11 Best Productivity Tips for Successful Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, your single most valuable asset is your time.

That’s why productivity is so important.

But it doesn’t always come naturally, and that’s okay!

And that’s why I’m sharing my favorite productivity habits for entrepreneurs.

Ready to get started?

Let’s dive in!

💡Key takeaways:

Productivity is essential for entrepreneurs because it improves stress levels, efficiency, well-being, and the company’s bottom line.
When it comes to productivity for entrepreneurs, the biggest challenges are wearing multiple hats, needing more structure, and minimizing distractions.
The best ways to improve productivity are pre-planning your week, tracking your productivity, and prioritizing and outsourcing tasks (more on this below).

Why is productivity important for entrepreneurs?

Before we get into the best productivity hacks for entrepreneurs, let’s discuss why it’s so important.

Being productive can lead to benefits like:

Ultimately, you can build a life YOU want instead of dreading to go to work every day. We’ve used the systems we’ll talk about below to go from 80-hour work weeks to 2-hour weeks and build a business that allows us to travel the world.

But being productive can be challenging, even when we know how much it can improve our day-to-day.

Studies show that the average entrepreneur only has about 90 minutes of productive time daily.

Ready to learn to change that?

It all starts with the proper foundation – being good at time management and prioritization.

Time management and prioritization

1. Pre-plan your week

Of all the productivity secrets for entrepreneurs that I could share…

Pre-planning your week is the one that will change EVERYTHING.

Before Demir and I started pre-planning our weeks, we felt like we were hanging on by a thread.

We were always biting off more than we could chew and ended up spending all of our time focused on the wrong things!

But all that changed when we started planning our weeks. All of a sudden, we were leveraging our time.

You can hear about why it works in this video:

🏆We call it our Winning the Week Method (and we love it so much that we wrote a book about it!).

It’s a simple process that only takes about 30 minutes each Sunday. I walk you through our process in this video:

Here’s how it works.

Choose your number one priority for the week.
Review your past week and figure out what worked, what didn’t, and what could be improved.
Determine what’s actually important instead of what seems important.
Look at your calendar and the time you have available in the coming week (this is called time supply).
Look at your to-do list to understand what’s competing for your time (this is called time demand).
Align your time supply and time demand by calendarizing your to-do list.

I’ll teach you how to do it in this guide.

2. Clarify your goals

Here’s one of the productivity secrets I rarely see talked about.

Clarity is a HUGE part of productivity.

Without it, you end up feeling stuck and unmotivated.

So, you have to figure out what your Definite Chief Aim (DCA) is.

To determine your DCA, ask yourself, “If I could only accomplish one big thing this year, what would I want it to be?”

Having that kind of laser focus is what makes progress possible.

And a big part of that focus comes from internal motivation, or your inner drive to accomplish incredible things.

💪Hear about how to work that internal motivation muscle in this video:

3. Prioritize with intention

If you want to be productive, you HAVE to learn to prioritize your tasks intentionally.

We swear by creating to-do lists using the 1:4:5 rule:

1 high-priority task
4 mid-level tasks
5 low priority or simple tasks

But prioritization is about more than just the number of tasks you need to get done.

It’s about prioritizing what really matters – the deep work.

Deep work is the kind of work that moves your life and business forward in a BIG way.

Shallow work is time-consuming stuff, like answering emails.

And even though it feels important, I promise shallow work won’t move the needle.

One of my favorite ways to prioritize with intention is to create a Champagne Moment. 🍾

Think about your to-do list.

Which task would you celebrate getting done with a bottle of champagne?

It’s a great way to strip away that shallow work and focus on the more meaningful stuff.

And it doesn’t even have to be a big thing – even if a task takes five minutes, it’s still a Champagne Moment if it makes a difference!

I talk more about the Champagne Moment in this video:

4. Track your productivity

A big reason I see entrepreneurs struggling with their time is because they don’t know how they’re spending it.

And that’s where a time audit comes in.

A time audit is the single easiest way to get accurate data on how you’re spending your time. With it, you can identify the “low-hanging fruit” and make better decisions.

Demir talks about why it works in this video:

I’ve seen clients get more than 10 hours back! For example, Margie didn’t think she had any extra time to spend with her husband or at the gym.

But when she spent two weeks tracking her time, she found that she was spending 11 hours a week watching the news!

And with that knowledge, she could make better decisions about how she was spending her time.

Here’s how to conduct a time audit:

Choose a time tracker or task manager
Track your time in 30-minute blocks for two weeks
Analyze your results by organizing your activities into buckets (e.g., work, hobbies, relationships)
Change how you spend your time

5. Block out time for tasks

You could pre-plan your week perfectly, but it’s a moot point if you’re not intentional about how you’ll spend your time!

I’ve found that the best way to do this is by creating a structure and blocking time on my calendar for specific tasks and unscheduled time.

When there’s a time and a place for every task, I can rest easy knowing that my priorities will get done.

Another important part of productivity for entrepreneurs? Getting organized and creating effective systems.

Let’s talk about them.

Effective organization and systems

6. Build a system

Whether you realize it or not, you already have systems in place.

Your morning routine? System.

How you conduct meetings? System.

But to boost your productivity, you have to make them even better.

There are two kinds of systems to improve: leveraged and delegation.

Leveraged systems are business functions like marketing, sales, strategy, and delivery. Optimizing them will save you time and money.

And a delegation system is one where you identify processes that another team member can do.

This is crucial.

The average entrepreneur spends 36% of their week on administrative tasks. That’s over fourteen hours of your precious time – gone! 💨

I get that it’s hard to let go or fully trust someone else to do certain tasks.

But you can create clear training documents and videos that help them to do it successfully!

With a delegation system in place, you’ll find that you can focus more on the tasks that drive your business.

