When you’re an entrepreneur, who inevitably wears many hats, managing your time can get tricky—especially when it’s tempting to work all day to grow your business. But being successful doesn’t mean being a slave to your work. Below, four accomplished entrepreneurs share their productivity strategies and how they overcome potential obstacles.
Productivity Strategies for Success
1. They’re clear about their priorities.
“I think the most important element is that I have a very clear sense of what is most important for me to accomplish at any given time,” said Peter Bregman, a consultant and Harvard Business Review’s most popular online columnist. He begins each year by identifying five priorities. He then uses these top goals to create a nontraditional to-do list, which he calls a “six-box to-do list.”
He explained: “Each one of my five areas of focus gets a box in my to-do list. The sixth box is labeled ‘the other five percent’—that’s where I put everything I think I need to do that doesn’t fit into my top five—and I keep that box very small.”
2. They’re strategic.
Bregman, who’s also author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, knows how to use his time. He recommended readers be strategic “about the highest and best use of their time and make discreet, specific decisions about how you are going to spend each hour.” If you don’t make deliberate decisions about your day, “it’s almost impossible not to let distractions carry you away,” he said.
3. They begin the day with enjoyable activities.
Professional life and career coach Kristin Taliaferro believes that starting the day off on your own terms is key to productivity. “If you begin your day checking email, for example, you’re at the mercy of everyone else’s agenda and that can absolutely shape your day and cause you to be unproductive with your goals,” she said.
Instead, she recommended readers engage in enjoyable activities (like walking or reading spiritual texts) and “wait until you feel grounded and clear about your agenda for the day.”
4. They don’t multitask.
Multitasking creates the illusion of productivity. “It’s very easy to multitask and jump from one thing to another without completing anything—that leaves us busy all day but unaccomplished,” Bregman said. He makes it a rule to “finish one thing before going to the next.”
Bregman and other entrepreneurs prefer to work in blocks. He typically begins his workday by writing for several hours. Then, he gives himself 30 minutes to respond to email. (He takes these email breaks throughout the day, which he said works better than responding to email as it comes in.)
Taliaferro, who also believes multitasking is rarely effective, tries to schedule back-to-back phone appointments in the mornings and later focuses on writing projects or responding to email.
Brittni Melhoff, founder of papernstitch.com, a curated exhibition site for artists and makers to showcase their work, and editor of thepapernstitch blog, suggested readers try the pomodoro technique. “It will help you manage your time by breaking your day down into 25-minute intervals, so you can focus on just one task at a time,” she said.
5. They batch tasks weekly.
Melhoff schedules “different reoccurring tasks for different parts of the week,” such as writing blog posts on Mondays and marketing and client work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. “I find it really helps to keep my mind focused on one topic for the day, whenever I can, so that I don’t drive myself crazy with every tiny little thing each day,” she said.
Similarly, Taliaferro sometimes “set[s] aside an entire day [to wrap up] ‘loose ends’” for her business.
6. They keep their energy up.
Taliaferro always takes at least one break “in the middle of the day to refresh my mind.” As she explained, “Productivity has a lot to do with how you feel. If you remain energized, you can work smarter and get more done.”
She also makes sure to eat healthfully, exercise, get enough sleepand engage in other self-care activities. “This helps me feel strong and centered when I’m actually working,” she said.
7. They work mindfully.
“I try to be totally focused on whatever I’m doing, whether it’s listening to a client or returning an email,” Taliaferro said. To facilitate this, she tries to eliminate potential distractions. For instance, when she’s writing, she turns off the phone ringer. “When you’re very present, it’s actually pretty relaxing. When you’re relaxed, you can get more accomplished,” she said.
8. They take full days off.
Entrepreneurs can easily get burned out. According to Carol Tice, a fulltime freelance writer who writes the award-winning blog Make A Living Writing, taking at least one day off a week “is probably my biggest productivity tip.” She always takes Saturdays off and stays completely offline. On Sundays, she works for several hours so Mondays aren’t so hectic.
