eBusinessmap

I’ve set some rigorous goals to guide my online businesses this year. In perusing these goals it became clear that my productivity needed improvement. There are three areas of improvement: Behavior, Mechanical, and Mindset.

Starting work is never fun. Once work starts I actually enjoy myself. Finishing a project always feels great. The trick is making the start of work as easy as possible. These are some things I’m trying.

Behavior upgrades

Google homepage now has only task related items
Things like the news, Digg, Delicious, Reddit, and RSS readers have been moved to tab called “Time Wasters”. Up till now I’ve had everything on one page. If I needed to check my email or reference my calendar I was exposed to a lot of great headlines and interesting news. A five-minute visit soon turned into an hour of reading offbeat news. If I have time for that in the future I’ll click the “Time Waster” tab.

Shut down unused browser windows
As the day goes on my taskbar is filled with a huge amount of unused browser windows. By closing down the browser windows it helps me stay on task and see things through to completion. It will also reduce my distractions.

Clean up my workstation
I’ve also made an effort to clean my desk and declutter my work area. Time has been dedicated to organizing files and folders on my computer too.

Make sure everything works
Spending money on ink or toner cartages is the worst. For months I’ve put it off. In an effort to improve productivity, the toner in now full and I can print to my hearts content.

Getting Good Sleep
Trying to write good content or think through difficult problems just doesn’t happen when I’m tired. My mind can’t be tricked, coerced, or coaxed into thinking (but sometimes chemicals help). It’s a simple machine that runs like a charm if I give it a good amount of sleep. Personally, I’m a 9-hour-a-night person. 8 hours of sleep isn’t bad but my body and mind feel great after a full 9 hours.

Mechanical upgrades

Upgrade Internet connection
The extra money to go from 2 MB to 7MB per second is worth the investment. Waiting for my internet connections isn’t worth it anymore.

RAM upgrade
RAM (or Memory) is one of the best ways to make your computer run faster. Getting “under the hood” of your computer is easier than you might expect. You don’t have to have an electrical engineering degree to tinker with the guts of your computer. Each plug is unique and many things are color-coded. As long as you turn the power off and make sure you’re grounded you shouldn’t be able to do much damage. Look up your motherboard brand and find the RAM that fits the slots. All RAM is not the same so make sure you buy the right stuff.

Dual monitors
Most nerds like me have had dual monitors for years. I’ve finally made the jump and I love it. It’s actually really easy to get two monitors. If you have a DVI plug on your video card you can buy an adapter to add an additional monitor. Find your DVI to VGA adapter here.

Mindset Upgrades

Stop the time wasting cycle
My hands automatically type in the same five URLS whenever I get to a computer with an Internet connection. Even though I’ve checked my email 10 minutes ago I find myself pulling it up again. Throughout the day I will pull up the same five sites over and over. When I’m tired the cycle gets more frequent. While most of these sites are important I will limit my exposure to them. Most importantly, these are the site’s I visit last instead of first. Writing great content and business planning comes first.

Stop patting myself on the back
Once something difficult has been accomplished I find myself patting myself on the back. While that’s usually a good thing I tend to take it too far. Instead of jumping on the next big project I use my recent accomplishment as an excuse to relax. One big accomplishment will stop a week of progress. Do you know what I do with my time instead? I type the same 5 URLs mentioned above all day long. It’s sad, I know.

Think in terms of accomplishments
Using good ideas as a protection from working hard is a crutch I use regularly. Instead of buckling down and working I’d rather dream up new ideas. This is changing as I refocus on the work at hand.

An item on a list is a special thing
In the past I’ve had a tendency to make to-do lists and include some unreachable items. It feels good to include a massive undertaking on a list but it cheapens the whole thing. A few weeks after I add items like that the list is worthless. I don’t even want to look at it anymore. To be more productive I’ll only include things on the list that can be accomplished within the week.

If anyone has anything to add please leave a comment.