I’ve tried and tested a tonne of different ways to manage my time and increase my productivity.

Out of all these different tactics and techniques, there’s only a couple that I’ve stuck with and have been truly impactful.

Most productivity advice and tactics on the internet are one-percent, tiny improvements rather than game-changing.

Here’s three that are actually game changing.

Write Everything Down

It’s just not possible to remember all the stuff you need todo, the ideas that pop inyo your head, and the namse and details of people you meet.

So when you don’t write this stuff down as it comes into your periphery, you lose it.

You let people down.

You miss deadlines.

You forget people.

The simple solution is writing everything down. Everything.

I use google notes on my phone and computer. And every time something comes into my head, or someone asks me todo something I write it down.

This small change will make you an exponentially business operator.

Plan Your Day

As you’ll know, days can disappear before you feel like you’ve done anything. Soo many times, I’ve got to the end of my day and haven’t achieved a single thing I set out to do.

Business is a great way to keep yourself busy, but being busy is not necessarily being productive. Being busy causes me to lose sight of my business objectives, causes me to ‘drop the ball’ on obligations, and means I don’t do what I should be doing.

So each evening or morning before I start work, I plan my day.

I spend 5 minutes reviewing my google notes app and clickup (project management tool) and pick the three most important jobs I need to get done that day.

• For large projects/jobs that can’t be completed in one day. I break them down into smaller tasks.

I like to be specific, and use my calendar to schedule tasks, with an allotment of time for each.

If you’re not using a to-do list or planning your days, you’re working reactively, and becoming habitually proactive will take you some time to get used to.

It might take a couple of weeks to establish the habit. Your mind will try and revert to what’s most comfortable. Keep going. The proof will be in the pudding.

Prioritise Your Work

There are a few good reasons to prioritise, here are my favourite two.

Doing the important work first is going to create the most value for your business.

Also, because you have a limited amount of energy to spend each day and you’ll likely have the most amount of energy at the beginning of the day. It makes sense to tackle your difficult work then.

If you don’t know how to prioritise start with this work value matrix and Eisenhowers decision matrix.