9. They’re well organized.
Tice, who used to be an executive secretary, believes that her ability to track “information, deadlines and projects” also is important for her productivity. For instance, she’s recently started using a program called Freshbooks to keep records and bill clients, which has saved a lot of time.
10. They tackle tasks they’re passionate about.
Naturally, it’s easier to be productive when you’re passionate about your projects. So, Tice, for instance, works on what she’s “hot to do [that] morning. “I’ll often do that, even if it doesn’t appear the most pressing priority. What you’re in the zone to do goes fast, as opposed to forcing yourself to do something you’re not in the mood for,” she said.
Taliaferro also finds that when she’s working on enjoyable tasks, “time flies by so I’m more productive and happier.” She’s able to do this because she tries “to outsource tasks as much as possible” and has a virtual assistant.
11. They don’t waste time.
“I don’t have a lot of time-wasting stuff in my life like watching TV or playing on Facebook,” Tice said, who spends just several hours a week on these kinds of activities.
Tice added: “Remember, like the Kabbalists say — we are never ‘just killing time.’ Time kills us. Spend your precious moments doing stuff you love, and stuff that makes the world a better place.”
12. They take it easy.
Entrepreneurs tend to set high standards for themselves, which is one of the reasons they’re so successful. But there’s a flip side: If you don’t accomplish your goals, you feel like a failure.
“Productivity comes from positive self-esteem,” Tice said. She emphasized the importance of forgiving “yourself for what you didn’t get done.” It’s common not to accomplish goals “in the timeframe [you] originally envisioned,” she said. “Look at all the movie release dates that get pushed back.”
(And as a bonus tip, Tice said: “Do what my dad taught me: Look in the mirror every morning and say, ‘Damn, I’m good!’”)
Productivity Pitfalls that Limit Success
These entrepreneurs also deal with a variety of obstacles. Here are several pitfalls along with their pointers for overcoming them.
Having a lot of work.
For Bregman, like so many others, the sheer amount of work is a big challenge. “My best tactic for overcoming it is cordoning off time for each task. I designate two hours to do nothing but write—and I know that I don’t need to do anything else in that time.” He does the same for email and phone calls. “As long as I’ve designated time to do each piece of work, then I don’t worry about getting it done—I know I’ll get it done in the designated time—and that frees me to focus on the one thing that’s most important in the present.”
Being overbooked.
Tice’s biggest obstacle, she said, is her “tendency… to skate at the dangerous edge of being overbooked.” Because she enjoys cultivating her skills, Tice often picks projects “a little outside my comfort zone.” This creates a time crunch and can lead to missing deadlines.
To prevent this, Tice tries to get a good sense of which deadlines are flexible and usually avoids “scary drop-dead deadlines.” If she does accept bigger projects, she breaks down her “goals into one-month chunks to make them less overwhelming and more doable.” She also mentors writers and helps them consider: “What little piece of it could you do today? This week? Focus just on that. Keep repeating this, and soon you’re at the top of the mountain.”
Procrastinating on dull tasks.
Everyone can relate to procrastinating on certain tasks, but the more we push back something, the more worried (and paralyzed) we get. Many times, a task doesn’t take long at all, but our worry only magnifies it. As Taliaferro said, “It really only took 30 minutes to do [a task she dreaded] but it felt much longer since I spent time worrying about it!”
So she takes a different approach: “Now, I accept the fact that I don’t love this particular task, and set a timer for 30 minutes whenever I have to do it. It’s a reminder to power through and get it done.”
Reducing how much you worry about and procrastinate over a task also “free[s] up a lot of time and energy,” she added.
Dealing with distractions.
Many entrepreneurs work from home, which creates a host of distractions: dirty dishes, dust-filled surfaces, laundry. What helps Melhoff is to “shut the door to my office to signify my work zone and avoid working in the common areas like the living room, dining room, or kitchen.”
If Melhoff still feels distracted, she takes a break: “[I] step outside to get some fresh air, take my dog out, anything that gets me away from the computer and out of the house. When I come back to my desk, I feel more alert and ready to tackle the world.”
