how to increase productivity

How To Implement Strategic Blocks Of Time Into Your Day

January 9, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

When you think of taking a break, what do you think of? Do you think of family time, watching television, relaxing, or something similar? Those breaks are necessary in order to wind down from doing a lot of work. However, it is possible to utilize some of those breaks in a strategic manner.

I wanted to find a way to learn more about my niche while taking a break at the same time. Watching television didn’t do me any good towards that goal, but I came up with the solution when I was on Amazon. I saw business books on sale, and I decided to get the ones that I believed I would learn the most from.

That is why I have been able to do reviews on The Pumpkin Plan, Purple Cow, and The 12 Week Year. Reading books written by the experts of my niche is how I take some of my breaks, and what I learn during those breaks is incredible.

How are you taking your breaks? I challenge you to take a strategic break (I call them strategic blocks) once a day in order to learn more about your niche so you can be more successful. You will be amazed with what you learn.

The Difference Between Being Busy And Being Productive

January 8, 2014 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

Just because someone is busy does not mean that person is being productive. Being busy and being productive are two things that many people get mixed up. You can be busy but unproductive. You could also be busy and productive at the same time.

Being busy means being occupied with a task. The task may be to look through your email, respond to clients’ emails, or writing a blog post. However, not all tasks are productive. In order to identify which tasks are productive, you need to ask yourself what your main goals are. After you ask yourself what your main goals are, ask yourself how the task at hand lines up with your main goals.

Checking your inbox most likely has nothing to do with recording a video for YouTube. Checking the inbox makes you busy but unproductive. Writing a blog post related to a book you are writing is productive towards accomplishing the main goal. Therefore, writing the blog post allows you to be both busy and productive at the same time.

Always being busy does not necessarily mean you will get better results. It is how you spend your time when you are busy that decides the kinds of results you will see in the long run. If you are busy and productive at the same time, your results are going to look really good.

Focus On What You Are Good At

January 8, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Niche Specialization When it comes to time management, one of the tips is to reduce the amount of time spent procrastinating. Reducing the amount of time you spend procrastinating will allow you to accomplish your goals, but you should not focus on the negative aspect of time management.

While spending less time procrastinating is good, you should spend more time focusing on what you are good at. By focusing on what you are good at, you will give yourself more self-esteem and get more done in a shorter amount of time.

In order to get really good time management, you need to do something that you are good at and that you enjoy doing. The successful people enjoy what they do, but they are also good at what they do.

The mindset has the ability to affect everything that you do…good or bad. Instead of looking at the glass as half empty, look at the glass as half full. Instead of focusing on eliminating the procrastinators, focus on the positive: the things you are good at. By focusing on what you are good at, you will want to spend more time doing what you are good at. The procrastinators will get reduced on their own, but only if you focus on what you are good at and passionate about.

What We Need To Learn From The Fox And Hedgehog Story

January 7, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

I was watching a video by Gideon Shalwick, a video marketer, and in that video, he talked about the story of the fox and the hedgehog. The hedgehog only has one form of protection: its needles. The hedgehog only focuses on the needles. It does not need to run faster or have stronger hands because the hedgehog already has what it needs.

The fox is trying to eat the hedgehog, but the fox uses different tactics to get to the hedgehog. The fox tries charging at the hedgehog, coming from behind, and coming from the side. The hedgehog only knows one trick, but that one trick neutralizes all of the fox’s attempts at eating the hedgehog.

You may have many great ideas, but in order to get the best results, you need to give the most attention to an individual idea. One idea should get 90% of your attention. It is okay to only use one social network and have a big following versus using many social networks and having small followings on all of those social networks.

We need to focus on implementing less big ideas so we can optimize the ideas that we choose to implement. It is okay to stick with only one idea versus sticking with many ideas. The hedgehog is still here today because he stuck with one idea. The fox still can’t get to the hedgehog because he is trying different tactics but not optimizing on one of those tactics.

Make Your Plan Simple

January 6, 2014 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

The most common reason why plans don’t work is because the planner over-thinks the situation. The plans that do not get executed often took days and weeks to come up with. These plans often have too many priorities and goals.

The purpose of a plan is to be implemented. A plan that does not get implemented does not fulfill its purpose. The solution is not to exclude a plan from your strategy. The solution is to make your plan simple.

A simple plan should consist of 5 priorities at most with stepping stones that will allow you to accomplish those priorities within a certain amount of time. The simpler your plan, the better. If you do not need 5 stepping stones to get the priority accomplished, do not use 5 stepping stones to get there. The less work you give yourself to accomplish a priority, the better.

Plans don’t have to backfire. Plans can lead to successful businesses and products that get incredible results. The only way to have a successful plan is by making it simple. By making your plan simple, you will know exactly what you need to implement and when you need to implement parts of your plan.

How To Stay Out Of The 365 Day Mindset/Trap

January 1, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

The New Year has the potential to kickstart a year of productivity. Some people will have more productive years than others. The best way to stay productive is by staying out of the 365 mindset/trap. There are 365 days in an entire year, and it seems as if it will take a very long time before the next year comes along.

This is the trap that people fall into. January is a month of great productivity. Then, February is a less productive month, and all of the other months aren’t very productive either. This is because most people think that 365 days is more than enough time. In 365 days, many people think that they can accomplish all of their goals while going weeks or even months without doing any of the work needed to accomplish those goals.

This results in a year-end urgency because the end of the year is getting closer. In order to stay out of the 365 mindset/trap, challenge yourself to get more accomplished with a certain time limit. I give myself a 12 week limit to accomplish my goals. Less time results in me staying more productive. I have tripled my progress, and by doing that, I have more time to experiment with other marketing tactics, create more products such as Lead The Stampede, and relax.

The relaxation part comes after the work is done. By working intensively for 12 weeks, you will be able to relax for the entire 13th week. Imagine doing no work for an entire week. You will only be able to accomplish your goals and get an entire week off by thinking of 12 weeks as a year.

The 365 day mindset/trap is not an option because it creeps closer slowly and steadily. The people who have the 365 day mindset/trap end up being the hare. The tortoise (those 365 days) end up passing by without getting noticed. When the change gets noticed, it may be too late.

Instead of thinking of a 365 day year, think of a 12 week, or 84 day year.