Here are a few ways to get more productive

Trick yourself into meeting deadlines

If you have a deadline and a client is waiting on something from you, and you’re close to the deadline, write an email to the client telling them you’ll be late delivering. DON’T SEND IT! The pressure of knowing that the awful email is going to be read by your client will give you the boost you need to just get the job done. I once edited 3 weddings in one day after drafting 3 emails to clients telling them their weddings would be late.

Know yourself

If you know you work best with lots of time to do a job, then schedule your working time so that it gets done early. If you work best scrabbling to meet a deadline, then allow yourself to delay work until the last minute. I do my best work when it MUST be done by tomorrow – I’m productive with my time and don’t procrastinate at all, thereby making the most of my time. If you know you’ll only relax once a job is done, then prioritise that job. If you know you work best when you don’t plan things too much, and you know you’ll get something done more quickly if you do it when the idea is fresh, then don’t write that task down or plan it in – just do it!

Decide what is important to you and focus on that

There are a million things you can do for your business, but it’s easy to forget that not all of them will be useful or relevant to you. It may seem like everyone is doing all the things, and you’re way behind, but they’re not, and you’re not. They are focussing on the things that are important to them and the things that matter to them. So think about what you need to do for your business, and forget about all the other stuff. So what if other people are blogging every day? If your clients find you through word of mouth then it’s pointless to blog every day. And so what if other people are creating online booklets to send to all their clients – your clients won’t expect it from you, so keep doing the things they DO expect – and love – from you. You can’t be everyone and do everything!

Do the things you enjoy the most and outsource the rest

Most things in business can be outsourced. You’re a small business, and a creative business. Your skills are doing the creative thing – you’re a photographer: your skill isn’t writing, or admin, or blogging, or SEO, or accounting. Pay someone else to do those things and focus on what you’re good at – and what you enjoy.

Structure your day and week

At the beginning of every week, write a plan for the week – and for every day. Make it SUPER doable. Give yourself just a few tasks a day. A lot of people find it helps to do emails every day between certain hours, then blog for other hours, and so on. So you focus on that one task at the same time every day, then shut that task down for the rest of the day. Don’t forget to add in breaks – get some fresh air and food!

List tasks by time

It can really help to think about how long a task will take and write a plan for the day. So 8-9am emails, 9-11am write a blog post, 11-12pm walk the dog, 12-2pmfinish a particular project, 2-3pm lunch, 3-5pm update your portfolio – and so on. Don’t make it too tight or you’ll feel crap for not having done all the things.

Use the Pomodoro app

This is a way of timing your working day to make sure you get stuff done and take breaks. It’s an app that times you for 25 minutes of work, then times a 5-minute break. This happens a few times, with a longer break in the middle too. It makes you far less likely to get distracted, because you know your break time is coming up – it makes you WANT to get stuff done in the short time you have! Plus your break will feel earned, and you won’t feel guilty browsing Facebook. The Pomodoro technique works SO well with culling and editing.

Get off Facebook

Literally designed to be addictive, social media has killed our focus and productivity. Turn off notifications on your phone and give yourself Facebook breaks where you're free to scroll for 5 minutes.

Think about WHERE you’re working

Make sure you’re in a physical place that is conducive to work. In simple terms – don’t sit on the sofa if it makes you feel lazy, don’t sit in the kitchen if it’s distractingly noisy, don’t work in a silent room if you need people and chatter. Try everything and see what works for you. There are so many things that can affect you, from what you sit on to what the light is like in the room to who is around you. I work best surrounded by people and sitting at a table. A cafe is an ideal working space for me because I feel spurred on to be more productive when I’m surrounded by people who aren’t working. Co-working spaces are also good for me because I work best surrounded by people. I’ve found the least productive place for me is my sofa. It makes me feel overwhelmed and a little depressed, which may be because the sofa is my chill-out and watch telly space, and to be there with my laptop makes me sad that I’m not watching telly and relaxing. Then I turn on the telly and a whole new problem emerges! There’s nothing more depressing than realising you’ve lost an entire afternoon to daytime telly.

Work at a time of day that is most productive for you

For me that’s mornings. 6am to be precise! I leap out of bed and get straight to it and do 2 solid hours of work before waking up Todd with a cuppa. I also work well late at night when everyone online is in bed. Afternoons are the worst for me because I get sluggish and social media is most active!

Set strict working hours

This is easier if you live with someone who has a 9-5 job, because you simply stop working when they get home. It’s hard to do, but give yourself working hours and non-working hours and make sure you stick to them. If you work best in the morning, set your hours as 6am until 2pm and then stop and enjoy the afternoon – go bike riding, visit friends, sit in a cafe and read a book or just watch telly. Having no time “off” leads to even more feeling of being overwhelmed – you’re not giving yourself time to reset, and you’re not enjoying life. What’s the point of being self-employed if you’re not going to reap the biggest benefit – which is doing what you want with your time and not being told what to do and when to do it!

Make certain places work only and others rest only

So don’t work on the sofa or in bed. Leave them as relaxing places for your time off. Give yourself a space to work that is just for work. Just like employed people have an office where they feel like they’re in “work mode” you need to do the same. Also - make certain spaces "no go" areas for your phone. So for example, while you're at your desk, your phone can't be near you!

Give yourself time off

Go on holiday, take random days off. If it’s sunny go outside. If you’re not in the mood to work, don’t. As long as no one will die as a result of your not working, then don’t worry about it too much. Look after your mental and physical health or you’ll be no good to anyone.