Are you overwhelmed with your work and are thinking ‘How do other people do this’?

Well, being German I naturally love being as productive and efficient as I can be. It’s something that I thrive on. Today I am going to share with you some tips that will help you become a little German.

1. Structure your day

Do the work that you find harder to do when you are at your best. For me, this is in the mornings. I am writing this blog post in the morning because I know that if I would write it in the afternoon I would struggle and it would take me longer. If afternoons are better for you, then do the easy things like paying invoices, responding to emails or whatever you think is easy in the mornings.

To boost my energy for the afternoon, I always take a lunch break to give my brain a break. If I were to eat at my desk and continue working (even on days when I am beyond busy), I know that my work speed and the quality of work would be much slower.

2. Emails & Phone calls

I usually check my emails four times a day.

• Once at the beginning of my workday (7.30am)
• Once around 10am
• Once after my lunch break (1.30pm)
• Once at the end of my workday (5-6pm)

It is tempting to look at your emails every half an hour but what I’ve learned, it takes you away from the actual tasks that you need to get done. It leads to prioritising the wrong things and you end up sitting at your desk late at night because you still need to meet that deadline for tomorrow.

Phone calls are also a big interrupter in our day. Some phone calls definitely have to be answered here and now. Completely agree but some can be returned at a more suitable time for you. I.e. when you are driving or going for a walk. 

3. Calendar Management

Before I started using HubSpot for scheduling meetings, I spend quite some time responding to emails and arranging a suitable meeting time.

Today all I do is include the link in an email and the person can book a suitable time. This does not only save you a lot of time in the long run but it is also way more convenient for the person you are meeting with. Plus, it gives the person an insight into your working style and how organised you are.

4. The right tools

Investing money in the right tools for your business can save you a huge amount of work and money. It all depends on your type of work but CRM’s, Project Management tools, Accounting Software, reminder tools, etc are usually a must in every business.

The tools that increase my productivity and efficiency are:

Asana – Project Management Tool

I assign tasks to the team and myself. I basically use it as a To-Do List

Advantages: No extra emails between the team, I can see when tasks have been completed, I don’t need to start writing a To Do List everyday form scratch and I can move tasks across to other days.

Social Pilot – Social Media Scheduling Tool

This is where we schedule posts for the next month or more for our clients.

Advantages: We don’t have to share each post manually. It’s shares posts even when I am asleep.

HubSpot – CRM

This is where I have my calendar linked for meetings.

Advantages: People can easily book a time that suits them without the back-and-forth emails.

5. Rate Your Tasks

We often believe that we have to do everything ourselves and that we save money when doing things ourselves. I completely understand this at the early stages of a business but the busier you get, the more sense it makes to delegate tasks.

You are naturally not good at everything in your business. So, write down all the tasks that you are doing in your business and how long they take you. Rate them by how much you like doing them and if it would be worthwhile getting someone else to do them. I have done this exercise a while ago and it has done wonders for me. Download the task rate list here.

If you are looking for more helpful tips, follow us on LinkedIn or check out our tutorials.