Please Visit Psychcentral, a very useful, website: http://psychcentral.com/lib/2011/12-more-ways-successful-entrepreneurs-stay-productive-and-overcome-pitfalls/
Useful Book References on Mental Health:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/book-reviews/
‘Pakistan is next economic success story’
Published: November 17, 2012
“Pakistan was attracting interest of more and more companies in the Asia-Pacific region which planned to relocate to Pakistan for business,” says Javed. PHOTO: FILE
SINGAPORE: High Commissioner of Pakistan to Singapore Syed Hasan Javed said that Pakistan was the next economic success story of Asia due to development in various sectors.
He said a number of indicators, such as rising female education, growing empowerment of women in society, boom in the rural economy, rise in worker’s remittances and increase in exports showed that Pakistan will be Asia’ success story in the near future.
Javed said that Pakistan just required economic reforms and a better governance system. He said Pakistan had a reasonable infrastructure, legal system, English language education already in place and enjoyed advantages of young population and rich resource endowments including holding countless mineral reserves, tourist potential landscape, enviable location advantage and vibrant agriculture sector.
He said that Pakistan was the world’s major untapped market, which enjoyed excellent relations with all the world’s major powers and countries. Pakistan was attracting interest of more and more companies in the Asia-Pacific region which planned to relocate to Pakistan for business, he added. Javed said interaction with foreign correspondents was part of the interactive initiative by the high commission to project the soft image of Pakistan and its growing importance as an investment destination for the companies of the Asia-Pacific region.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2012.
PRESS CENTER
PNB Hosts Pakistan Entrepreneurship and Investment Roundtable
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gabe Ross
Associate Director, Middle East Programs
The Aspen Institute
+1-202-736-2535 | [email protected]
PNB HOSTS PAKISTAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INVESTMENT ROUNDTABLE
Partners for a New Beginning partners with Morgan Stanley and Abraaj Capital to host the event
New York, December 7, 2012 –– The Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) Secretariat at the Aspen Institute organized a roundtable discussion on Entrepreneurship and Investment in Pakistan with Morgan Stanley and Abraaj Capital. Over 75 representatives from the US Government, the Government of Pakistan, the private sector and the NGO community convened on 3 December 2012 at Morgan Stanley’s New York City offices to discuss opportunities for entrepreneurship and investment in Pakistan.
While news reports from Pakistan often focus on violence and corruption, Pakistan has quietly become a potential investment location due to its strong middle class – the fourth largest in Asia – and its energetic entrepreneurial climate. Throughout the evening, the conversation highlighted leaders from the private sector, the US and Pakistani governments, and the impact investment community to share success stories and lessons learned for investing in this growing market.
PNB Steering Committee member, Morgan Stanley, who hosted the event, spoke of the company’s commitment to PNB and its model of engagement. They gave special emphasis to their Global Sustainable Finance unit, which includes Investing with Impact, an initiative that was launched earlier this year at a US State Department event.
“This event exemplifies how PNB is bringing together the public and private sector to implement the vision of supporting economic development in countries with Muslim-majorities, and creating new connections between these countries and the United States,” said Mahmoud Mamdani, Vice Chairman for the Middle East and North Africa and Managing Director at Morgan Stanley.
“Capital markets can and should play a critical role in helping strengthen communities and providing sustainable economic opportunity,” said Morgan Stanley’s Head of Global Sustainable Finance Audrey Choi.
Focusing on opportunities in the small and medium enterprise sector, Abraaj Capital’s Tom Speechley spoke of why his firm is so bullish on the market in Pakistan. Mr. Speechley, who is the CEO of Abraaj’s small and midcap investment arm – Aureos Capital, highlighted Pakistan’s competitive ICT labor market, its encouraging investor protection track record, and its favorable comparability with other BRIC countries. He also discussed successful projects undertaken so far by Abraaj in Pakistan such as KESC, MSF, and Biogas.
Representing the views of the private sector, CEO of NTELX the Hon. Rob Quartel, MIT Sloan professor and founder of the MIT Enterprise Forum Imran Sayeed, and CEO of ConstellationCK/Sofizar Carlos Cashmanshared their experiences in Pakistan.
