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productivity tips

Case Study: How Keeping Score Increases Productivity

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A very long time ago, I wrote about keeping score, and I wrote about the results of my first score card. I have been using the score card for months, and I do not plan on stopping. Score cards enhanced my time management and productivity, and score cards continue to amaze me today. Before I created a score card, I thought it would have been impossible for me to write 25 blog posts in one week. Not only did I do that, but I also finished reading an entire book and created the blueprint for my upcoming membership site, Total Social Media Domination. The following week, I was able to accomplish 12 different goals which all required a good amount of work. Some of the things I did that week were:

  1. Write 20 blog posts
  2. Finish reading Blue Ocean Strategy from start to finish
  3. Write 5,000 words for an upcoming book, Unlock Your Potential

There were 9 other goals similar to those three, and I got them all done in one short week. What once looked impossible has now become a routine of accomplishment.

The main reason the score card works is because you have to write down what you plan to accomplish for the week. If you think about the things you have to accomplish, it is easy to forget about some things and reduce expectations for other things. If I thought of write 20-25 blog posts every week, I may think at some point in the week that writing that many blog posts is too challenging. Thinking about it could have resulted in me lowering the bar to 16-18 blog posts for the week. Writing everything down forces you to be accountable, and making yourself accountable gives you no one else to blame but yourself for anything that goes wrong on your score card.

It is the desire to get a perfect score that motivates me as I continue creating score cards and getting tasks accomplished. You may not get a perfect score when you create your score card. In fact, I almost never get a perfect score. It’s not because I am not productive. Instead, it is because I raise the bar very high. I could easily get a perfect score on every score card if I only assigned myself 10 blog posts every week, but then I would not be able to publish two blog posts in one day.

If you want to get better time management and increase your productivity, you need to use a score card. Write down the goals you want to accomplish and use tallies to indicate how close you are to accomplishing a goal. Then, draw a big checkmark next to any goal that you accomplish. It’s that easy, but it is going to make a big difference in your time management and productivity.

 

4 Good Ways To Use Sticky Notes

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sticky note pile

One of the big reasons my productivity has gone up is because I use sticky notes. Every day, I use sticky notes for a variety of methods, and at the end of every month, I put all of my sticky notes into a designated envelope for that month. The number of sticky notes in these envelopes have dramatically increased over the months that I started–just like my productivity. In order to increase your productivity, you need to know the proper ways to use sticky notes. These are the Big 4.

  1. Write down your daily goals. Since sticky notes are designed to be made and thrown out quickly, only write down your daily goals on your sticky notes. Writing down your daily goals will allow you to stay on task.
  2. Make sure you can easily see your sticky notes. I put all of my sticky notes right next to my computer. That way, when I glance away from my computer screen, I look at the sticky note and see all of my goals. If you want your sticky notes to grab your attention, only use yellow sticky notes and only write with a black marker. The human brain registers yellow faster than any other color, and black on yellow is just as noticeable.
  3. Write down a plan to accomplish a certain goal. If you have a big goal for the day, write down how you are going to accomplish that goal. When are you going to take breaks? When you are working at your goal, what steps of action will you take to accomplish those goals? These are the things that you can write on your sticky notes.
  4. Write down things that you want to remember. Ideas come and go. As the idea remains as a memory for a longer period of time, it becomes easier to forget about that idea. Having sticky notes with you solves the problem. If you think of a brilliant idea for a blog post, but you have to go somewhere for a few hours, write the idea on a sticky note and leave it by your computer. That way, you will remember the brilliant idea when you go back to writing on your computer.

Those are the 4 ways that you can effectively use sticky notes. By effectively using sticky notes, you will increase your productivity and get more work done in a shorter amount of time. If you use sticky notes every day, your goals that once appeared impossible will be in reach.