When I asked professional organiser, Helen Butler of Clutter Rescue, what her best productivity tip is, I shouldn’t have been surprised that she came back with more than one!
Helen suggested I could share whichever tip I liked best, but they are so connected and helpful that I have to share them all.
Helen’s Tip #1: “The best way to be productive is to take time away from your to-do list. If you can step away from the chaos, have some fun and connect with what you enjoy you will find that you will come back refreshed and be able to focus on what is important; and what isn’t important will just fade away.”
I consider my intentional business to be an integral part of my whole life, and this tip reminds me that intentional business can’t just be done as an aside. The way we do business impacts our life, our health and our families. We can’t just work all the time and pretend that we don’t need to rest or relax. Nor can we be sloppy and apathetic in our business. It will show. And this leads to Helen’s next tip…
Helen’s Tip #2: “Set aside two to three hours minimum to focus on individual projects you’re working on. By focusing on one project and the specific tasks related to it, instead of yo-yoing backward and forward between unrelated tasks and multiple projects, you will stay on track and achieve your goals.”
Setting aside dedicated time to work on the important projects in our business will help us to be more thorough and to do a better job. We can’t just fumble our way through a million tasks, doing each one in a half-hearted way. If we want an intentional business, we need to set aside “focus hours” so that we can do our best with the task at hand. It is the same with life and with children. If we can remain present in the moment, we usually find we do a better job (and enjoy the job more!) than if we were trying to multi-task.
Helen’s Tip #3: “Rome wasn’t built in a day and it certainly wasn’t built by one man. Build your own team to delegate tasks to so that you’re not doing everything in your business or home.”
Yes! It is so crucial to understand our own limitations and our strengths and weaknesses so that we’re not constantly struggling through the day trying to do everything ourselves. We need to stop surviving and start thriving. Delegating will be integral to this.
Which of Helen’s tips do you love most? Which you will be putting into action this week?
