We are less than a week away from a new year and now is the perfect time to start planning for a fresh start for your business if you haven’t already. Every new years people like to come up with resolutions they usually only last for a week or two… if that long! Business owners usually tend to make their own resolutions and since they are business/financial based, there is a good chance these will last a few months or even through out the remainder of the year.
The best way to keep your resolution alive is to stay motivated and to put your goals somewhere that you will see them every day. I personally like to use motivational posters and write my daily tasks down on a note pad next time.
Three Ways to Increase Productivity and Profit in the New Year
Here are three areas that I have been working on before the new year starts. These are simple and quick, but can make a big difference for your productivity and profits over the next 12 months. Before jumping into the list… I must say that I am guilty of all three of these areas that need to be cleaned up, so writing about them will keep me even more motivated and ready to get them all done!
Review Your Monthly Costs and Expenses
Running a business is tough and it’s very easy for you to lose track of how much money is going in and out on a monthly basis. Between mailing lists, advertising, phone bills, internet access, web hosting and everything else… there is a lot to manage. Most of these costs are billed on a monthly basis, so if you are paying for unnecessary services or paying too much, it can really add up over the course of the year. Take the time to look at your monthly and year end statements on your credit cards and see how much money is going where… eliminate unneeded services and you are instantly increasing your monthly profits!
Clean Up Your Horrid Inbox
My inbox is always a mess… it just fills up so quickly! Using Gmail and filters helps, but it’s still a burden to try and keep up with it. A great way to get a better handle on your mailing list to take some time each day and UNSUBSCRIBE from all of those annoying email lists you have signed up to. It’s way too easy to click the DELETE button… but when you do this, you are just going to have to delete them whenever they come right into your inbox again! Think about how much time is wasted by looking at new junk mail that pops into your inbox.
Get Rid of Your Wasted Efforts
The last resolution to improve your business profits and productivity is for you to start focusing on what matters most. I have hundreds of domains, lots of web sites sitting around and around a dozen or so that really matter. The other 95% of my sites are old projects that are sitting around and doing nothing. I am cleaning up shop, shutting down sites and selling what makes sense. These other sites are just a waste of my time when I can make more money and get more done focusing on the projects that really matter. Do the same and make sure you aren’t spreading yourself too thing.
The 4th quarter is over and now the excitement of a new year is upon us. Do what you can now to prepare for your best business year yet!
This is a great to do list. I haven't even thought of cleaning up my email subscribing.I Think this is especially important since I use the really good list as homework/research on what to do next
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I think it's better to sit properly and find out what worked for you and what didn't. Then remove unproductive activities and focus on productive activities only. You can also start exploring new ways to improve your output. I think that's the best way to ensure improved productivity.
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Thanks for sharing Zac, i enjoyed the read.
I know I don't review my goals as much as I should. I sure don't do it on a daily basis, but I know I should. In the past I have also tried writing them every day. Just need to get in the habit each day. I also have done a gratitude list, that has helped me as well.
Oh the inbox, that's another story. Only one of my inboxes is kept clean, the other two are always a mess. your right though, sure would save some time getting rid of the emails you don't even read in the first place.
Looks like you have a great plan in place 🙂
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Great ideas for starting out the new year in good shape. Like you, I have signed up to a lot of lists and waste way too much time every day deleting emails. So that's one thing I will do for sure – unsubscribe to a few lists, especially the ones that send 2 to 3 emails a day!
I also need to work on focusing on the projects that mean the most to me and that I want to build on and keep around for several years.
Thanks for the great post!
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Good tips Zac I use them all I am just going to spend my time on the tasks that actually make me money such as list building, and product creation.
I will also outsource the tedious tasks when I can like in the past such as link building and offer more guest posts to free up my workload.
Anyhow good tips again I wish you much success in the New Year:)
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Cleaning up the inbox and unsubscribing to unimportant mails helps a lot. I think it is one of these things which always get ignored in the daily chaos. Thanks for bringing this up. I am getting onto it right away 🙂
Happy New Year Zac 🙂
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My saying: If you’re not putting anymore love into a project. Kill it! I have written about the advantages and disadvantages here:
https://bondero.com/kill-early-and-often-startup-methodology