I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched a complete episode of the popular TV show ‘24′. You know, the one where super-agent Jack Bauer races around killing terrorists, stopping diabolical schemes, and ultimately, keeping the world a safer place for our kids.
I hear from all my friends that watch it that it’s a great show, and as evidenced by the fact that it’s back for who knows which season and that millions of people tune in each week, they must be doing something right.
Well, have you ever thought about what that show would’ve looked like 15 or so years ago?
We talk all the time about the dramatic impact technology has had on our lives, and this ‘un-aired’ pilot (wink wink) of the show ‘24′ gives us a first-hand look at how differently things would be without all the technological advances we enjoy today.
As more and more business is being conducted online, we’re seeing more and more tools become available to help the intrepid entrepreneur stay on top of everything they have on their plate. I know that for me personally, I feel like I’m being pulled in a million different directions and if I’m not careful things can spiral out of control pretty quickly.
With various businesses and client projects on my plate at any given time, I’ve found it absolutely necessary to find tools that help me get things down quickly, efficiently, and without a whole lot of effort. Well, at least not in the long term. They all take a little time and training in order to get accustomed to them, but once you’ve climbed that learning curve it should be smooth sailing.
Here is a list of just a few of the tools I’ve found to help me stay on top of my various responsibilities and keep my sanity intact:
- Google Alerts – Because I have a lot of different markets I’m in as a result of my various clients, I have a lot of information to keep up with. Google Alerts allows me to setup specific alerts that notify me anytime a new piece of information has been found online.
It’s great for coming up with ideas for blog posts or articles, for staying abreast of what’s going on with your clients or in their industries, and it’s especially good for reputation management so you can know what other people are saying about you online.
- MWSnap – This is a handy little tool that let’s you capture screen shots of any size.
It’s great when you want to send someone an image of just one section of what’s on your screen. When I’m creating tutorials I’ll use it to capture an image of a particular step in the process so people can see exactly what I’m talking about.
- Basecamp – If you do any type of project management and your teams aren’t always in the same place, this is a GREAT tool for keeping everything organized.
You can create projects and then assign people to the projects so everyone can stay on the same page. It’s got a lot of great features that allow you to communicate with your team members, share files, and even create project milestones.
- TweetLater – If you’re on Twitter then you already know how difficult it can be to post multiple times a day. Doing so is important if you want to build a relationship with your followers and this handy solution allows you to create tweets and then post date them.
I’ve become a huge fan of it lately as I’ll log in first thing in the morning and queue up 3-5 tweets scattered throughout the day. I’ve been quite amazed at the conversations my tweets have generated and it’s definitely helped create some new relationships.
- iGoogle – This is another great tool from Google that helps me do a lot very quickly. iGoogle is basically a portal page you can set up with various pieces of information that YOU SELECT. The real power is the ability to add tabs and then add RSS feeds to your different tabs.
Again, because I’m in a bunch of different markets, I have a bunch of different tabs set up and each tab has a bunch of different information feeds on them. This allows me to quickly scan through literally hundreds of different feeds so I don’t have to actually go the page to see what’s new.
- Remember The Milk – This one is really my favorite. RTM is a solution that allows you to create and track task lists.
Again, because I have a bunch of different responsibilities I have a bunch of different lists, each for for each responsibility. On each list I think have a bunch of tasks that need to get done. You can assign due dates and priorities, and you can even delegate tasks to others thereby allowing you to keep track of EVERYTHING that needs to get accomplished.
One of my favorite features is the ‘Overview’ which allows you to print out a task list for the week so I usually do my weekly planning on Sunday evening, then print out my RTM ‘Overview’ page first thing Monday morning so I have a good handle on what exactly needs to get done that week.
Again, I use each and every one of these tools and they’ve all helped me tremendously in my quest to be less scatter-brained and be more efficient.
So, what tools or resources have you found to help you be more efficient and effective?
One of the biggest challenges to growing any successful business is figuring out how to get all the things done that are on your ‘To Do’ list. If you’re anything like me, it seems as if the list never goes away and in many cases, seems to multiply like rabbits!
Well, while I definitely no expert at being super-productive, I have found a few things to be extremely beneficial when trying to make sure I satisfy all of my responsibilities and obligations. Here’s a list of the top 5:
- Make a plan. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “if you fail to plan you plan to fail.” While I won’t go as far as to say that’s 100% accurate, I do certainly think it has some merit.
If you don’t know what you’re supposed to do and when you’re supposed to do it, chances are you’ll get caught up in one fire drill or another and before you know the day/week/month will be long gone. Taking just a few minutes at the beginning of each new work period will do wonders for your ability to get things done simply because you’ll have focus and direction.
- Be super-disciplined. This one can be extremely tough. Believe me, I know! However, once you’ve gone through the exercise of planning out your days or weeks, you’re only halfway there.
Now you have to actually carry through with your plan and I’ll be the first to admit it’s NOT easy! There is never a shortage of distractions or reasons to procrastinate so you’ve got to develop some discipline to make sure you can remain focused on the task at hand when the temptation is there to divert your attention.
- Set self-imposed deadlines. Unless you give yourself a time limit in which to accomplish your various tasks, chances are you’ll drag the task on for much longer than you want.
Setting deadlines and time limits will go a long way towards helping you complete the myriad of tasks you have planned each day.
- Hold yourself accountable. Being self-employed and running your own business definitely has its advantages and disadvantages, and the fact there’s no one standing over you making sure you get things done can be both a blessing and a curse.
Remember, just as there’s no one telling you how much money you can make, there isn’t anyone telling you when to get things done. This means you’ve got to be the one to make sure you get things done when you say you’ll get them done.
- Allow for some flexibility. Plain and simple, life happens. Fires pop up. Issues arise. Plans get interrupted. As a result, it’s important to have some flexibility, both in terms of planning your time and in how you actually use your time.
By having some flexibility built into your plans and mode of operation you give yourself the ability to make course corrections so that you can continually be working on the HIGHEST PRIORITY tasks at all times.
Remember, success in business ultimately boils down to providing a good value for your customers and the more productive you’re able to be, the more opportunity you have to create solutions for your customers. The more solutions you’re able to create or actually deliver, the more customers you’ll have and the more money you’ll generate.
As a result, finding a way to maximize your time and be super-productive should at the top of every entreprenuers list!
