Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Re-energise yourself by doing something you love. Go for a short walk, go to the gym, read a book, listen to some music - whatever takes your fancy. You feel refreshed and ready to start work again!

Andrew

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Rosanna Tussey
Owner
New Mexico Candle Co.
http://www.nmcandleco.com

I read an article not too long ago (can`t remember where), but it was about a couple of studies done on learning. I think they used a base of college students taking exams. What they found was that staying up and cramming for an exam was dramatically less successful than studying for awhile, then taking a nap.

Although nobody really understands the mind all that well, it does seem that we need periods to integrate new learning. There`s about a 7-day period for information to move through from the "input" phase to the long-term storage phase. An important part of that transfer seems to be sleep.

We also know that "daydreaming" is a different mode of consciousness, but again, we don`t know exactly what modes of consciousness actually are. In those stages, measurable by brainwave activity, we see different parts of the brain working. It`s in those daydreams that we also tend to come up with solutions and inspirations.

I think this opposite-hand exercise, along with taking short naps, taken together is activating whatever these other areas there are in the brain. It`s sort of like meditation, which, if done properly, also can generate really strong benefits.

I think I saw something on that study, too.  So I suppose another productivity tip would be to ensure that you get adequate sleep at night (something that often seems to flee us as adults) to ensure that you will function at top capacity during the day.

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Rosanna Tussey
Owner
New Mexico Candle Co.
http://www.nmcandleco.com

It`s not just getting adequate sleep, it`s taking that break during the day---the walking away for a moment.

I do that a lot, Craig.  I`ll go take out the trash or put the load of wash in the dryer.  Then there`s always the option of getting something to eat.  Anything that takes me away from desk for five or ten minutes.  And then I come back to the computer with a different perspective.

Here are a few of my productivity disciplines:

1.  to stay organized, I keep a vertical file on my desk and use folders for everything, even if it`s just one piece of paper. 

2.  I try to handle a piece of paper only once, e.g., when the mail comes I deal with it immediately and file things in the proper folder or the trash.

3.  Multitasking is a myth.  It is not an efficient practice.  This goes along with what Rosanna was saying about 15-minute increments.  If you`re working on something, stay focused on that piece of work.  Don`t do five things at the same time.  And don`t answer your phone or email while you`re working.  When an interruption occurs, it takes time for your brain to get back to the same place you were before the interruption.  You can always answer voice mail and emails, but you could easily lose your train of thought by answering an interruption.

There`s nothing worse for productivity than the telephone. Try to limit phone conversation to complex problems that can`t be resolved through email. But to constantly have to interrupt a task to answer the phone pretty much ensures that nothing will be done at all. One option would be call screening, and put that on whenever you`re trying to do a task that`ll take an hour or so to finish. That, or contract with one of those virtual receptionist services.

I personally stay organized by planning the day and writing down things that I need to get done. This way is easy to keep track on my progress, and it actually works very motivating seeing how your list gets smaller and smaller. Be on paper, on you palm/phone or whatever, this can help you stay focused, and make sure that you don`t forget some important task.

If anyone finds that article you talked about, please post it :-)

Kind regards,
Malte



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My personal blog on strategy, marketing, branding and general topics on business TheBusinessUpdater.com

I was a solo entrepreneur running a recruiting business for 19 years prior to joining the StartupNation team. I found that tracking my time in 10 distinct activity categories on a spreadsheet to be my greatest productivity tool.

This habit has stayed with me even now. The 10 categories change annually but one of them has remained constant = Fitness. Keeping physically fit is critical to working at my peak business performance.

Tracking my time also helps me to feel good about the effort I`ve put in at the end of the week, even if it might feel like I didn`t accomplish as much as I`d hoped. I can quickly review the week, or month, or quarter & realize that I made good decisions on time priorities.