productivity

How To Get Better Results From Less Work

September 25, 2015 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Do you have a philosophy that goes along the lines of the more work you put in, the better your results will be? It’s a conventional way to view work that is reinforced by wages.

If you make $10 per hour, and you work for 10 extra hours every week, you make an extra $100 every week. That’s an extra $5,200 every year just by working 10 additional hours every week.

An extra $5,200 isn’t something to laugh at. But what if you were making $20 every hour. You would make the same amount of money by putting in half of the work.

Entrepreneurs don’t get paid a wage. In the beginning, most entrepreneurs get paid well below minimum wage. Some of these people make less than $1 per hour. Some of those same people eventually became millionaires.

Entrepreneurship is a journey and true test of patience. However, it’s different from the workplace. You don’t make more money by putting in more hours. You don’t make the extra $5,200 every year by working an extra 10 hours per week. As an entrepreneur, you may actually lose money (and your sanity) by working those extra 10 hours every week.

How then does an entrepreneur make that extra $5,200? How do entrepreneurs like Bill Gates make astronomical incomes (Gates makes over $25 every second)? The answer isn’t in the working hours. The answer is in the working efficiency.

It is possible to live the Tim Ferris lifestyle and only work four hours every week while making a few million dollars every year. It is also possible to work 80 hours every week and end up with no extra money on the table. Two different extremes with very different lifestyles.

The goals most people share are to work less and earn more. We want that balance with our lives so we can spend more time with family and friends. It’s a matter of saving time and getting better results. Here’s how you find time and get better results:

Examine Every Opportunity

Don’t be a yes-man/woman. Saying no more often than you say yes keeps your time and resources more open to the people and opportunities you say yes to. I don’t say yes to every joint venture proposal. But when I do say yes, I can spend more time on my end of the joint venture.

I am not crushing it on every social network because I know that would take too much time. I’d have to acquire a certain amount of knowledge and put in a lot of work for each of those social networks.

If you want to see successful no-men/women in action, then look no further than Shark Tank. Maybe you’ve seen some of the episodes. If you have never seen an episode, watch one of them to understand.

Most of the deals on Shark Tank get turned down. Even when one of the sharks agrees on a deal, there are several sharks who shoot it down first.

They rarely say yes, and that’s what makes them successful. Just because you get an opportunity does not mean it will have a big impact on your success.

In the beginning, take almost any opportunity you can get. However, as more opportunities—and in particular, the time-consuming ones—come your way, you must make choices.

Outsource The Maintenance Work

Ever wonder if everything you do is important? For most people, the answer is no (sorry to disappoint). Some of the work we do on a daily basis is maintenance work. Maintenance work is the (possibly tedious) work that any other person can do for you.

The list is big. These are some of my maintenance activities:

Follow people on Twitter
Unfollow people on Twitter
Send pins
Create pictures for my blog posts

If I stop growing my Twitter audience, it spells disaster for my social media strategy. Something I considered so important was actually maintenance work. So I got that work off my back by outsourcing it to someone else.

Now someone else follows and unfollows people for my Twitter accounts. I also have people who send pins on my account and create pictures for my blog posts. No wonder the pictures for my blog posts have been better lately 🙂

Create Time Efficient Processes For What You Do

One thing I will never outsource to anyone is the content that goes on my blog. However, I am always looking for ways to write the typical 2,000 word blog post in 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes.

In other words, I am always looking for ways to write the same amount of content quicker.

Now I have a time efficient process that lets me write blog posts quicker. Here’s a basic summary:

Write a bunch of blog post titles (I’ll usually write 20-50 at a time depending on how I feel)
Outline those blog posts
Identify which five blog posts I will write first
Repeat

This process allows me to save more time when writing content. Typing faster also allows me to save more time.

To create time efficient processes, you must specifically focus on the work that doesn’t fall under the maintenance category. Then search on the web and think of ideas on your own that can help you save time. Create your time efficient processes so you can allocate your time to other tasks.

Some methods you come across for creating time efficient processes may involve an investment. You may have to upgrade one of your social media tools to get access to certain time saving features.

The only reason I went from HootSuite to HootSuite Pro was so I could get access to the bulk scheduler. The bulk scheduler allows me to schedule over 100 tweets in six clicks. If I manually scheduled that many tweets, it would take me over four hours every day.

Spend More Time Marketing Than Creating

Walk into a library or bookstore, and it won’t take long for you to find a New York Times bestseller. Libraries and bookstores like to put the most successful books and new releases where we can see them.

So what makes a book a New York Times bestseller? The answer isn’t the content. The answer is the marketing. If Freakonomics got zero sales, it wouldn’t have been a New York Times bestseller (even though it is a fascinating book). It ended up getting over four million sales, all because of marketing.

It’s great to create numerous products, but you must spend time marketing them so they thrive. If you create a product but keep it a secret, you won’t get many sales (if any at all). It could be the most valuable product in your niche, but if you don’t market it, people won’t know to buy it.

