For some people - perhaps even for you - increasing productivity is akin to finding the Holy Grail. Why has upping productivity taken on such mythical proportions?

Simply put, increasing productivity means increasing earning potential. If you own a business where you provide any type of service, taking steps to increase your ability to deliver the service in less time will allow you to take on more clients and earn more money. Likewise, if you sell a product, finding a way to make or deliver that product faster will enable you to serve more customers, once again, making more money.

When you find ways to do the same thing in less time, you're being more efficient. Efficiency and productivity go hand in hand. Undoubtedly, the more efficient you can make the process of completing any task, the more productive you'll be. Use these strategies to increase your efficiency so you can be more productive:

1. Create a prioritized schedule for your work. Whether using a post-it note or a...

Becoming organized has so many benefits. Perhaps the greatest is the ability to turn days filled with chaos into days of focus and effectiveness. Stress has a very negative impact on health. When you’re organized, you’ll no longer worry about all the little things that might be slipping through the cracks.

With greater organization, you’ll also be more trustworthy in all aspects of your life. Trustworthiness is the cornerstone of all relationships, both business and personal.

Consider these adopting these habits:

1. Have a place for everything. This habit also relates to your papers, electronic clutter, and even the desktop on your computer.

• Try to limit yourself to just a couple of email accounts. Consider one for business and another for personal emails. If you frequently fill out web forms that result in a lot of spam, another email account could catch all those.
• Find a solution for your scheduling. One calendar is ideal. It makes sense to use an electronic...

I try to remain adaptable to everyday changes. I don't always get it right, but when I do, I'm able to limit my stress and improve my productivity.

Change is a natural part of life. Those who adapt, thrive. Those who don't, become extinct! I choose to thrive, to use change to help me grow and learn, and to take advantage of new opportunities to help me succeed.

When I think about it, I realize that the only true constant in life is change. As each new day dawns, it brings me new opportunities. As each day passes, I know that I am different, even if only slightly, from the day before.

I know I can incorporate life's changes into my journey with confidence.
If a day does not go as planned, I restructure my timetable to fit in the change. I leave enough room in my schedule to make some unplanned stops along the way. Then I get back on track as soon as I am able.

When challenges arise, I adjust my path to accommodate them. I take time to seek
solutions and...

Surely you procrastinate at one time or another - or maybe all the time. Even if you're one of those unusual folks who only procrastinate occasionally, you'll find some helpful hints here for managing this habit.

Getting your tasks completed on time is a sign that you have control over yourself and your life. You'll enjoy the feeling of having more control over your life! You'll be free from that familiar chaos that ensues each time a deadline looms or you finish a task late.

Following these tips can help you put procrastination in its place - in your past:

1. It's largely about the pain. Now or later? Do you want to suffer now or suffer later? Those who get things done on time would rather just get it over with. Those who procrastinate would rather wait.
   • As a procrastinator, you usually get active when the pain of doing it is less than the pain of not doing it. The ironic thing is that by waiting, the pain is far greater than if the task would've been managed earlier.
   • Getting it...

Do you have a team around you who is fully capable of getting things done, but instead of delegating, you try to do everything yourself? If that sounds like you, there’s a better way.

Delegating tasks can be so difficult for some people. They act like a micro-manager who ensures that they see, do, and be everything. It’s hard for them to let others share the load or the glory. Maybe the control-freak is you.

You may have tried to delegate tasks in the past. Perhaps the quality of work wasn’t good enough to suit you so you ended up redoing everything. There’s no sense in delegating tasks in the first place if you know you’ll end up redoing them, right?

Here are three problems you might be using as excuses for not delegating:

• You feel you can do the job better yourself.
• There’s not enough time to train someone else to do the job.
• You feel like you have to redo someone else’s work.

If you’re facing these challenges, perhaps it’s...

The ability to focus varies from person to person, but everyone can learn to focus more effectively. You can accomplish more in less time if you enhance your ability to focus. A state of focus can also be relaxing. With only one thing on your mind, your brain is less busy.

It’s very difficult for a mind that is highly distracted to accomplish anything.

Develop greater focus and enjoy the benefits:

1. Build motivation. Before beginning a task that requires focus and attention, ask yourself why you’re doing it. What do you hope to accomplish? What benefits will you receive from completing the task? What will happen if you don’t get it done? Focus is easier to accomplish if you’re highly motivated.

2. Remove distractions. Close the door. Clear your desk. Turn off the phone. Let others know that you prefer not to be disturbed. There’s a reason why monks from Eastern Religions remove themselves from everyday society: all of the distractions.
3. Only work on...

Time management is an essential skill, and time blocking is an easy and powerful way to master your day. You can use it to block off hours in your schedule and get more things finished. It enables you to take control of the minutes in each day.

Follow this process to take advantage of this valuable technique:

1. Start with planning. Make a list of all of your important tasks for the week. Then, narrow this list down to three to five essential tasks.
   • Be realistic about your planning. Avoid thinking that you can do a million tasks in one day or week.

2. Block your hours. After you have a short list of tasks, block the hours on your schedule. This is called time blocking and essentially requires you to take each hour and assign a task or item to it.
   • Clump related tasks together and add them to specific blocks of time.
   • Remember to schedule lunches and breaks. Taking time to rest your mind and body is important! Your breaks allow you to get back to your tasks with renewed energy.

3. ...

There never seems to be enough time to get everything done. Actually, there is.

You’re wasting too much time and spending your time on the wrong things.

There are people that run multiple companies simultaneously and still have time for dinner with the family each night. They just use their time more wisely than the rest of us. Here are some of my favorite tips for making the most of your time:

1. Learn how you waste time

Even if you’re the best worker at your company, you still waste a lot of time. Determine how you waste time at work and at home. Notice what you do when you’re sick of work, tired, bored, or stressed. Using your time effectively is a key component of becoming more productive. Just for your own education, keep a stopwatch at your desk. Keep track of how much valuable work you do each day. This doesn’t include time spent checking your email, looking out the window, chatting with a coworker, or drinking coffee.

2. Eliminate distractions

...