Perfect practice is integral to maximizing productivity.

I’ve always been one to crawl out of bed about 6:30-7AM if I could get away with it. Even thought the best part of the day was the later evening hours when things calmed down and I could get a few things done. There have been spurts of time where sheer excitement or enthusiasm altered my sleep patterns and work schedule but I got back to the norm as quickly as I could fearing I was missing some of those prime evening hours.

Lately, though, I’ve been wide awake in the middle of the night thinking about what I was going to do when I could finally get out of bed at an hour that was considered proper. Well, forget that. I’m out of bed at 4AM now and at the office at 5AM. You know what? It’s quiet. No phone calls, no employees, no questions for the third time, nothing. Just me, my notes, voice recorder, a yellow pad, red pen, a diet coke, and about two hours of uninterrupted, highly focused, full blood-sugared opportunity.

I get more done in those two hours than I will accomplish in the next six almost every time. My productivity has soared. Now instead of trying to tackle the stack of non-revenue producing things that accumulate during the day, in the late afternoon, I do them between 5-7AM.  I take about an hour to do those tasks then spend an hour working on my lists and lining up my day and compiling various notes for the other employees. Those same tasks would take 3-4 times as long in the afternoon because of interruptions and my natural inability to focus during that part of the day, not to mention the phone calls and employee interruptions.

Yes, I could use a nap about 2PM but any afternoon slow-down is more than offset by the hyper-productivity I’m accomplishing in the mornings. Anyway, I ran across an article by Dustin Wax on the LifeHacks website that dealt with this very topic and I thought I’d pass it along to you, the small business owner, in an obvious effort to offer up some thoughts on increasing your own personal productivity.

In the article, Dustin says…

What a shame it would be to spend your most creative moments inventorying the supply cabinet! Instead, inventory your various tasks and sort them into those that require your most creative self and those you could manage while unconscious. Then schedule those tasks according to the best time of day for you. Work on that marketing presentation during your peak creative time and do your expense reports when your creative self takes its afternoon siesta.

By the way, there are only 3 other cars on the road at 4:30AM, it’s more peaceful, and you don’t have that feeling like you’re behind all day like you sometimes do when you get to work only 15 minutes before the troops start to arrive.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Phillip Crum is the Chief Idea Officer of MarketingMeasure located at 2414 Arbuckle Court Dallas, TX 75229, and is committed to the idea of helping small business owners do a better job of finding their next customer or client. He and his two sons,Tyler and Preston, also own a Sir Speedy Printing franchise and employ those additional capabilities in the overall marketing services menu of offerings. Phillip can be reached at 214-213-7445, or pcrum@MarketingMeasure.com.