Spending more time marketing than creating will allow you to get better results from your overall strategy. The best part is that as you accumulate more revenue, you can put that revenue into other areas of your business such as advertising and outsourcing.

In Conclusion

The amount of time you spend working is irrelevant with getting results. The way you utilize your time ultimately determines the results that you get. Understanding this fact will inspire you to utilize your time more effectively and focus on efficiency over hours worked.

What are your thoughts about working less? Do you think working less can lead to a bigger profit? Do you find yourself working too much? Have any insights for us? Sound off in the comments section now!

10 Misconceptions About Productivity

August 28, 2015 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Productivity Misconceptions — Are you falling for these common (but deadly) misconceptions

One of the questions on everyone’s mind is, “How can I be more productive?” We go about our every day lives trying to get more accomplished so we can be “more productive.” However, in our pursuit to becoming more productive, we often make mistakes. Some of the mistakes we make are because of common misconceptions associated with boosting productivity. These are the 10 worst ones.

#1: Taking Breaks Is Bad For You

I see fewer people taking breaks. The common theory is that taking a break means taking yourself away from your work. People who believe in this theory also believe that taking themselves away from their work means less productivity.

Part of the reason people don’t like taking breaks is that our world moves so quickly. We don’t want to sit still because the moment that happens, we may miss something. We may fall behind.

However, you need to recharge. Taking regular breaks allows you to refuel, get healthier, and stay on schedule.

#2: Create A Five Year Plan

Many productivity experts have hailed the five year plan as critical. They see the five year plan as a roadmap to your future. The logic behind the five year plan is that it is supposed to serve as inspiration. You are supposed to look at the plan, envision your future five years from now, and then go after it.

The problem with a five year plan is that many things can change in just one month. According to John D. Krumboltz’s Happenstance Learning Theory, unplanned events are inevitable and to be expected. These unplanned events may require a change in direction that impacts the likelihood of you accomplishing a goal on your five year plan.

A long time ago, I created a five year plan. I envisioned surpassing 100,000 Twitter followers in five years. When I created that five year plan, I was gaining a few dozen Twitter followers every day. A few months after I created the five year plan, I learned more about Twitter.

It turns out I started gaining hundreds of Twitter followers every day. I reached my milestone with three years to spare. Now that part of my five year plan was invalid. As I continued growing my business, other goals on my five year plan became irrelevant as my interests changed.

While having a vision is helpful for inspiration, a five year plan can change too often. One day you may want more Vine followers. The next day you may be after Periscope followers.

#3: Sleep Less

Most people live on a sleep deficit. It’s so bad that 30% of adults from 2005-2007 got less than six hours of sleep every night. Insufficient sleep has been associated with many car crashes, industrial disasters, and medical errors.

Part of the problem is that successful are praised for getting a very small amount of sleep. Leonardo Da Vinci only needed two hours of sleep every day. Thomas Edison needed five hours of sleep every day. Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, worked hard when she was a Google employee. She still works hard to this day, and only on 4-6 hours of sleep every day.

While a few successful people find it possible to do well on little sleep, they are the exception, not the rule. Getting an insufficient amount of sleep has been linked to health problems—and we know the difference between how we feel after sleeping for eight hour compared to sleeping for two hours.

Getting more sleep also helps out with productivity. If you get the right amount of sleep, you will wake up feeling more refreshed. Waking up and feeling refreshed will help you have a more productive first hour. That first hour sets the barometer that determines how productive you are throughout the day. Getting a good night’s sleep helps you feel better and productive during the first hour. That translates to an entire day of productivity and achievement.

#4: You Must Accomplish All Of Your Goals

Biggest lie in the book. I am a 17 year old entrepreneur who gets more work done than most people. The funny thing is that for some reason, I never accomplish all of the goals I give myself each week.

That’s not a deficiency on my part. I just choose which goals are more important and more deserving of my time. I may write down a goal today and realize it is irrelevant tomorrow.

Some people say that adding one word to a sentence can make a big difference. Let’s give that a try:

You must accomplish all of your important goals.

Goals with close deadlines and/or big impacts are the goals that matter the most. When you choose to put in work for a goal, only choose to put in the work if you are passionate about the process. The moment you no longer enjoy putting in the work is the same moment that goal might no longer be the right one for you.

#5: Do It Yourself

We have embraced a DIY culture. We constantly look for life hacks and ways to do things on our own. If we can save $20 by doing something alone, most of us would take up that offer. Anyway to save money and embrace the DIY culture.

It’s funny that we embrace the DIY culture even though the most successful people aren’t the DIY types. The most successful people have a team behind them. Derek Jeter was a great baseball player, but not even he could have won World Series after World Series by himself. Tim Cook alone can’t keep Apple in business. He needs employees in the stores, product creation teams, and people to ship out the products.

The most successful people don’t live in the DIY culture, so why do so many of us live in that culture with our productivity? If you outsource some of your work to other people, you will have more time to do other things.

Find yourself on social media too often? Outsource the work. The more you outsource, the more time will open up. Suddenly, you may end up writing that book or launching that product quicker than expected.

#6: Being Busy Is The Same Thing As Being Productive

Not every hour in your day is created equal. On some hours, you are productive. During other hours, you may find yourself busy doing something that won’t help you achieve one of your goals.

When I schedule my tweets with HootSuite’s bulk scheduler, I am not being productive. Scheduling tweets on HootSuite doesn’t help me create a training course or write a blog post quicker. Scheduling tweets helps me provide value to my Twitter audience, but it isn’t productive.

Part of the reason I don’t see scheduling tweets as productive is because of the way I define productivity. My definition of productivity is writing blog posts, writing books, creating training courses, and marketing. Scheduling tweets isn’t in that definition. That’s why I view it as busy work instead of being productive.

Your definition of productivity will most likely differ from the people around you. That’s because people pursue different interests which impacts their definitions of productivity. Once you establish your definition of productivity, everything else is busy work—busy work that can be outsourced.

#7: Naps Are Terrible For Productivity

Naps get a bad rap for productivity. Some people think that napping makes them fall behind. Part of this belief goes back to the fact that some superhumans only need four hours of sleep instead of the usual eight.

Naps are actually great for our productivity. Leonardo Da Vinci only needed two hours of sleep every day. That two hours was the sum of six 15-20 minute naps that he took throughout the day. He took one nap every four hours.

Napping is one of the best ways to refuel yourself without calling it a day. According to ABC News, dozens of studies have confirmed that a 30-60 minute nap in the early afternoon increases a person’s productivity, alertness, and sometimes even their mood.

#8: Saying Yes To All Opportunities

All successful people have one thing in common. They like to say no. According to Warren Buffett, “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.”

Yet most of us say yes to any type of opportunity we get. The truth about opportunities is that not all of them are created equal. The next time you are presented with an opportunity, consider these two things:

Your desire to put in the work
The impact of the opportunity

Getting on a podcast with 100 listeners is different from getting on a podcast with thousands of listeners. Getting the $50K per year job that you hate is different from getting the $30K per year job that you love. The last thing you want to do is say yes to an opportunity at the expense of your happiness.

Each opportunity you choose has a certain time commitment. You want to make sure you are getting the best possible results from the time you commit towards an opportunity.

#9: Most Work Gets Done Under Pressure

Many people believe that the only way they will get their goals accomplished is by waiting for the last minute. Some people start working on the report the night before. Other people play catch-up during their lunch breaks.

The problem with constantly working under pressure is that your stress will build. Maybe you get your work done while working under pressure, but as the stress builds up, the long-term impact can be deadly. Constant work stress results in health and relationship problems. It won’t take long for these problems to creep into your work and productivity.

According to Inc Magazine, happiness increases productivity. Even if it didn’t increase productivity, who can imagine a day when they wouldn’t want to be happy? Stress isn’t a part of that equation. While working under your pressure may work, it sets you up for disappointment over the long-term.

#10: Multitasking Is The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

Multitasking is seen as a way to save time by getting two or more things done at the same time. The way multitasking actually works is quite different.

Multitasking your work is a way to poorly do two things in the same amount of time it would take for you to effectively do one thing. Here is a quote that perfectly describes multitasking.

“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” —Anonymous

You can’t chase two things at the same time. If you want to catch two rabbits, you chase one rabbit at a time. If you want to accomplish your goals, you accomplish one goal at a time.

Multitasking is not only bad for productivity, but also bad for our brains. Taking some inspiration from Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, multitasking is a nightmare dressed like a daydream. When you choose to multitask, you also choose to hurt your brain.

In Conclusion

We all want to be more productive. While we discover different tactics to boosting productivity, we must be wary of which methods work and which methods are false. You don’t want to implement a misconception that hurts your productivity.

Which of these misconceptions have been tricking you? Have you risen above these misconceptions? Do you see any other misconceptions in productivity? Have any tips for us? Sound off in the comments section now!

5 Lessons I Learned From Overwhelming Myself With Work

August 17, 2015 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

Productivity

Ever feel the workload get too tough? Whether you are productive or unproductive, it doesn’t make a difference for this example—some of the workload becomes too tough. I wanted to finish writing a book before July and then finish a training course before August.

I could have easily accomplished those two goals—if I did a Twitter hibernation, had this blog fend for itself, and said no to socializing. Basically, I could only get it all done if I ate food, worked, and slept. I quickly got overwhelmed and tried to push through for as long as I could.

I made the mistake of setting an impossible goal for myself. It’s one thing to write a book or create a training course. It is something else to create a high-value book along with a high-value training course. I aimed to write the best book I ever wrote and have my training course exceed 10 hours.

I’ll let you know when they come out. That’s right. I didn’t even finish them yet, and I am happy it is that way. I changed my schedule because I saw summer slip away just as quickly as it began—one of the worst feeling for a teen to have getting out of junior year in high school.

I changed my schedule so I could say yes to socializing, not go on a Twitter hiatus, and continue growing this blog. I also got to expand in new horizons that I never thought were possible for a 17 year old. While I became more successful by making the change, I learned five important lessons along the way.

If you get stressed out because you overwork yourself, these five lessons apply to you too.

#1: Go On A Journey That You Would Enjoy

Why do something if you know you won’t have any fun. Right now, I am having fun writing this blog post. I have fun when I write books and create training courses. I don’t have fun when I try to do all three of those things at the same time on a tight schedule.

If you do not have fun doing the work that you do, then your lack of enthusiasm will be reflected in the quality of your work. More mistakes get made, errors don’t get detected, and worst of all, you aren’t having any fun.

Some people insist that it is okay to not have fun at the workplace because that’s how you get the paycheck. Remember that if you live like most people, you will spend at least 33% of your life working. That is a huge amount of your life, and it is your choice to be happy or miserable during that span of your life.

I know some people are quick to point out they have 67% of their time to be happy, but it doesn’t work that way. First off, you will spend another third of your life sleeping. Only one-third of your life left—to not think about your work while with your family, to be happy, and not let negative emotions from the workplace make it into the rest of your life.

You can do a lot of work in your lifetime, but you only have one life, so do the work that matters and makes you happy.

#2: Don’t Launch Multiple Products So Quickly

Each time you want to launch a successful product, you must have a lengthy prelaunch first. The prelaunch and launch phases of your product should both take up more time than it did for you to actually create the product.

That is why I don’t publish one book every month anymore. I want to have a powerful prelaunch that leads into a powerful launch. If I create multiple products at the same time, it becomes more difficult (and stressful) for me to do the prelaunch and the launch on my own.

That is why I decided to write the book first, then create the training courses, and then do the prelaunch and launch of the products afterwards (I can do the prelaunch and launch at the same time for two products if I don’t have to worry about creating them).

Now, it is possible to use a training course to promote a book. However, if you don’t have experience with creating multiple products, get better at the prelaunch and launch before you promote multiple products in short time intervals between each other.

#3: Focus Most Of Your Time On Your Marketing

Some marketers believe we should focus as much as 80% of our time on marketing, and I don’t blame them. My original plan had a strong focus on creating the products in a time effective manner but no focus on marketing. That’s a big no-no in business.

Consider this. If you could focus 100% of your time creating products or 100% of your time promoting yourself, where would your time be better spent? The answer is promoting yourself because when you finally create your own product, you have a large audience. If you spent 100% of your time creating products and finally start promoting yourself, it will take a long time for those products to get enough sales to generate a full-time income.

Now I spend most of my time creating podcast episodes and connecting with key influencers. When I do launch a product, I know it has a greater chance of succeeding than my past products.

#4: Make Your Work More Manageable

In order to finish writing my entire book before July, I had to write 3,000 words every day for two weeks. I already wrote 24,000 words for the book. I wanted it to surpass 60,000 words.

Writing 3,000 words every day isn’t a challenge for me. Some of my blog posts are over 3,000 words long. However, hibernating from all of the other parts of my business wasn’t an option. I write anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 words every day, but those words are spread out across blog posts, tweets, emails, and of course, my book.

I also faced complications with my plan because I run 1-2 hours every day (something that will never change unless I intentionally take a day off), read books to learn more about my niche, and need some downtime (Super Smash Bros, anyone).

Deciding to finish the book in July and wait a little longer to start the training course opened up more time for me to promote myself. I optimized my tweeting schedule to get more traffic and better serve my followers. I started my own podcast. Most importantly, I spent more time having fun with my family.

It is necessary to grind to get some tasks done. However, don’t just grind for the sake of grinding.

#5: It’s Better To Get One Big Project Done Than Stress About Two That Go Nowhere

In this particular example, my book was actually going somewhere. I wrote over 24,000 words for it before the stress piled up. However, I have assigned myself multiple big projects in the past and never started them.

One day, I remember writing a list of potential eBook titles. The list exceeded 50 potential eBook ideas, and I thought about all of the money the books would bring me (another big mistake). I hide the list from myself and now focus on one big product at a time. While it is great to think about possibilities, overthinking and overworking will put too much stress in your life.

In Conclusion

We have to put in work every day, but the amount of work we give ourselves can sometimes create stress. The next time you find yourself stressed out, ask yourself why you are stressed. It may be that the workload has gotten too tough or (even worse) that you are not passionate about your work.

Do you find yourself stressing out when you work? How do you respond when you overwork yourself? What are your thoughts about work? Sound off in the comment section below!

Case Study: How I Get My Daily Goals Accomplished

July 3, 2015 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Get Daily Goals Accomplished

In our busy worlds of goal setting and getting things done are many distractions that impact the amount of work we accomplish. Not only are there more distractions than ever, but not all of the work we do gets us closer to our dreams. To some, being productive seems impossible while other people do it effortlessly.

