3 Unusual Time Hacks
To Help Dynamic Entrepreneurs

Introducing 3 Unusual Time Hacks To Help Dynamic Entrepreneurs (#Productivity by @Sam___Hurley via @MyNotifiApp)… Click to Tweet
Introducing 3 Unusual Time Hacks To Help Dynamic Entrepreneurs

The life of an entrepreneur isn’t easy. Far from it!

It’s challenging. It’s unpredictable. It’s dynamic.

It’s also likely to be one of the most difficult — yet highly rewarding life decisions you have ever made (or will ever make).

Whether you’re already established in business, just beginning your entrepreneurial journey or planning to go it alone…you may have already realized that TIME  is your most valuable resource.

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That said; it makes sense to save as much of it as possible — while optimizing the time you do need to spend.

Yes. SPEND. Think of time as a physical commodity that is consumed and you will already begin to think differently about exhausting your precious supply.

The most successful entrepreneurs are masters of time.

Here are 3 unusual time hacks to reduce your input, while maximizing your output:

Hack #1: Work During Night Hours

“Say what? Did you actually just suggest we do that, Sam..?”

Here’s the deal: Choose what works for you.

My experience…

I have tried many different approaches to scheduling my days — and I have found that working all night (instead of all day) sometimes turns out better on certain days of the week or month.

This works for me because:

When I respond to my social notifications in bulk, there are a lot less people online — which means there are many less instant replies

Everybody at home is in bed, so it’s peaceful and quiet — and I can focus 100% on my tasks

There are no distractions, no sunshine to make me feel like going outside, and no phone calls or virtual meetings to attend

Of course, there have also been manic times when I work all night and all day…but then I’ll take the next day + night off completely, before working the following day or night until I catch up and regain a pattern of routine.

The key is to discover your optimal times. Craft your days around what you enjoy doing.

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Do you wish to spend more time with your partner or family while they are off work or school? Well, spend most of the night grafting and dedicate part of the next day to them!

When I work very late, I typically rise again at midday or a couple of hours after. Don’t feel guilty…just do what works! Emails, voicemails, tweets…they can wait.

It’s your business = Your rules.

No matter your business model, you need to transform and communicate its processes (internally and externally) to suit your desired schedule.

If you don’t want to work in the day at all, build your business around this concept. If you can afford to hire, have somebody run it in daylight hours — while you work partial nights.

You chose this life for freedom. Make sure you achieve it!

Hack #2: Utilize A One-Way Communication App

Leaders spend 80% of their day communicating! It would be a crime not to maximize efficiency here.

What better way to optimize your time than by using apps..?

Apps can shave respectable amounts of time off communication tasks and help continuously optimize your life in the process.

We’ve all heard of WhatsApp and Slack — immensely popular mobile messaging apps used by entrepreneurs all around the globe…

…Apps that prevent you from going cross-communication-crazy and ending up looking something like this:

 
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But — in terms of project organization, delegation and other business comms — what are the main differences of these apps, and what else should you consider as a time-strapped entrepreneur?

WhatsApp
is for open groups of two people or more. Everybody can see each others’ phone numbers and you don’t get the choice of accepting invites. WhatsApp could be deemed as a personal, conversational app.

Slack is more of a project comms and collaboration tool (a very good one at that) — but important messages and deadlines can sometimes get lost in the mass of messages, notifications and channels.

And the new method to optimize your communications..?

Notifi is cleverly, the middle-ground between the two…and there are no conversations!

Members of your groups are not able to see other members. This brings distinct benefits in terms of simultaneously communicating with both whitelabel freelancers and clients, for instance.

You also get the choice to join groups you are invited to (via email or phone number).

As mentioned; this is solely a one-way communication. Replies are cut-out completely — including noise like those dreaded ‘reply all’ email trails and unnecessary chit-chat that kills your schedule.

Entrepreneurs don’t get time for chit-chat!

So, it makes perfect sense to use digital notice boards designed to alert you, your team, customers, clients, subscribers and followers of important events, tasks, news and information…only the information that matters.

Of course, change like this takes some getting used to. Did you know about the company that eradicated email..?

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In our highly-connected world, one-way comms may sound a little crazy to you right now…but think about all those unnecessary conversations that eat up your time. It all adds up. Generally, people may feel they need to respond to emails, even with a simple ‘thanks’ or other small talk.

Initially replying takes up their time. Reading and responding consumes yours.

Hopefully, this article is sparking some unconventional ways of thinking!

More time-saving tools for your entrepreneurial app armoury:

RescueTime (The app that tracks your task time so you can optimize it)

Amy (Your very own artificially-intelligent meeting organizer)

Todoist (The task list app that includes colleague collaboration features)

Hack #3: Transform Repeated Social Questions Into Evergreen Content

Any entrepreneur today needs to be active on Social Media.

At least, if they really care about using Personal Branding to gain more sales.

The snag? As your presence grows, many different followers often ask the same questions…

“How do you build a personal brand?”

“Can I grab a few minutes of your time?”

“What tools do you use, and how?”

“How do I perform keyword research?”

Those are a few I encounter quite regularly.

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My solution?

“How do you build a personal brand?”
Answered in an article.

“Can I grab a few minutes of your time?”
Answered in an article.

“What tools do you use, and how?”
Answered in an interview.

“How do I perform keyword research?”
Guess what? Answered in an article!

One question becomes an article, that article can be repurposed into an email drip campaign to your subscribers — plus a video, an infographic, a social post, a hashtag and a brand new business idea…

The possibilities are endless. Next time people ask you a common question on Social Media, you will be well-equipped to send them a link pointing towards your in-depth information.

This saves heaps of time, while also building solid credibility.

Happy time hacking, my fellow entrepreneurs. Stay dynamic!

#Entrepreneur: Use These 3 Unusual Time Hacks! (#Productivity by @Sam___Hurley via @MyNotifiApp)... … Click to Tweet
Introducing 3 Unusual Time Hacks To Help Dynamic Entrepreneurs

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Sam Hurley

Sam Hurley is a lateral-thinking digital marketer holding solid experience in both agency and client-side settings. He is Founder of the eagerly-anticipated: OPTIM-EYEZ platform.

Sam has achieved success for SMEs, national to international blue chip organizations while being ranked as the world’s #1 digital influencer by Webinale and #2 most influential digital marketer by Onalytica. He was also commended as one of the top 3 content marketing influencers of 2016 by ScribbleLive.

Catch Sam on Twitter and LinkedIn for cosmic amounts of helpful material on entrepreneurship and marketing!

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