“A business like mine would have been very difficult in the US, but we can do it in Pakistan because the cost is so much lower,” said Mr. Cashman. The people of Pakistan are “natural capitalists,” added Mr. Quartel.
Deputy Chief of Mission Asad Majeed Khan from the Embassy of Pakistan remarked at the outset of the event that “the government of Pakistan realizes that the way to our economic growth lies in capitalizing [on] the entrepreneurial ability and the unflinching resolve of our strong middle class.”
From the US government, the State Department’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan/Pakistan Dan Feldman discussed trade-focused collaboration between the US and Pakistan. Alex Thier, Assistant to the Administrator for the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at USAID, spoke about the Pakistan Private Investment Initiative, a public-private partnership aimed at generating investments in Pakistani companies in partnership with the private sector.
“The Department sees business leaders as change agents,” Mr. Feldman remarked.
Other speakers included Harris Mehos, a Director in the Structured Finance group at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), discussed some of their operations in Pakistan, and former International Finance Corporation Javed Khan shared his observations on some of the steps the Government of Pakistan can take to better encourage investment.
Shuaib Siddiqui from Acumen Fund discussed his organization’s approach to poverty alleviation, while Invest2Innovate’s Kalsoom Lakhani spoke enthusiastically about why her group is piloting its business accelerator site in Pakistan.
“A lot of entrepreneurs in Pakistan face similar problems in launching their businesses, and I2I realized the need to establish a curriculum to help them face those common challenges,” said Ms. Lakhani. “[We want to] foster a community of entrepreneurs – where we help them grow their businesses but also learn from each other.”
About The Aspen Institute
Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) is a network working in ten countries where local projects and priorities are identified by local chapters. PNB strategically matches them with US and international partners. The Aspen Institute serves as the PNB Secretariat and is responsible for driving, expanding and sustaining the PNB network. The Secretariat maintains communication between stakeholders, identifies strategic partners and brokers partnerships that support project development and expansion. For more information, visitpartnersforanewbeginning.org.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visitwww.aspeninstitute.org.
U.S. Workshops Help Pakistani Entrepreneurs Develop their Business Skills
Contact: U.S. Embassy, Public Affairs Section (051-208-2911, 051-208-1136)
143/2012
Islamabad November 15, 2012 –
“The U.S. Embassy acknowledged the hard work of Pakistan’s entrepreneurs,” said Murtaza Zaidi Hon, a Pakistani entrepreneur. “These workshops encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation. They are helping many graduates, who would otherwise be unemployed, to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and to discover financial independence.”
The Embassy partnered with the U.S.-based Kauffman Foundation, the largest foundation dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship in the world, to carry out these workshops in celebration of “Global Entrepreneurship Week” ─ the State Department’s global celebration of the innovators who bring new products and services to the marketplace.
“Entrepreneurship is the economic engine of this country,” said U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission, Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, at a workshop on how entrepreneurs can access financing to grow their businesses. “In fact, most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses so workshops like this are vital venues for entrepreneurs from both our countries to connect, build skills, and learn about how to succeed in business.”
The United States works with Pakistani universities and partners in the private sector to promote the growth and development of entrepreneurship. In addition to workshops with Abasyn University, the U.S. has worked with the National University of Sciences and Technology to establish business incubators, helping telecommunications and alternative fuels entrepreneurs launch their companies in Pakistan.
This initiative is just one part of a comprehensive U.S. economic assistance program which creates jobs and boosts incomes with projects that expand Pakistan’s agricultural output, build roads to facilitate trade, and offer a private equity fund to help small- and medium-size businesses grow.
During a weeklong series of workshops sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and held at Abasyn University, the United States is helping talented Pakistani entrepreneurs sharpen their business skills, bring new products and services to market, and achieve profitable growth. This week, more than 720 aspiring Pakistani entrepreneurs attended the workshops to learn the nuts and bolts of running a successful business and to pitch their business ideas to potential investors from the United States.
Other Reference Organization for Pakistani Entrepreneurs:
