5 Ways To Get Through A Task Heavy Day

There are mornings when the moment you open your eyes the first thing that pops up in your mind is a list of all the things that you must get done that day. Sending out invoices, updating expenses, verifying billing, replying to clients’ needs, measuring advertising, and the list goes on. I don’t know about you, but when that happens all I can do is hop up and tell myself “Well, Jamara, you might as well get up now and do it so you won’t regret the decision not to later.” 

As an entrepreneur you are juggling several different things and sometimes all of those things requires your immediate attention.  On days when everything on your to do list is filled with tasks that are both a priority and important here are five ways to help you get through them.

1. Get Up Extra Early

Yes, you may say that you are already an early riser. Well push yourself to wake up at least an hour earlier on days when your workload is heavier than normal. As a solopreneur, you are your employee and your employer. Make the sacrifice to keep yourself employed.  Getting up an hour earlier gives you another golden hour to maximize your productivity without the traditional distractions of the world. It gives you more time to get ahead of everyone else.

2. Take Care of Yourself First

Give yourself time to complete your personal morning routine before diving into your work day. If you don’t take care of yourself first then you risk being not at your best during the day. Your clients and associates should always receive a tuxedo impression from you. Do all the normal things you would do to get your day started and get dress for success. Make a nice hot breakfast, open up the blinds, boil a pot of tea or coffee, and check your personal emails.  

3. Lose All Distractions

Turn off, mute, or put away any and all distractions.  Anything that will take you away from your focus needs to be out of sight.  If you are tempted to get into a text message conversation with friends or a twitter chat, then silence your cell phone. Receive only notifications from “VIP Guests of the Day”.  These are the people whom you need to communicate with in order to finish the project. Don’t allow yourself to be pulled into any desire other than what is required to get done that day. Remember, you are running a business and productivity yields revenue.

4. Pulsing

Matthew E. May wrote an article titled Quick and Easy Ways To Quiet Your Mind on Harvard Business Review. There he writes “We are designed to pulse, to move between spending and renewing energy.” Don’t work yourself straight into a wall.  Do stop and take a breather. Pulsing allows you to work hard on something for a specific amount of time and then stop.  Do something relaxing for a couple of moments and then get back to work. 

5. Don’t Add Anything Else To Your List

On days when everything that needs to get done actually needs to get done, do not add anything else to that list. No matter how small the task is or how quick it can be completed, do not increase your work load. Sometimes as entrepreneurs we think we can do everything and all things at the same time. When this happens, you risk quality. Don’t risk the brand you have established or establishing for that one little thing.  Keep those priority tasks front of mind.

What are some of the things you do on a task heavy day?