How to Prioritize Tasks and Maximize Productivity

This post is sponsored by Visa Business and all content is the opinion of the writer.

Being the founder, CEO and boss of your company is quite awesome. I first started making money online when I was 14 and I’ve had the pleasure of never having to work a real “9-5” job.

It takes a certain type of person to run their own business and have the total package to keep themselves motivated, the passion to succeed and the drive to dedicate their life to their own business. As one of these individuals, I will also say that while it’s the best job in the world, it can also be extremely tough and taxing on your mind and body.

One aspect of being the boss of yourself and your own company is that you are likely going to have to wear many hats. Not only are you the boss, but you are also the advertising specialist, brand marketer, social media manager and anything else that your business might need.

When a business is yours and only yours, it’s very tough to expand out and actually let people in. I’ve personally always worked for myself and never brought anyone else into the company, though I have outsourced design projects and work here and there to keep things up to speed.

In short, it’s better not to be the “Jack of All Trades” and instead to be the “Master of One”. As much as I would like to do everything myself, it just can’t be done, as I will undoubtedly hit a wall and my productivity levels will die out. Not to mention, as the CEO you should only be focusing on what matters most and makes the most money.

With all of that said, I wanted to point out some of the best ways us fellow CEOs, entrepreneurs and bloggers can help increase productivity, save time and prioritize our daily tasks.

Quick Ways to Prioritize Your Time

Below you will find some quick and easy ways for you to simply clean up your daily workload and not only gain more time throughout the day, but also save yourself a massive amount of wasted time during the course of the year.

EMAIL – Most of us struggle with our inboxes and always have emails that we need to read and respond to. I’m guilty of this one as well, and every few months I will have to take some time to clean up my inbox. A great way to clean up your inbox is to take the time to unsubscribe to all of the unwanted junk you’ve signed up for over time. Instead of clicking delete every time a subscription email or newsletter comes in, simply unsubscribe. This did wonders for my email account.

SOCIAL NETWORKS – I’ve never been a huge social media guy, but every once in a while I will get over to Twitter and Facebook and find myself losing several minutes looking over the most recent threads and updates. Social networks are a huge time sucker, so stay away from personal accounts as much as you can when you have a lot of work to get done.

MAKE DAILY LISTS – We all have a lot to do on a daily basis, but some tasks are more important than others. Start your day by writing down what tasks need to be completed and break them down into small groups. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a to-do list that has too much on it, otherwise you will find yourself stressed out with too much on your plate.

SOFTWARE & APPLICATIONS – Everyone has their own set of favorite software and applications to improve productivity, manage time and automate processes. This is a great way for you to not only get stuff done, but also keep track of your progress and build an automated business around yourself. Look at the tasks that you complete on a daily basis and see if they can be automated or outsourced.

Outsourcing to Help with the Process

Time and time again you will hear about outsourcing and virtual assistants. While they both sound great, it’s not just as simple as hiring someone to do your work. Instead you need to find someone that is qualified, fits your budget and is trustworthy. This process in itself takes a lot of time, but once completed you can appreciate the value and even outsource your whole business while you sit back and manage it all.

When it comes to managing your own time and productivity, you have to make sure you don’t spread yourself too thin. This is exactly what I was doing and last year before I took the time to close out all web sites and projects I was side-tracked with, and then only focus on a handful of projects.

In the age of the Internet, it’s now easier than ever for a one-man business operation to compete with some of the largest brands in the world. This is in part due to the massive reach of the Internet, but also because we all can now benefit from the software, services and solutions throughout the world.

Take the time to look at your daily working schedule and see what you can prioritize, manage and outsource to improve productivity.

I am blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Visit https://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owners success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visas small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit https://visa.com/business.