If you’re looking for ways to improve your productivity in your education business then you’re in the right place – hooray! In this blog, I'll be sharing the top five habits that, in my experience, will be the most helpful in making sure you get more done and achieve your business goals.
Weekly planning using an Eisenhower matrix
Make a long term plan – and prioritise it: Using the Eisenhower matrix to plan your week's priorities is a great habit to improve productivity in your education business.
The matrix, also known as the Urgent-Important matrix, helps you prioritise tasks based on their urgency and importance.
By focusing on the most important tasks first, you can make sure that you are using your time and energy effectively – and that you are delegating the things that are best to delegate (hint: anything in the “delegate” section is definitely ripe to be outsourced – perhaps to an excellent education VA (*looks innocent*)– and probably some of the things in the “decide” section too.)
5 mins per day triaging and prioritising daily tasks
Prioritising tasks daily and doing the most important ones first is another key habit for improving productivity.
By tackling the most important tasks early in the day, you can ensure that you are making progress on the things that matter most to your business.
I do this in Clickup which has a great system allowing me to see all my day's task and to drag them into my calendar so I'm time blocking at the same time as prioritising. I hear good things about Motion for this too, though I've never tried it myself.
Break bigger tasks down into manageable steps
Breaking big tasks down into smaller steps is a great habit for improving productivity because it helps you stay focused and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Many of us in education businesses are ex (or current!) educators, and we know from our teaching experience that this really does work.
By breaking down big tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, you can make progress without feeling like the task is insurmountable.
Plus, as you complete each small step, you'll experience a sense of accomplishment that can help you stay motivated (I can’t be the only one who gets a real sense of satisfaction from ticking things off on a to-do list? I’ve got Clickup set up so it makes a noise as well – so Pavlovian and satisfying!)
Get out of your inbox (yes, I mean you!)
Switching off or delegating email is another habit that can help you boost your productivity. It's easy to get sucked into the never-ending cycle of checking and responding to emails, but this can be a major time-waster.
By turning off email notifications or delegating email management to someone else, you can focus on your most important tasks without the constant interruptions.
If having someone to triage your inbox sounds like an impossible dream, think again – my team has multiple clients for whom we do this on a daily basis and it really does work.
Take a break
Seriously, take a break MULTIPLE times a day:
This is something I really struggle with – I find that when I’m in the zone, it’s really hard to step away (and sometimes that’s true), but more often than not, taking short, regular breaks will make you more productive overall.
Taking breaks is important for maintaining focus and avoiding burnout. Whether it's a quick walk around the block taking an hour to fetch the kids from school and spend a bit of time with them or a longer, planned holiday, taking breaks can help you come back to work feeling refreshed and ready to tackle your tasks with renewed energy.
There are a million blogs out there telling you how to be productive, and the honest truth is that because habit-building is such a personal thing, while all of them (including this one!) are right, not all of them will be right for you. That being said, the habits I've listed above are ones that I've found to be most successful for me, AND habits I've seen other successful education business owners develop, so I feel like I'm reasonably on the button!
By adopting these habits, you can improve the productivity of your education business overall, as well as your personal productivity, by getting more done in less time. Whether you're tackling big projects or working on small tasks, these habits can help you stay focused, energized, and productive. Why not give them a try and see how they can help you achieve your business goals?