How to focus on the crucial tasks?

The best productivity hack regarding tasks is to do only the critical tasks. Though it makes sense, how do you apply it in your tasks management process? You first need to build a mechanism that will help you decide whether a task is critical and then use it to determine whether it is crucial.

In your business, those tasks are the actions you want to do to achieve your goals. You should define those objectives ahead of time, so you will test whether a specific task will help you achieve a particular goal.

When you add a new task, you should decide which objective this task is related to. Assignment of the task to a specific goal will help ensure that this task is indeed critical. This will also help to prioritize between jobs. When you know the real purpose of the tasks, you can easily decide which one has a higher priority.

What is the optimal task length?

One of the most common mistakes regarding tasks is creating tasks with significant scope. You will think that the task is simple and fast to execute, but when you start to work on it, you find that it is more complicated and takes much more time.

A task that takes more time than you expected has several downsides. The obvious one is you spend more time on that task, but it also affects other tasks and the mental feeling of working on your business.

A way to help avoid scope errors is by estimating the time the task will take you. Aim that every task will take at most 2-3 hours. An hours estimation of a more extended period than 2-3 hours indicates that the task is not atomic and is probably composed of several tasks.

How to keep high motivation with your task management?

Wins are contagious. Every day you complete all your planned tasks will keep you motivated to continue the following days.

You should set up your day plan for success and ensure you take on only a few tasks for a specific day. After estimating the number of hours each task will take, it's easy to calculate how many hours the task for the day should take.

Be realistic with the amount of working time you have per day. Consider lunchtime, commute time, or even social time with others in the office, and ensure that you take tasks that fit your work time that day.

Summary

With those tips, you ensure that your productivity will be higher and that your task management process will work for your small business. You can follow those tips using a pen and sticky notes or a to-do app to manage your tasks.

You can also use dedicated tasks management tailor-made software for small businesses and ensure that all those tips are already backed into the product. In any case, follow those tips to save the most precious resource you have in your small business, your time.