These tips will set you up to increase your productivity, do away with wasted time and seemingly put more hours back into your day.

Develop Positive Routines

Try to developing positive habits and abide by a schedule when you can. Even small things like returning messages during set hours in the day, will free up other time on your calendar and help you to stay focused.

Start the Day Early

Waking up earlier is very simple to recommend, but not the easiest thing to do. With a little adjustment and extra effort you can add an hour or so to your day and make a big impact in making your day more productive. Start out by waking up 15 minutes earlier each week, increasing slowly but surely to a full hour over the course of a month.

Adjust Your Work Hours

Some of us are naturally more productive in the morning, while others might be night owls. Whatever hours work for you is when you should schedule the majority of your work. Sure, you will have early morning and late evening events, but when it comes time to buckle down and do the busy work, pick the time that suits you best.

Set Official Office Hours

Event planners who manage their own business or get to be their own boss, have a large flexibility in the hours that they work. But, many times this leads to working at all hours of the day, often times finding it hard to “clock out”.

If you are finding this type of situation, try scheduling some official in office hours, just like you would have if you reported to an office each day. This will give you dedicated, non-negotiable time where you can focus on the work that needs to be done.

 Automate as Much as Possible

Everything from email marketing to social media can be automated these days, so you want to be sure you are taking advantage. Look at all of the tasks you have to do in a day and figure out which ones can be arranged or scheduled in advance. Once you set some of these automations up, many tasks will be set and ready to go without any added work!

Pomodoro Timer

The pomodoro technique involves working in small very productive chunks that are divided by a short break. The idea is that you become more productive knowing that you have a break approaching soon. It is also a big help in encouraging you to get up from your desk, chair, couch, etc. and move around. Using a tool like this online timer can be a new and different way to get work accomplished, while strategically breaking up your day.

Check Email Less Often

To become more productive, try checking email at certain points in the day, such as once early and again near the end of day. This can be tough and might require you to log out of your account, since we all know it can become a habit to randomly pull up your email or react to the little alert on your phone.

Avoid Multitasking

Multitasking used to be a requirement for successful event planners, but lately it has become a bit less popular. When you are multitasking you are essentially giving each task less than 100% of your effort and potentially missing important details.

Disconnect

Turning off the TV, email, WiFi, phone may seem like a crazy idea in the uber connected world that we live in, but from time-to-time when you need to work without distractions you should try going an hour or two completely unplugged. Tasks like writing, editing, design or anything that needs a critical eye are all items that you could accomplish while disconnected.

Hire Proper Support

Don’t be afraid to ask for or hire this help to assist where you need it.

Learn to delegate the tasks that are time consuming or that you don’t enjoy. There are plenty of great people looking for internships, part-time or entry level jobs.

Do you have other tips and tricks that help you to be more efficient? Hopefully the steps above will leave you feeling more productive than ever before!