"Personal productivity is a key differentiator between
those who succeed in their chosen field and those who do not," says
bestselling author Brian Tracy. Leaders and entrepreneurs who are at the top of
their game know how to achieve what they want in less time than others. We can
learn a lot from the tactics of these successful, and incredibly busy,
individuals on how to better organize our own days. Here are 12 top tips worth
trying out:
1. Have a single purpose focus.
One thing many successful
entrepreneurs have in common is the ability to focus on what matters most. Eric
Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, says, "I keep things focused. The
speech I give every day is: 'This is what we do. Is what we are doing
consistent with that, and can it change the world?'" Jason Goldberg, CEO
of Fab.com, has this piece of advice: "Pick one thing and do that one
thing—and only that one thing—better than anyone else ever could." We can
derive a great deal of power from developing a laser focus on our top business
priorities. It's one of the attributes that sets apart the average
businessperson from the more successful one.
2. Ruthlessly block out distractions.
Tennis legend Martina
Navratilova says, "I concentrate on concentrating." For those of us
who don't have the willpower to be self-accountable, there are several
technology solutions for blocking out distractions. For example, Rescue Time is
an application that runs in the background of your computer and measures how
you spend your time so you can make better decisions. Get Concentrating is
another useful tool that will help you focus on important tasks by temporarily
blocking social media sites. (Are you easily distracted? If so, here are six
more popular programs to block distractions.)