Since I am a high school student, I am technically considered a part-time writer and entrepreneur even though I have committed myself to those two areas. My productivity is one of the biggest factors of my success because it allows me to properly juggle being a high school student with being a writer and entrepreneur. In the summer, when I get more control over how long I can work on my brand, my productivity skyrockets primarily because of all of the extra time available. Right now, I will provide a case study on how I get my daily goals accomplished. Accomplishing the daily goals allows me to accomplish my goals for the week, month, and year. How am I this productive? Find out now.

Always Have Significant Things To Do Throughout The Day

If you are not taking the time to build your brand throughout the day, then you need to put in more work. I can’t remember a time I got to bed before 11 pm because I always do work for my brand throughout the day. Even during the summer, I am putting in the work for my brand past 11 pm. Of course, if I see the value of my work suffer as the day continues, I stop putting in the work. When I am not working, I am doing research or reading a book to learn more about my niche. If you don’t give yourself many goals, you may find yourself surfing the web or your television. Surfing the web and your television are two methods of escaping boredom.

Many people see procrastination as a temporary way to escape work and boredom. For many people, watching television is more entertaining and less boring than putting in the work. However, if you appreciate your work and give yourself enough work for yourself to do throughout the day, you’ll find less time to procrastinate.

Do I Really Get Everything Accomplished?

I get many goals accomplished in a given month, but in reality, I don’t get everything accomplished. However, the reason I don’t get everything accomplished is different from most reasons. When I don’t get a series of goals accomplished, that is because I give myself so much to do in a given week that even if I work non-stop for long periods of time, I would only get some of my goals accomplished.

I tend to give myself challenging goals to complete in one week that most people would give themselves an entire month to complete. For instance, I gave myself one week to publish a training course that I didn’t even start (I didn’t even have notes), proofread and publish a book, write five blog posts, outline my next course, complete five YouTube videos, and do a few other things. Right now, I am aiming to launch one new training course every week. I may launch three training courses in a month. I may launch five. By raising the bar so high and sincerely believing in my ability to accomplish everything on that raised bar, I get close or even exceed my expectations and do in one week what most people would do in one month.

Wake Up Early

Not only is it challenging for me to remember a time I got to bed before 11 pm, but it is also challenging for me to remember a time I woke up after 8:30 am. I like to sleep for 7.5 hours every day because 7.5 hours is my optimal sleeping time for productivity and high performance. Waking up early is very important because we have more willpower in the beginning of the day to get our goals accomplished. If you sleep too long, try waking up an hour earlier. Then try waking up two hours earlier. If you wake up an hour earlier and go to sleep at the normal time you go to sleep at, then you gain an extra hour that can be used to get your work done. Of course, sleep is important and not getting enough sleep will negatively impact your work, but getting too much sleep isn’t good for your health either.

Attack The Work Right Away

One of the worst things to do is to know that you have work but not do anything about it. People are fearful of starting their work partly because they don’t want to do the work and partly because the work may be complicated. This fear is caused by the uncertainty of not knowing the amplitude of the work being put in. The only way to attack this fear is to start the work NOW so the cloud of uncertainty slowly clears up until the sun of certainty shines through it and eliminates that particular cloud of uncertainty for good.

Small Achievements Lead To The Big One

When I give myself daily goals, I typically give myself 1-2 big goals and a wide range of smaller goals. I tend to get the smaller (easier but still impactful) goals accomplished first so I have the right mindset for that day. Getting the smaller goals accomplished are the equivalent of small wins, and a string of small wins put together will give you the mindset firepower to accomplish all of the more challenging goals for the day. Giving yourself a series of smaller goals and getting them accomplished will boost your self-esteem which is important to being more productive and producing valuable work.

In Conclusion

We all want to be more productive, but going through the same motions we went through yesterday and the day before won’t make us more productive. Being more productive requires a gradual shift that impacts the way we view our work, and possibly, our lives. Investing the time now to be more productive later will allow you to get your goals accomplished in record-breaking time.

What were your thoughts on the case study? Do you have any tips to be more productive? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

7 Productivity Tips For Busy Social Media Users

April 27, 2015 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

how to be productive on social media

How often are you on social media on a given day? How often are you productive on social media? Although these sound like two similar questions, they are completely different. The amount of time we spend on social media and the amount of time we are productive on social media are two different things. It is possible to be on social media for three hours every day but only be productive in five of those minutes. That’s a lot of time wasted, even if you were on one of the most powerful places on the entire web.

Too many people are getting caught in the web of procrastination, and for many of these people, social media is the root cause. Social media is a benefactor that positively change lives. Social media has brought rebellions against oppression into the center stage of the world’s attention, and some people are successful primarily because of social media. Social media is also a malefactor where very disturbing things occur and our precious time gets devoured.

Success on social media involves using the platforms we are presented with in the most efficient way possible. Part of using social media efficiently is boosting our productivity on those social networks. Instead of being on social media for three hours and only being productive on it for five minutes, you can be on social media for 30 minutes and be productive on it for 25 of those minutes. These seven tips will help you increase your social media productivity.

