2) Have a team meeting first thing Monday morning that should be time-limited to only discuss and update urgent priority issues. Have it standing up if it makes it shorter. Only have 2-4 items each to update everyone on. Ensure everyone knows about movements for the week, then go out and deliver. Don’t get distracted into conversations about specific subjects that really require another meeting – be direct and to the point.

3) Ensure your 5-10 goals for the following day are written the following night so that when you hit work the next day, you are set up ready to go straight away.

a. Start by focusing on the most complex or disliked task first. Once you’ve got that out of the way, you will feel a sense of achievement and you can then focus on more pleasurable tasks that you will be able to sail through.
b. Minimise disruptions and distractions by ensuring that if you do have something to do that requires concentration, be in an environment that allows you to do this – ie if you work in an open plan office but need to get a report finished, find a spare meeting room to do it in or plug in your headphones and listen to some classical music (proven to improve concentration levels and enable you to finish tasks quicker).
c. Tick off each task as its finished.
d. Keep each task to less than 45 minutes – any more than that and you will find your mind wandering and be unable to focus on completing the task.
e. Anything that comes in through the day, assign it to your next day or mental lockbox as something to look at later. Do not get distracted with other issues unless its critical (ie in the lettings business, a house on fire or a major leak is urgent, a tenant who wants someone to come out to mow the lawn isn’t)
f. If you are finding it hard to use pen and paper and want something to keep you focused, then use a tool such as simpleology or remember the milk – brilliant free tools that will enable you to remain productive throughout the day.
g. Do take a 5-10 minute break every 45 minutes or so to refresh – even if its to have a drink, stretch, quick walk or listen to a tune that gets you in the groove again.
h. Do something every single day towards your major goal for the year – every day!

4) Have an end-time when you are going to stop working. There is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind.

5) Review your to-do list at night-time, anything that happened to push you off course and plan the next days 5-10 goals.

Or, you could follow the scatter gun approach.

Waltz into the office 15 minutes late because you got distracted with a news article about pigs in Bulgaria break dancing; spend 10 minutes making a coffee and turning your computer on. Check out what’s happened on Facebook, watch that YouTube video your friend recommended and then read a few funny emails that your friends sent. Before you know it – its 10am and you haven’t done anything constructive.

You then focus for the next half hour on completing a task, then you get a call from an old friend who you spend the next half hour on, then its time for a snack and a bit more work before lunchtime. You forgot to write out a to-do list so you hastily write one after lunch, then spend the rest of the day catching up with your wasted morning. Come 4pm, you’ve got to leave to get to that important network meeting – not that you have a target for what you’re going to do when you get there. After several hours of chatting, drinking and avoiding doing work, you collapse into bed and look forward to a great day tomorrow.

If that sounds like you, then don’t worry; a lot of people do have days like this but you want to minimise them and ensure that you follow the laser gun approach.

Trust me, you’ll get so much more done and you will achieve your targets whatever they may be.

If you are struggling a bit at the moment with meeting your targets, perhaps you need a friendly ear or somebody that has been there and can give you real-life advice, then why not book yourself in for one of our Pathfinder calls. £197 for 90 minutes with half-day and full-day options also available- email me at partners@millenniaproperty.co.uk or call the office on 01604 521301