10 Effective Productivity Hacks for Agency Owners

Productivity is the holy grail for business owners.

When you and your team are highly productive, you can get through more work, keep your customers happy, generate higher profits, and grow your agency.

But being productive is not as simple as pushing a button and shifting into turbo work mode – if only! It takes a bit of practice and experimentation to find the methods of productivity that work best for you and your team.

Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to become more efficient, and none of them is too taxing.

To help get the ball rolling, we’ve listed our top 10 productivity hacks for agency owners below. Read them now and get ready to tear through that to-do list!

10 Effective Productivity Hacks for Agency Owners

1. Ditch The Distractions

Never have we ever had so many distractions at our fingertips. We have email and messaging notifications vying for our attention throughout the day. It may seem harmless enough to respond to every message, phone call, or email when it arrives, but in reality, the toll on your productivity is considerable.

A study conducted by the University of California Irvine found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on a task once you’ve been distracted! Times that by even five emails or messages, and you’ve lost hours of precious time.

Turn off or mute your notifications before you sit down to work, and ensure any other distractions are minimised. Your brain will thank you for it, and your productivity will soar!

2. Quit Multitasking

Newsflash: multitasking is no longer considered to be the peak of efficiency! In fact, research shows that only 2.5 % of people are able to multitask effectively. Most of us become less efficient and more prone to making mistakes when we try to split our attention across several tasks at once.

It’s far better to focus entirely on one task. Your brain will be able to get through it more quickly and complete it at a higher level of quality.

3. Batch Similar Tasks

Now that we know multitasking is a productivity no-no, it makes sense to group similar tasks together instead of jumping from one thing to another.

For example, if you answer an email, log into your accounting software to send an invoice, then sit down to write a social media post, you’re scattering your energy and disrupting your flow.

Try instead to set aside, for example, 30 minutes twice a day for emails, 20 minutes a day for all your invoicing, and an hour once a week to create your social posts.

This batching method does wonders for your focus and is one of our top productivity hacks for agency owners.

4. Work In Cycles

Do you force yourself to sit at your desk for one or two hours without a break? How’s that working out for you? Productivity experts don’t recommend this kind of forced focus.

Our brains work in cycles: they work best in short bursts with frequent breaks. Try setting a timer for 25 minutes and focusing completely, with no distractions.

Then, allow five minutes for a break (move away from your desk, take a drink, rest your mind) before repeating the cycle. Do this several times, with longer breaks every few hours.

5. Do The Hardest Task First

One of our favourite productivity hacks for agency owners is the “eat the frog” method. The name is odd, but the methodology is sound.

It involves doing the most demanding, most unpleasant job of the day (eating the frog) first before moving on to other tasks.

This way, you get a burst of motivation from completing the job. You can surf on this motivation wave for the rest of the day.

6. Sort Out Your Systems

Why do things yourself if you can automate!

These days, technology can increase productivity enormously. Take a look at all your tasks and ask yourself if there are tools that can take care of them for you. These could be marketing tasks, customer relationship management, invoicing or accounting.

7. Minimise The Meetings

Every time you think about scheduling a meeting, ask yourself, “Is this something that could be communicated via an email, a message, or a quick phone call?”

While meetings are essential at times, many organisations tend to overdo them. Meetings can be a real time-sapper for everyone. So, ensure you clarify the purpose and agenda so that you can make it as efficient as possible if one is called for.

8. Take Breaks

It may seem counterintuitive to take breaks when trying to get more done, but rest and relaxation are essential for productivity.

Make sure you and your team take frequent short breaks and honour work hours and days off by setting limits about communication after hours.

Remember, a break is not sitting down to scroll social media or look at your emails. Your brain needs to get away from the screen and have a few moments to refresh.

Get away from the desk, go for a walk, have a bite to eat at a café, pop to the gym, or have a power nap. You’ll find yourself much more refreshed and ready to get back to work if you take care of your mind and body.

9. Use The Right Tools

A productive agency is an organised agency. Make use of all the fabulous tools out there designed to help you be streamlined and organised.

Use tools like Trello or Slack to communicate with your team. Integrate Monday.com or Atlassian to create an efficient project pipeline. And cloud accounting software is a must!

10. Outsource Your Ongoing Client Support Services

We’ve saved one of our best productivity hacks for agency owners until last. Outsourcing is where it’s at. As tempting as it is to try and do everything yourself, it’s not an efficient way to run a business.

Instead of investing all those resources into upskilling and resourcing new products and services for your customers, why not outsource to an expert. This allows you to focus on your core offerings while still giving your clients what they want.

The Website Guardians provide Ongoing Client Support Services that you can offer to your clients under your name. Our monthly support plans provide peace of mind via proactive website monitoring, keeping your clients happy while helping you to be more productive.

If you’d like to learn more about outsourcing your service plans, contact us today.