#1: Mindful Browsing

Mindful Browsing is a great tool to control what your web browser can and cannot access. When I find myself on a social media site for too long, I click on the Mindful Browsing icon, and then that social media site is automatically blocked from my browser. If I want to regain access to that social media site (or any site I block with Mindful Browsing), I have to wait for 10 seconds and then I can unblock the social media site.

Once I block a website, I am really good at keeping that website blocked for a long period of time. In a busy world where our attention spans are less than the attention span of a goldfish, 10 seconds of waiting seems like an eternity. Instead of waiting, I prefer to take action, and that action typically means writing blog posts or creating products. In some cases, I would not be doing any of those two actions if it weren’t for Mindful Browsing. Mindful Browsing allows you to go from, “I’ll x out the social media site, open a new window, and hope I don’t end up on the social media site,” to, “I will make it as hard as possible for me to access that social media site so other actions such as writing blog posts and creating products are now the easier options.”

#2: Limit Yourself To A Few Social Networks

One of the most common mistakes I see people do is create as many social media accounts as they can and grow them all at the same time. Maybe you are trying to get more Twitter followers, Pinterest followers, likes for your Facebook Page, Google+ followers, YouTube subscribers, and Tumblr followers at the same time. That’s the equivalent of trying to learn Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French, German, and Italian all at the same time. You may learn some words from every language, but becoming fluent in any one of those languages would be very different due to the slight differences in words and their pronunciations.

Success on each social network is slightly different from other social networks. Valuable content and effective promotion typically make up a successful social media strategy. However, there are tools for certain social networks and small differences on each social network’s structure that slightly changes what it means to be successful on each social network.

No matter where you are, you need to specifically focus your time on 1-2 social networks. When you know how to grow your audience on a social network (you have over 10,000 followers/subscribers/likes and gain over 100 of them every day), then integrate another social network into your social media strategy. This will save you oodles of time because you’ll read how-to articles for 1-2 social networks instead of trying to learn about six different social networks at the same time. Moreover, you will have less outlets to lose time on. If you only go on Twitter and YouTube, then Facebook gets eliminated from your places to go. Currently, I spend most of my time on Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube which means I spend practically no time on most of the other social networks.

#3: Bulk Schedule Content

HootSuite makes it possible to schedule bulk content for your Twitter account, Facebook account, Google+ Page, and a few other social networks as well. The bulk schedule option can literally save you hours of time every day. Take for instance, the 100 or so tweets I send every day. If I had to manually schedule and send those tweets to my followers, it would take me hours of my time to do so. That wouldn’t leave enough room for product creation and writing blog posts. The solution was HootSuite Pro and the bulk scheduler. The bulk scheduler allows me to schedule over 100 of my prewritten tweets in just six clicks. These tweets are prewritten in a CSV file, and they are either motivational quotes or my own blog posts.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1NHbUrl”]The best way to schedule tweets is with #HootSuite’s Bulk Scheduler.[/tweetthis]

Some people may wonder why I would be tweeting repeat content. The answer is that most of your followers see your content the first time. The typical tweet is seen by a small fraction of your followers, and that goes for most of the other social networks too. The same blog posts that I was tweeting about in 2014 still get retweets, favorites, and starts conversations to this day.

#4: Watch Your Time

I want you to have a habit of looking at the clock and counting the amount of minutes to spend on social media. More time spells trouble even if this time is being used to grow your social media audience. If you spend too much time on social media regardless of the reason, you will have less time to write blog posts and create products. Social media is the best tool on the web to promote your content and products, but if you have no products and a few blog posts, then you don’t have much to promote on social media.

You need to spend more of your time creating products and writing blog posts than you actually spend on social media. If you spend two hours of your time on social media growing your audience every day, then when it comes to writing blog posts and creating products, you need to match or exceed that amount of time. When I am on social media for two hours in a given day, I make it a point to write blog posts and create products for at least three hours on those days.

#5: Have Big Projects

In order to exit out of a social media site, you need to have a reason to do so. The reason I log out of a social network is because I am always in the middle of creating, finalizing, and/or publishing a product (yes, I commonly do all three of those things at the same time). You must have something more important to do than be on your social networks because this important thing will be on your mind. As you look through tweets or YouTube videos, you may suddenly think about your big project which may range from finishing a YouTube video, finalizing the videos for a training course, or writing a book.

#6: Strategic Interaction

You don’t have to interact with your followers right when they mention or respond to you. The more time we spend interacting, the less time we spend creating products and writing blog posts. At the same time, interacting with your audience is necessary for building relationships, making good friends, and getting testimonials.

I only interact with my followers when I don’t have my computer with me (but I do have my iPhone) or I am too tired to write a blog post or create a product. I almost never interact with my followers in the morning because that is my peak level of productivity. I’ll still say hi and provide valuable advice within a day, in the evening, when my willpower to work on a product or write a blog post wanes.

