Time is the ultimate equalizer. We all have the same amount of physical time each day. Doesn’t matter who you are, we are all bound by the 24-hour clock.

Managing my daily productivity level is one of my greatest struggles as a business owner, but it is also one of my biggest strengths. I’m not naturally an organized person. My mind tends to want to jump around from one task to another and my day is full of interruptions, which doesn’t help.

I’ve been able overcome a lot of these challenges by making a consistent effort to work on improving my productivity.  I often re-read books on the subject every year and listen to podcasts and audio books in my car around this topic because I can instantly see my daily productivity go up when I take time to learn or remind myself about strategies to get the most out of my day.

If you have seen any kind of training regarding being more productive, I’m confident the advice you received included something about using To-Do-Lists.

If you are not currently making lists of what you want to accomplish during the day, week, month, or year, then I agree with this advice. You need to have some sort of plan.

One lesson I’ve learned is that To-Do-Lists are really depressing…

There is so much going on in business and life that I almost never complete the to-do list for the day or week, which kind of sucks. It often makes me feel like I can’t enjoy personal time with my family and guilty about taking time to exercise because I have important stuff on my list that isn’t finished yet.

This of course, leads to unhealthy habits of not spending enough quality time with loved ones and ultimately poor health.

The Solution:

To-Do lists by themselves are just not the answer. The missing ingredient is pairing your list with your schedule. If it’s scheduled, it has a way better chance of getting done. It also helps you see when your To-Do-lists are too big, which in turn will help you set more realistic expectations for your day and plan better for the week and month.

Designing a schedule that you can stick to is a topic for another day, but I would highly recommend you begin assigning specific times on your calendar for everything on your to-do list. By doing so I’m confident you’ll see an instant uptick in what you can accomplish with your limited time.

Cheers!

Mike Turner

Mike Turner is the founder and CEO of Front Street Brokers Real Estate, host of a weekly radio show and a podcast, author of Value Driven Approach To Sell Real Estate and Agent Entrepreneurs. When not traveling on overseas adventures with his family, Mike lives with his wife and two daughters in Boise, Idaho.

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