re not simply adding more work.

[Meghan] Good advice. Let’s talk about the last phase.

Do the Work

[Theresa] Phase 3 is Do. Now it’s time to do the work. If you’ve spent time thinking to get clarity on what you want and you’ve created your plan, you will have a much more streamlined approach to accomplish your goal.

You’ll do less because you’ll only do work that is outlined in your plan.

[Meghan] Think about it this way. When you’ve not created clear goals and a plan to achieve them, you spend the majority of your day doing work without understanding how it’s moving you forward.

Anything and everything looks like a good opportunity. Every tactic and strategy seems like it might be worth trying.

You’ll end up doing things that waste time. Wasting time drives me bonkers!

Not having defined goals and a plan means it’s also easier to get distracted and pulled in the wrong direction.

[Theresa] Exactly. When you narrow your focus, it’s easy to only do what matters. Not all the work you’re doing right now matters. So take the time to Think, Plan, and Do so you can do less. It’s the #1 productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level.

The Benefits of Doing Less in Your Business

[Meghan] Still not convinced? I don’t blame you. It sounds absurd to even suggest that doing less will be sustainable. But it works! And, there are a ton of benefits when you do less in your business, a few of which Theresa is going to share with us right now.

Doing Less Helps You Make Faster Progress

[Theresa] Yes I am! First, when you do less you’ll make progress much faster.

When you Think, Plan, and Do, you’ll be focused only on the tasks, tactics, and strategies that will help you achieve your goals. Unnecessary, frivolous work that is designed to keep you busy will be a thing of the past. You’ll also avoid going off on wild tangents that eat up lots of time with no reward.

When you focus only on work that matters, unnecessary, frivolous work that is designed to keep you busy will be a thing of the past.

That means you’ll accomplish the right work.

[Meghan] Instead of doing a little bit of everything, you’ll get the important work over the finish line. It’s kind of like having tunnel vision. Imagine checking off each and every step and seeing real progress. That will feel so good.

Doing Less Helps Reduces Your Overwhelm

[Theresa] Having less work will drastically reduce your overwhelm. The overwhelm that you feel most times is born from just being overworked and overextended. Having massive “to do” lists filled with irrelevant tasks all competing for your attention affect you adversely.

[Meghan] And the thing is, it doesn’t have to be that way at all. Yes, you’ll have things that must get done in your business, like bookkeeping and administrative tasks. But, if you block out time in your month to do those things and don’t procrastinate around them, they won’t spiral out of control.

[Theresa] You’re right, Meghan. It doesn’t have to be that way. And it’s true that every business owner has things that just have to get handled.

I think the bigger point is that when you do less, there’s more time for those other things. And if you control your time, construct an appropriate schedule, and create procedures for repeatable tasks you’ll end up spending less time on those functions as well. Everything just gets easier.

[Meghan] And we all need easier in our life! What else ya got?

Doing Less Work Leaves Time for Life

[Theresa] When you do less in your business, you have more time for life. You are not your work. There are other life domains that need your attention as well, like family, personal, community, and spiritual.

[Meghan] That’s so true. I’ve been the person who has an all-consuming business.

All too often you try to squeeze life in around your business. It should really be the opposite of that. Fit work into your life.

[Theresa] I speak from personal experience when I tell you that I missed out on many important life events. Not because I wasn’t there, but because I wasn’t present. The ones I regret the most were those involving my children.

At that time, I couldn’t see how it was possible to get everything done and still have time for things like self-care and family. It was backward thinking.

Once I focused on only what really mattered in my business, I freed up time because I was doing less. That meant more time for me and my family. My life is much richer now.

[Meghan] I’m the opposite of that. There’s nothing that takes priority over my health, family, and faith. My business would suffer because there wasn’t a clear path to get it all done.

But once I began to focus on what mattered, I had less work and made more meaningful progress on the things that were truly important to my business. All without sacrificing my priorities.

[Theresa] I love that.

Once I began to focus on what mattered, I had less work and made more meaningful progress on the things that were truly important to my business. All without sacrificing my priorities.

Increase Your Happiness

And finally, doing less allows you to have more happiness. Working yourself half to death trying to get everything done is no way to live. Working day and night, missing out on family time, or saying no to dinner with friends because you “have to work” will leave you feeling isolated and frustrated.

[Meghan] When you do less, you’ll have more time for the activities and people you love. And that’s the true gift of life. That is joy.

Doing Less in Your Business Means You’ll Have More

[Theresa] I hope you can see how this productivity tactic to take your small business to the next level will benefit you. Doing less in your business does actually bring you more.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with a five-story high “to do” list, I invite you to stop and think about what you really want. Then plan by creating appropriate, clear goals along with the steps to achieve them. And finally, do the work by only focusing on your plan.

[Meghan] Once you’ve done that, you’ll easily identify all of the unnecessary items on that “to do” list. Let those go. Instead, focus on the things that will help you make progress on your goals𑁋all while doing less.

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