46 Simple Tips to Help Improve Your Business in Just One Day
Updated: Dec. 21, 2022
These simple changes could make a world of a difference. Get advice and inspiration on how to start or grow your business.
Get a fast start
Limit your work-starting routine to 15 minutes. That is, don’t spend more than 15 minutes getting coffee, settling in, reading e-mails, checking messages, or looking at newspapers. You are often at your freshest and most productive at the beginning of the day. (These surprising work habits make you look unprofessional.)
Write two to-do lists
The first should contain everything that you need to get done soon. It should be a comprehensive list of short-, medium-, and long-term projects and work, and you should constantly adjust it. The second to-do list should be what you can reasonably expect to get done today, and today only.
Note your challenges
Take a few moments to assess the day’s emotional challenges. Almost as important as your to-do list is a “be prepared for” list. Inventory the tough phone calls, boring meetings, challenging customers, frustrating red tape, infuriating rush-hour drives, droning detail work, and other challenges you may face.
Visualize your day
Try starting each day by closing your eyes for 10 or 20 seconds and visualizing how you want it to go.
Schedule some reading time
There’s not a job that doesn’t require at least some reading, be it about the company, the industry, the marketplace, the economy, the price of tomatoes, etc.
Keep essentials nearby
Stock up on the following: low-fat granola bars; bottled water; bags of slow-dissolving mints or candy (helps prevent needless snacking); supplements, including a multivitamin, B-complex, C and E vitamins, and echinacea (good for when cold season hits or you forget to take vitamins at home); tissues, and family photos.
Be aware of stress
Embrace the number one truth about stress: Only you create it. Take some deep breaths. Make a list of everything that needs to get done. It will help you to organize your day.
Prep for the day at night
Every night before bed, take five minutes to look over the day ahead. This brief look into the future will help you feel more prepared in the morning.
One step at a time
Take on just one new activity at a time. When you try to master too many new activities at once, you can easily feel overwhelmed. (If you’re looking for a new job, don’t make these resume mistakes that could get you rejected.)
Write down your stressors
Carry a small notebook with you everywhere. This is your “worry” journal. When you feel stressed, whip it out and scribble down everything on your mind at that minute.
Don’t stew
Instead, take it out on a small ball you keep in your desk. Squeeze it, throw it in the air, or even take it outside and bounce, throw and catch it until you feel better. (If you work from home, try these simple tricks to help you get more done.)
Plan short- and long-term
Use a monthly calendar for short-term scheduling and a 6-month calendar for long-range scheduling. Pencil in all things that pertain to your goals, including classes you want to take, regular exercise sessions, social events, and family time.
Categorize
On a daily action list, categorize tasks: those that need immediate attention (you had better do them yourself), those that can be delegated, and those that can be put off. To avoid procrastination, tackle the toughest jobs first, breaking them into smaller, less daunting components.
Everything has to contribute to a goal
Free up time for the things you really want to do by simplifying your life. Let go of activities that don’t contribute to your goals.
Make use of wasted time
Reduce the waste—and frustration—of everyday delays. Wherever you go, take reading material or a portable music player. Then when you have to wait, you can make good use of or enjoy the time.
Worry
Set aside a half-hour toward the end of the day to worry. Psychologist Roland Nathan believes that having a formal worrying time cuts down the amount of worrying you do. (These are signs that you’re in the wrong career.)
Be patient
Said one mom and wife: “I wanted everything done my way. I was unwilling to let go of any part of it until it was perfect. So I’ve had to learn to slow down. After a few years, I finally get it: Nothing happens overnight.”
Network
Make networking with others in your field a priority. Schedule some time to meet for coffee or lunch or keep in touch via email and social networks.
Keep yourself going
Learn the importance of giving yourself pep talks, and keep the voice in your head positive. Stay focused, and be willing to work as hard as you need to. (Follow these secrets to be a great manager.)
Take care of your health
Schedule that physical exam you’ve been putting off and make sure you get exercise and take care of any personal issues that are troubling you.
Keep positive
Hold the big picture in your sights. What’s gloomy for one can be a gold mine for another. (Make sure you avoid these office mistakes—unless you want your co-workers to hate you.)
Compare yourself to other companies
Perform an assessment of the market conditions to find out how you match up to other companies like yours, get clear on your financial position.
Ask for input
Get input from your employees and customers or clients. They probably have a lot of ideas for how you could grow, and it might not have occurred to you to ask them. (These are the different types of toxic co-workers and how to deal with them.)
Look polished
Project a consistent polished professional image, in order to send the message to the world that the quality of your product and/or service.
Be prepared
Luck is the marriage of opportunity with preparedness. You obviously have the attitude part prepared—so the rest is actually doing the basic steps that lead to greatness. (Never say these 11 things at work.)
Growth
Three ways to grow any business: Get more clients; sell existing clients more often; and sell existing clients more stuff.
Collaboration
Whether it is bartering or partnering with someone else, find the people who have what you need and is willing to collaborate with you. A true WIN/WIN situation can skyrocket a business! (Make sure you never say these things to your boss.)
