5 tips for better productivity

As you can see from the rather quiet blogging week, the studio has been very busy. It’s difficult to juggle managing projects, staff and clients, doing creative work, exercising, blogging and eventually going home to one’s family without something suffering. So how do you keep up? I’m still working on it and it’s far from perfect but here are a few tips I’ve gathered from various places or developed over time.

Carve out blocks of time
Planning your day before clients start calling allows you to prioritize and assign blocks of time to specific tasks. If you’re simply reactive, you might not get to the truly important tasks when you should.

Use a time management tool
It can be a complete solution like Basecamp or a simple free timer like Chimoo but I find that timing tasks is essential to profitability. Things will always take longer than expected but if you have no clue, no starting point, it’s difficult to plan ahead.

Use a project management tool
It can be milestones in iCal, handwritten notes in your Moleskine or a whiteboard in the studio but knowing when what is due makes for a smoother ride for you and the people you employ. You can even remind clients of deadlines and be the hero.

Delegate
What is the best use of your time? Who is better suited to complete the task? Should you do it yourself, hand it off to a colleague or hire a freelancer to take it on? Sometimes, as managers as well as creatives, our time is better spent assigning tasks to the right people than frantically trying to do it all ourselves. It can be difficult when it’s a project you personally want to work on but it’s got to be done.

Find what works for you
Scott Belsky gave the example of a successful entrepreneur who transcribed his tasks from one page of his datebook to the other every day until the task was complete. With a special pen to boot! It may seem crazy to you but it’s what worked for him. You can have the fanciest digital tool but if you don’t use it or it takes longer to understand than to complete the task then ditch it and try something else. There is no right or wrong answer.

What tricks do you have to make you more productive and less stressed?