Boosting Productivity; Tools and Techniques For Busy Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, the success of your business depends directly on how much value you can extract from your time. The more productive you are, the more successful you end up being. But here is the thing; your competitors have the same 24 hours as you, so how do you stay more productive than them? 

For many business owners, the answer is simple; work harder and for longer hours. Unfortunately, doing this for too long leads to excessive downtime which eventually cascades into lower productivity. So by working yourself into a nervous wreck, you are probably dooming yourself to lower productivity in the long term. 

The good news is that you don’t have to follow that path. By boosting your productivity through special techniques and tools, you can work the same hours but get more done. And that is all this article is about. 

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Time management skills

Your time is your most valuable asset, and you cannot boost your productivity without managing it. Here are some of the skills and strategies the most productive entrepreneurs use to manage their time and get the best out of their day. 

Pomodoro technique

Imagine you're an entrepreneur named Collins, juggling multiple projects. Alex sets a timer for 25 minutes and focuses on drafting a proposal. When the timer goes off, Alex takes a 5-minute break to stretch and grab a coffee. This cycle repeats, and by the fourth Pomodoro, Alex has made significant progress and gets a longer break to refresh.

This technique works because it helps you power through work in a short burst of productivity and gives you enough time to recharge. Since you know that you are just working for twenty-five minutes, you’ll be more likely to power through to that break. After the break, you’ll be well-rested enough to power through another short burst of work. 

This technique is so effective because most people have very short attention spans and as such are rarely able to hyperfocus on work with the necessary vigor. Pomodoro solves this by allowing you to focus on short bursts of work while taking breaks. 

The Eisenhower matrix

The Eisenhower matrix is a way of categorizing tasks based on urgency and importance. For instance, if the same entrepreneur Collins has a couple of important tasks, the matrix helps him categorize these tasks into four quadrants; 

1. Urgent and Important (do it now)
2. Important but Not Urgent (schedule it)
3. Urgent but Not Important (delegate it)
4. Neither Urgent nor Important (eliminate it)

The funny thing about this matrix is that many entrepreneurs who use it eventually realize that a lot of their tasks fall under the second to fourth matrix. Some even realize that a huge bunch of their day-to-day activities only fall under the third and fourth matrixes, so it ends up saving them a lot of time. 

Time blocking

Let us consider another entrepreneur Ada. Her mornings are usually chaotic as she has to deal with replying to emails, and customer inquiries and she also has to put out the many organizational fires that her business runs into. 

To solve the problem of a hectic morning, she decides to try out time blocking. From 8-10 AM, she blocks out time for emails and customer service. From 10 AM to noon, it's all about marketing and content creation. After lunch, from 1-3 PM, she focuses on inventory management and supplier coordination. Finally, from 3-5 PM, she dedicates time to planning and strategy. By sticking to this schedule, Ada finds that each task gets the attention it deserves without the constant switching that previously disrupted productivity.

Through timeblocking, Ada sees that she works more efficiently, is better rested, and as such can provide more value per day.

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Techniques for maintaining focus

Bill Gates once said show me an entrepreneur who can stay focused and I’ll show you a successful business owner. Okay, he never said that, but he might well have. Entrepreneurs need to be able to focus on one task at a time to get anything done. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. Here are some tips to help you improve your focus. 

SMART goals

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the scale of your tasks as an entrepreneur. That is why it is important to categorize your goal into small achievable milestones that give you agency. For example, you may want to build a million-dollar business. But that is such a big goal that even if you have some success, you’d still feel demotivated by how far you are from that goal. 

That is why it is smarter to make sure your goals are clear and SMART: that is, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. That way you’ll be able to measure your success day by day against your SMART goals, and not against the bigger and sometimes more imposing dreams. 

Eliminate Distractions

Almost everyone spends way too much time on social media. This is also true for entrepreneurs. If you want to get ahead of your competitors and build a truly lasting business, this cannot be true for you. 