#7: Don’t Click On Trending Topics

Trending topics are so tempting to click, and I’ve clicked on them a few times. Trending topics allow us to see the news in real time. We want to know what is happening, who is saying what, and which meme has dominated the internet now. Clicking on the trending topics is one of the easiest ways to procrastinate on social media. I encourage you to not click on the trending topics, but I know my encouragement won’t be enough. Just ask yourself this question each time you look at the trending topics: Would you rather read the news or be in the news for being an excellent leader in your niche? Ask yourself this question, and you’ll look at your trending topics less often.

In Conclusion

Social media is a valuable tool for making connections, promoting your content, and growing your audience. However, many people, with the mix of growing their social media audiences and procrastinating, lose too much time that could have been used to create products or write blog posts. The key to social media productivity is to find ways to do the same things more effectively but in a shorter amount of time.

What are your thoughts on these methods? Do you have any other tips for boosting productivity on social media? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

12 Productivity Tips For Busy Bloggers

March 23, 2015 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Productivity Tips For Bloggers

Bloggers are some of the busiest people on the planet. They have to manage and produce content for social networks, blog posts, and products. They also have to obtain new knowledge by reading more articles on the web while making sure all of the technology properly works. Sometimes, an email address can no longer send and receive emails. Other times, the blog stays in maintenance mode, and it’s up to the blogger to fix those technological flaws.

Since bloggers are so busy, many of them desperately want extra time in the day. Some bloggers go beyond the call of duty and only get four hours of sleep which is not enough sleep to live on. Although you can’t add extra hours to make a 100 hour day, you can implement tactics that allow you to save time and make you less busy. Here are 12 of those tactics:

#1: Use The WP Editorial Calendar

The WP Editorial Calendar is a WordPress plugin that allows you to see all of your scheduled blog posts displayed on a calendar. This feature is especially helpful for bloggers who schedule a bunch of blog posts in advance. The bloggers who schedule multiple blog posts risk making the mistake of not scheduling a blog post on the right day or the right time of day. Some bloggers have accidentally published two blog posts at the same time because they scheduled the blog posts. When I was starting out, that issue happened to me a few times.

The WP Editorial Calendar solves this issue by providing a clear layout. This clear layout will make it easy for you to see when your blog posts have been scheduled by the time and day so you never schedule two blog posts for the same time and day again (if you haven’t done this at all, you’ll never do so if you have the WP Editorial Calendar).

#2: Write Down A Month’s Worth Of Blog Post Ideas In One Day

One of the biggest time-eaters bloggers face is staring at the screen and not knowing what idea to write about next. That is why in every month, I always dedicate one day for coming up with a month’s worth of blog posts ideas.

When I wrote two blog posts every day, this would be challenging. I would come up with 60 different, legitimate ideas for blog posts in a few hours. Now that I only publish three blog posts every week, that process is easier. I only have to come up with anywhere from 12-14 ideas depending on how many Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays there are in the month. Knowing the ideas in advance makes it easier for me to write my blog posts.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1EAQ1pE”]Knowing your #blog post ideas in advance makes them easier to write.[/tweetthis]

#3: Outline Your Blog Posts Before Writing Them

Another big time-eater bloggers face is knowing the blog post idea but still staring at the screen. This time, the problem is figuring out how to continue writing about a particular idea. If your blog post idea was “10 Ways To Ride A Horse,” and you left it like that, then the idea is not enough.

The bloggers who write a blog post idea without outlining the blog post still have to think of the 10 different methods to ride a horse. This thinking results in delay which can eat up a big chunk of any blogger’s time. Outlining your blog post with all 10 of the different methods to ride a horse before you start writing that blog post will allow you to save that time. Then, you will already know what you need to write about going into the writing process.

#4: Have Guest Bloggers Write Content For You

If you are a very busy blogger or just prefer to save a lot of time, you can have guest bloggers write the content for you. I personally do not have guest bloggers for this blog because I want this blog to only contain content that I wrote.

However, there are big name bloggers who have guest bloggers write the content for them. The great thing for bloggers who want guest bloggers to write for them is that most guest bloggers will contribute to your blog for free. To the guest blogger, your blog is a way to get a backlink, spread the word, and build authority on the web (many writers who contribute to The Huffington Post make sure people know that they contributed to The Huffington Post). If you approve the guest post, then you have an extra blog post to be scheduled in advance. If one blog post gets published on your blog every day, and you get three guest posts every week, then you only have to write four blog posts every week. Writing four blog posts is less time consuming than writing seven blog posts of the same length, and the impact this can have in the span of weeks and months is powerful.

#5: Only Use Technology That Is Easy To Use

Some refer to technology as a reliable companion while others describe it as a nuisance. You want to focus on using the technology that is easy to use. If you do not know how to use a piece of technology, only learn the technology that is easy to learn.

There are bloggers who focus on learning some of the most challenging technological tools and features. Some of these technological tools and features take years to learn, but not all tools lead to equal results. Some tools that take years to master will lead to better results than the tools that take a few minutes to master, but then again, the opposite is also possible.

