Are you struggling in the effort to make your small business successful? Does it feel like you are working harder and you still don't see the results you desire? Or maybe you want to grow your business to the next level of success. Let's take a look at the top 10 ways to increasing productivity and better time management.

Increasing Productivity:

1. Team Building- Build your virtual support team
Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? In business, 20% of your business activities yield 80% of the results. You need to determine which tasks are in your top 20%, and eliminate and/or delegate the rest as a means of increasing productivity and experiencing better time management. Unfortunately, many small businesses fail or don't grow to the next level because they don't take advantage of small business resources like team building . An excellent way to get started is to work with a Virtual Assistant.

2. Cultivate marketing relationships
Recruiting affiliates is one of the resources for entrepreneurs to increasing productivity and better time management. Affiliates spend their time promoting your products or services in exchange for a commission on the sale. In addition, find other entrepreneurs with complementary businesses and collaborate on services or developing new products. You get more breakthroughs and unique perspectives when you are not working on business development alone.

3. Leverage systems: Any business can be broken down into two parts - Vision (what do you want) & Systems (how will you get it). Entrepreneurs are usually challenged by the "How will you get it" part and skip this crucial step. Increasing productivity by systemizing your business is one of the critical resources for entrepreneurs. Systems will save you time, reduce errors, simplify tasks, enhance communication, keep you organized and help remember important things to get done.

4. Hire a Business Coach or Productivity Expert
A business coach or increasing productivity expert are tremendous resources for entrepreneurs. These professionals will help you make things happen, develop steps to help you reach your goals, and provide you with the necessary support and structure you need to utilize better time management and realize your business goals.

5. Know your high revenue generating activities
These activities provide valuable payoff in the long run. They are based on your priorities, values and goals, and are the activities you love doing and do best. In turn, the tasks create immense value for your clients.

Better Time Management:

You may have discovered several ways of increasing productivity, but unless you know the keys to better time management, you may not achieve the results you want. You only have so many hours in a day; so, focus on specific areas consuming your time.

6. Handling Things More Than Once
Do it, Dump it, or Delegate it! Handle things only once by evaluating every task that comes your way, decide what to do with it, and prioritize your to-do list. Once you've started a task, keep at it until it's done. When you come back to an unfinished task, you need to take extra time to re-familiarize yourself with it and figure out where you left off. Successfully completing a task, no matter how small, gives you a great sense of accomplishment and encourages you to take on other tasks that come your way.

7. Stop Multi-tasking
Many people try to do more than one task at a time. You kid yourself that you're getting lots done. But you're not. When nothing gets your full attention, errors creep in. In the long run, you end up spending more time undoing those mistakes. Stop trying to do it all at once. By giving your undivided attention to one thing at a time, you'll be much more productive.

8. Manage the unexpected
Unexpected or unwanted events occur that demand your time and energy. Practicing better time management means taking care of disruptions by scheduling time in your day for the unexpected. Give yourself a window of opportunity to face 'surprise' issues, and be open-minded about accepting support when needed.

9. Ruthless time management
Practicing better time management means being ruthless with what you spend your time on and how you spend it. You need to set boundaries; identify the time wasters throughout your workday; schedule blocks of time to work on tasks; make and keep appointments; only do the tasks directly related to your small business goals and spend your time only on what you love and do best.

Ultimately, your goal should be to create work-life balance to ensure you are spending your time and efforts increasing productivity in a way so that you can take time off to rejuvenate and recharge your batteries without compromising your success. Creating a calendar of your ideal workweek is an excellent way to do this.

10. Slow down to move ahead faster
Take the time needed, by slowing down, to evaluate your options and create a plan for your business goals and lifestyle. Then, design your business accordingly. Not only will this result in increasing productivity, but it is the epitome of better time management.

Now you know some strategies for increasing productivity, and key aspects of better time management. I guarantee that if you put this information into practice, you will work smarter and achieve greater success!

Copyright 2009, Michele Hanson-O'Reggio. All Rights Reserved.