You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

5 Practices to Gain More Time and Master Productivity Empowering habits can help us gain more time, master productivity, and lead to success.

By Claudia Chan

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Shutterstock

Entrepreneurs have to wear many hats and our days are filled with endless to-dos. As we often work solo or with small teams, the number of items on that list can seem endless and unrelenting.

One of the greatest "mind enemies" we face is personal judgment around our productivity. For example, if at the end of the day, you focus more on the items you did NOT get done than what you DID get done, and feel bad about it, you have this enemy. I call the habit a "mind enemy" because, like other self-induced disempowering self-talk, it makes us feel bad about our abilities, breaks down our confidence in achieving our goals, and steals us of the empowering attitude we must heavily rely on to climb our mountains. Plus, when we're in this enemy's headlock, it's easy for its BFFs (other enemies like comparison, self criticism, pressure to live up to images/expectations, etc) to creep in and give us another punch or two.

Any mind enemy can put us in a rut and, by the time we snap out of it a few days or weeks later, we're just frustrated we gave this enemy any energy at all. Unless of course it has permeated so deep into our psychic that we've made it a truth — pulling us further away from our personal potential, dreams, and greater destiny.

Related: 5 Ways to Make Your Employees Happier and More Productive

Well that was depressing… see how the enemy takes us to a dark place?! The great thing is we can practice empowering habits that help us gain more time, master productivity, and therefore keep this enemy at bay. Here are five tricks I have learned and practice as much as possible:

1. Think of Your To-Do List as Your Greatest Gift

We hear all the time that acknowledging gratitude combats stress. Well, since our to-do lists are made up of realistic actions we have defined to obtain our personal and professional desires, isn't it one the most significant things we should be most grateful for? Isn't it a privilege to not only have the list, but have the physical and societal means to act on it? After all, many people in other countries or circumstances do not. Let's change our relationship with our to-do's from dread to blessed! It will always be a part of our lives and is our tool to getting what we want.

2. Celebrate What You ARE Getting Done

At the end of each day before bed or on Sundays, jot down all that you did get done. You can Evernote, journal or share it with a friend/partner with whom you can be transparent. Make it a regular practice so you start over-valuing yourself. Acknowledging that long list will have you feeling like a productivity-ninja in no time – keeping your energy and ambitions high.

3. Gain More Time by Relishing in the Present

According to The Art of Attention's author, Elena Brower, yoga teaches us to live in the present moment. Certain schools of yoga posit that the "present is the only reality, and all else is illusion." Too often we are focused on what's ahead or behind us that we miss out on the roses right in front of us. And if we continue to miss out on the now, we miss out on life and never get to enjoy its richness in every moment. For one day, try being extremely present and grateful for whatever it is that you are doing. From the project you are working on, engaging with your family, conversations you have with others, cooking a meal, to walking in your neighborhood. By doing so and enjoying the richness of life that surrounds you, you'll rid any sense of limited or lost time.

Related: 6 Life Hacks Learned in Prison That Will Maximize Your Productivity

4. Less Is More

It's too easy for projects and their tasks and sub-tasks to build up. Stay away from these weeds! Instead attack your work with a mentality of "less is more" and "quality over quantity." It's a matter of constant stepping back and asking yourself, what do I really want over X period and are my projects aligned with that? What can I subtract? Then you do the same thing with your projects – what's the most important outcome here and what is the fastest, most effective way to get to the result? And then before approaching a task, how do you simplify it? Over-thinking rarely moves the needle.

5. Whatever Gets Done Is Meant to Be

Just as life is made up of things we can and cannot control, it goes the same way with the day. We must have faith that our destiny is guiding us by the pace and path that is meant to be which is why I constantly repeat the mantra "everything is in perfect order." So let's put in the exact effort we do each day, knowing it is what is meant to be and feel proud.

Related: 4 Ways for Control Freaks to Get Comfortable Delegating Tasks

Claudia Chan

Women's Empowerment Expert, Serial Entrepreneur, Founder of SHE Summit Global Conference (Oct 6-7 in NYC - SHESummit.com)

Claudia Chan is the CEO of S.H.E. Globl Media Inc., the multi-platform women’s empowerment media company behind the renowned global women’s conference, S.H.E. Summit. As a women’s leadership expert and social entrepreneur, Chan celebrates and spreads stories, strategies and solutions from over 200 women leaders on ClaudiaChan.com. Her life's work is to accelerate women's equality and unlock female potential because she believes when women and girls do better, the world does better. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Making a Change

Learn Up to 14 Languages with $460 Savings on Lifetime Access to the Babbel App

Expand your professional reach with help from this popular language-learning app.

Business News

'Wildly Inappropriate': Woman Says She Was Denied a Job Because She Didn't Wear Makeup During the Interview

Melissa Weaver was applying for a VP of HR job at a tech company via video.

Starting a Business

Free Webinar | April 25: How to Launch a Business For Creative Minded People

You can monetize your creativity! Join our webinar on April 25th to ask globally recognized design executive Launi King anything you want to turn your passions into money. Register now!

Innovation

Up to 90% of Startups Fail — But Innovation Accelerators Can Help Yours Succeed. Here's How.

Learn how innovation accelerators are powering startups, shortening time to market and increasing the survival rate of fledgling businesses.

Growing a Business

The Brand Whiz Behind Sun Bum Is Famous For Making Boring Products Fun. Then, This One Stumped Him.

Everything Tom Rinks touched turned to gold until he took on a brand launch at Target that fizzled. Then, he found a creepy doll on Ebay, and he saw a way forward.

Business News

Woman Goes Viral After Recording Her Disastrous Call With HR After Being Let Go: 'They Tried to Gaslight You'

Brittany Pietsch posted a nine-minute-long clip of her firing from Cloudflare on TikTok, and it went viral. The company's CEO responded on X — and also went viral.