Tips for a More Productive Day

By Rory Cohen of Entrepreneur.com



Those of you familiar with Stephen Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, will recognize the term Quadrant II manager. This ideal manager recognizes that time spent on the important but non-urgent aspects of her business are the most vital for success. The Quadrant II manager spends time during the work day on long-term planning, developing relationships and training staff to take on delegated tasks. Note that she spends virtually no time answering email, plowing through an inbox or attending meetings.

Many entrepreneurs are operate solo; they're the cook, maitre d', busboy and bottle washer of their business. Many have families to attend to and are desperately trying to keep all the plates on the tray without dropping any. I believe that's why so many start-ups fail. There's no way to manage that kind of chaos the way most of us try to manage.

If you find yourself working night and day and still feel you're accomplishing nothing, stop, take stock and try a new approach.

Measure Productivity

I'm going to assume that you have a long-term (five years) and shorter-term (six months to one year) vision for your business. Your daily activities and actions are guided by this vision, so it's critical to start with a solid blueprint.

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