I hate the phrase “time management”. It’s misleading.

And actually, time management is a myth.

That’s because however much you may want to, you cannot manage time. Think about it. No matter what you do that clock will keep ticking.

In reality you can only manage yourself.

Yes it’s scary, but actually it’s a good thing.

That’s because if you focus on managing yourself, rather than trying to manage your time, you have to take responsibility for what you achieve each day.

And by doing so, you take back control…
 

You don’t need more time to increase your productivity

 
Instead you need more discipline.

And that means being precious with the time you do have, spending it wisely and working much smarter.

From talking with users of SpinLessPlates, I’ve discovered many micro and small business owners are slack with their time.

They get caught up in the day-to-day busyness of their business and because they are always doing stuff, they mistake this for being productive.

Whilst important, the trouble with the day-to-day stuff is it doesn’t grow your business.

If you only focus on the “here and now” and forget to look ahead, your business will stagnate (or even go backwards).

And that’s bad news for your business goals and your bottom line…
 

You need a different way of working

 
There are lots of strategies you can explore to increase your productivity, and here is one of my favourites.

It’s the power hour. And this is how it works…

Each day you allocate one hour of quality, focused time to work on your big business goals.

Whether it’s writing a sales letter, planning your blog schedule or brainstorming ideas to extend your services, you make a commitment to complete the activities that keep your business sharp.

And here’s the best bit. You don’t have to spend hours doing this work.

In fact the opposite is true.

Remember Pareto’s Law? You can also apply this 80:20 principle to your productivity.

80% of your output will come from 20% of your time.

Which means if you totally focus on your big business goals for just one hour a day, you will see massive results.

For this strategy to work you have to make that hour count. And that means sitting tight and doing nothing else but your focussed task. You’ll need to be disciplined to avoid distractions like social media and checking emails (we’ll talk about that in future posts), but once you get into the routine, it becomes easy.
 

Are you serious about increasing your productivity?

 
Then here’s a simple way to make your power hour happen.

1.   Set the time for your power hour. Figure out when you are at your most productive.
2.   Plan it into your schedule. Make it a fixed appointment so you stick to it.
3.   Decide what task you will work on the day before. State what is to be achieved.
4.   Commit to doing your power hour without fail. Don’t let “other priorities” get in the way.

This self-management discipline really works.

I used it and it has allowed me to do more in less time.

But how will you make that hour count in your micro business? What concerns or worries do you have about trying it out? Let me know in the comments below.