(Or, in my case, take an afternoon off to indulge in some self-care.)

7. Outsource personal tasks

But you can hand off more than just your work-related tasks.

Outsourcing personal tasks lets you focus on growing your business instead of the list of things that need to be done in your personal life.

And it’s a game-changer.

Hear why in this video:

Believe it or not, you can outsource almost everything, including:

House cleaning and laundry
Home management, including things like calling the bank or organizing the kids’ closets

Meal planning and prep

Errands like getting dog food or picking up a birthday present

Want to learn how to outsource effectively?

I’ve been doing it for years – and I’ll teach you to do it in our Outsourcing Mastery course.

Another critical component of productivity is cultivating the right mindset, which we’ll tackle next.

Mindset and focus

8. Keep the right mindset

As an entrepreneur, your motivation has to come from within.

My number one piece of advice? Put your game face on.

Prime for your day by taking time to get ready for work.

Ditch the pajamas, hop in the shower, and get dressed (even if you work from home).

I’ve even seen clients get ready and drive to get a cup of coffee because it signals to them that their day has begun.

These cues, even the small ones, make a huge difference in getting you ready to tackle your day.

But I see way too many entrepreneurs who believe they have unlimited time and energy.

That’s NOT the right mindset to have. 🛑

It’s crucial to accept that you have limits and adjust your mindset to “You can do anything – but you can’t do everything.”

Believe it or not, this simple mindset shift will make your entire life better! You’ll be able to balance your priorities better and create a more sustainable lifestyle.

Learn more in this video:

9. Minimize distractions

The single biggest productivity killer?

Distractions.

One distraction costs us as much as 25 minutes of productivity. ⌛

It also causes us to make more mistakes, impacts our decision-making, and worsens our work performance.

And the truth is, we’ve got distractions coming at us from all angles – colleagues, phones, emails, meetings, and even our environment.

But as an entrepreneur, you HAVE to find ways to avoid those distractions and stay focused on the task at hand.

As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve found that these are the ways that work for me:

Close the door
Silence your phone
Take breaks
Use noise-canceling headphones
Create a communication policy

The last piece of the productivity puzzle is finding a great work-life balance.

Work-life balance

10. Take breaks

I know, I know – taking breaks feels counterproductive for productivity.

But studies have found that they’re actually a great way to improve productivity.

Scheduling this kind of regular downtime gives you a chance to disconnect and recharge.

I love taking a 10-minute break each hour just to get outside, move around, and stretch my legs. It’s a great way to maintain my energy and avoid burnout. 🚶

The most effective breaks involve creativity, movement, nourishment, and socializing.

Being able to take a step back when needed is a part of our freedom lifestyle that we really value.

A freedom lifestyle means that you have control of your time (and how many breaks you can take).

Some of our clients, like Alexis and Dietmar, have built freedom lifestyles that free them from burnout and overwork.

Read more about their lifestyles and how you can make it for you in this guide.

11. Set boundaries

So many people assume that your work has to take over your entire life if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.

That’s not true!

If you want to stay productive, setting boundaries, communicating your schedule, and protecting your time is crucial.

And sometimes, that means saying no. 🙅

Truthfully, the key to productivity for entrepreneurs is being able to say no. I’ll teach you how to do it in every situation in this guide.

So, we’ve covered the best ways to be productive as entrepreneurs. But what challenges might stand in your way?

I’ll talk about those next, so keep reading!

What are the biggest productivity challenges for entrepreneurs?

As a business owner, you know that productivity for entrepreneurs is sometimes easier said than done.

The biggest challenges are:

Wearing multiple hats and playing every part in your business, from accountant to marketer to CEO. Being spread too thin can make it hard to focus on what really matters, lead to inefficiency, and cause burnout.
Inadequate systems that result in mistakes, wasted time, and other inefficiencies.
Adaptability is crucial for entrepreneurs – you have to be flexible and open to change to stay productive and competitive.
A lack of structure (or messy ones) can lead to inconsistent productivity, a chaotic work environment, and terrible time management.
Not setting or tracking SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) makes it difficult to gauge your progress and lowers motivation.
Overcommitting and stretching themselves thin.
High stakes and the pressure to succeed can lead to stress and anxiety, which can impact decision-making and productivity.
Little to no work-life balance, which leads to mental health problems and burnout.
Too many distractions or interruptions. On average, we’re interrupted 60 times a day – and each of those distractions can take nearly half an hour to recover from.
Excessive communication, whether it’s from emails, meetings, or messages, can be time-consuming and take away from what’s important.
Trying to get more done by multitasking doesn’t work – instead, it leads to more mistakes and costs 40% of your time.
Figuring out how to prioritize your numerous tasks and goals and making the rookie mistake of believing that you have unlimited time and energy.
Limited resources, like insufficient financial resources, few sources of personal support, or inadequate technology, make entrepreneurs work hard to do more with less.

Build your business faster!

Productivity, for entrepreneurs, is more than just a buzzword – it’s necessary to build your business fast.

And yes, productivity tips like these are a great place to start.

But participating in dedicated productivity training for entrepreneurs will change the game forever.

And that’s what you’ll get when you join Lifehack Tribe.

It’s more than just a set of productivity tools and how-to guides – it’s a membership community of over 2,000 people around the globe using the Lifehack Method.

Trust me – there’s no better way to boost your productivity or reshape how you approach your goals as an entrepreneur than having others hold you accountable.

When you join, you’ll also get:

Monthly live group calls
A step-by-step productivity roadmap
Access to a members-only podcast
Access to a productivity training library full of videos, blueprints, and PDFs

… And more!

Are you ready to do more in less time, reclaim your time, and finally have the freedom to focus on what’s most important to you – all for less than $7 per week?

Then sign up for Lifehack Tribe today.

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