I only challenge myself with 1-3 technological tools that seem difficult every year, and none of these challenges take more than a few days. If I was stuck for a few months trying to learn how one piece of technology worked, I would lose too much time that I could have used to produce valuable content.

#6: Hire People

Hire people to take care of your marketing campaigns (although they can be very beneficial, they also eat up a lot of time). If you entrust someone to your marketing campaigns, be sure to set up a system for that person to follow. If you reward the people who buy your book with a free training course, you can hire people to provide the customers with the free training course they deserve.

If your blog is not getting a lot of traffic, you may initially have to hire guest bloggers. However, as your blog builds an authority on the web, the guest bloggers will eventually come to you (I still get emails from guest bloggers even though I say I don’t take guest posts). Even if you know how to perform a tedious task, you can hire someone else to get the job done so you can save time. Time is money.

#7: Write Content That You Want To Write

No matter how good you are at writing content, you must choose a topic that you are passionate about. If you grudge the writing process, then you will often drift off and think about some of the things that you would prefer doing instead of writing the next blog post. Be proud of what you put up on the web! It all goes under your name.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/1EAQ1pE”]Be proud of what you put up on the web. It all goes under your name. #blogging #socialmedia[/tweetthis]

#8: Write Your Content In The Morning

The morning is the most productive time of the day. You need to wake up early to write content so you won’t have to worry about writing the next blog post in the evening. As the day wanes down, and more distractions come into play, it will get more challenging to write blog posts at a consistent rate.

By waking up in the morning to write your blog posts, all of the distractions will not have a strong impact in your writing.

#9: Schedule More Blog Posts

Unfortunately for me, writing and scheduling two blog posts are two different things. I made the mistake of updating my Mac to Yosemite before it was fully usable. The result was everything on my computer going dead. I could not access the internet or any of the content I wrote. Basically, the only thing my computer could do was turn on and show me all of the icons and possibilities that I once had before the Yosemite update.

After my Mac was taken to the Apple Store the following day, I got full access to my computer again. I could write content, access the internet, and do everything else just like before. However, one file went missing, and that one file contained all of my blog posts and blog post ideas. I had about 10 finished blog posts that I never got to schedule and a dozen or so ideas that never got written bout. I couldn’t even find the document on my Mac’s Passport To sum it up, it was a bad day.

Maybe the document is somewhere deep within my computer (that would be cool because I could create a “Lost Blog Posts” series). The lesson I learned is that it is important to schedule blog posts in advance for a long period of time. I got lucky because I still had a month’s worth of content scheduled. However, if I only had blog posts scheduled for the next day, I would have been pressed into the uncomfortable condition of writing blog posts with only a few days to spare (while knowing that I already put in the work, but that work was gone).

By scheduling more blog posts, you will feel more comfort in your blogging journey. Last-minute stress will be a thing of the past. Since I schedule over a month’s worth of blog posts in advance, I never have last-minute stress when it comes to writing blog posts. That is why I am always able to create long, insightful blog posts that are over 1,000 words long (and sometimes over 2,000 words long. I knew I should have turned this blog into a membership site…)

#10: Write Fewer Blog Posts

The fewer blog posts you have to write, the less ideas you have to think of. For the average blogger, more time is spent thinking of what to write about than actually writing blog posts. If you write one blog post every day, then you have to think of 30 blog post ideas every month. However, if you only write on the weekdays, you would only have to think of 20-24 ideas every month depending on how many weekdays are in that month.

The fewer blog posts you have to write, the less time it takes to come up with more ideas. That means you will have more time to write the content that matters—your content.

#11: Don’t Bounce From Idea To Idea

One you identify the blog post idea that you want to start writing about, you must only write content for that one blog post before you write any other piece of content anywhere else. The bloggers who write multiple blog posts simultaneously have to constantly shift their thinking from one blog post to another.

If I wrote one blog post about Twitter and one blog post about Pinterest at the same time, then I would have to constantly shift from writing about my Twitter knowledge to writing about my Pinterest knowledge. Each time a shift occurs, more time is lost. That is why it is better to focus on writing one blog post at a time than it is to start writing and finishing multiple blog posts at the same time. I only tried to write two books at the same time. Neither of those books are in the marketplace, and I’m not thinking about publishing them.

#12: Keep It Simple

Blogging is something that typically becomes complex in a short amount of time. Many bloggers insist on giving themselves work to do in the boat loads, and they insist on spreading that work out in dozens of areas. You need to keep your blogging strategy simple in order for it to be effective. The best plans are the simple ones.

In Conclusion

Blogging for a full-time income is a demanding responsibility. Some bloggers may find themselves fighting to stay awake late at night to write extra blog posts, respond to comments, or do anything else for the good of their blogs.

If you know some workarounds, blogging won’t be as demanding as it is now. Granted, these workarounds are by no means get rich quick schemes or anything of that nature. However, these workarounds allow you to save valuable time. The way you use your time determines how successful you become in what you do.

Which tip was your favorite? Do you have any other tips for boosting the productivity of busy bloggers? Please share your thoughts and advice below.