That is why you should invest in tools like Freedom that help you eliminate online distractions and help you hyperfocus on the tasks at hand.

Break tasks into smaller morsels. 

It is easy to be distracted if you’re working on one task for a long time. Our minds are wired to focus on one task for just about 15-20 minutes. After that, our minds find distractions for us even if we are in an area with no distractions. 

Entrepreneurs are not super people, so it is important to have that attention time limit at the back of your mind when making a to-do list. This way you won’t have to worry too much about distractions. 

Enhance workflow with no code tools.

A lot of founders have to scale their businesses on a shoestring budget and this leads to suboptimal working conditions. For example, if you don’t have the budget to pay top money for a web designer, you may have to actually learn web development yourself. This can be a huge strain on you as a business owner — and what’s more, the worm you produce may be suboptimal. 

The good news is that there are no-code tools that can help you with this phase of building. And you don’t have to pay too much to use these tools.

Framer: Design Interactive Prototypes and Websites Quickly

Framer is a fantastic tool for designing interactive prototypes and fully functional websites without writing code. It's especially useful for entrepreneurs who want to quickly iterate on ideas and gather feedback.

Imagine you're launching a new product and need a landing page to capture leads. With Framer, you can create a professional-looking website in a few hours. You start by selecting a template that fits your brand, then customize it with your own images, text, and interactive elements. Framer's drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add features like contact forms, galleries, and animations. By the end of the day, you have a polished website ready to go live, saving you the time and cost of hiring a developer. 

And if Framer is too complex for you, there are many template tools like OneDraft that you can use to get ready templates that you can easily implement and use to host your business.

Bubble: Build Web Applications Without Code

Bubble is a powerful platform that lets you build fully functional web applications without needing to know how to code. It's ideal for entrepreneurs looking to create custom software solutions tailored to their business needs.

Suppose you run a small consulting firm and want to build a custom client portal where clients can log in, view reports, and schedule appointments. Using Bubble, you can design the portal's user interface, set up a database to store client information and define workflows for interactions (like sending appointment reminders). Bubble's visual programming tools allow you to create complex functionalities with ease. In a matter of weeks, you have a bespoke web application that enhances your client services and streamlines your operations.

Airtable: Combine Spreadsheets and Database Features

Airtable is a versatile tool that combines the simplicity of spreadsheets with the power of a database. It's perfect for managing a variety of data-driven tasks and projects in a more organized and efficient manner.

Consider you're managing a content calendar for your marketing team. With Airtable, you can create a base to track content ideas, assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor progress. Each record can include fields for title, description, due date, assigned team member, and status. You can also link related records, like associating each piece of content with its corresponding campaign. Airtable's views (like Calendar and Kanban) help you visualize your data in different ways, making it easier to keep track of your content pipeline and ensure timely delivery.

Glide: Create Mobile Apps from Google Sheets

Glide allows you to turn your Google Sheets into fully functional mobile apps without writing any code. This is incredibly useful for entrepreneurs who need to develop mobile solutions quickly and affordably.

Let's say you're running an event planning business and want to create an app for your clients to view event details, schedules, and vendor contacts. You start by organizing all the necessary information in a Google Sheet. Then, using Glide, you connect your sheet and customize the app's layout and functionality through an intuitive interface. In a short time, you have a mobile app that your clients can download and use, improving their experience and reducing the number of repetitive inquiries you handle.

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Boosting your productivity

Boosting productivity as a busy entrepreneur is all about combining smart time management techniques with the right tools. Techniques like the Pomodoro Technique and time blocking help you stay focused and organized, while tools like Trello for task management and Toggl for time tracking streamline your workflow.

No-code tools like Framer, Bubble, Airtable, and Glide let you create custom solutions without needing to code. Whether it's designing websites, building web apps, managing data, or developing mobile apps, these tools make it easy and quick. By using these strategies and tools, you can get more done, manage your tasks better, and keep your business moving forward efficiently. Give them a shot and see how they can transform your productivity!

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