Time is the most valuable commodity we living beings have. We all have the same amount of time everyday; 24 hours. Whether we are healthy or ill, tired or strong, rich or poor, young or old, we all have the same amount of hours each day, and none of us can buy time back. What we do with our time is what makes the difference in our lives. Since we can’t go back in time to make amends or do things right, we have to make sure we are maximising the most of our time every day regardless of our situation.

For us online entrepreneurs, managing our time and being as productive as possible is so important. Especially as most of us work alone and we are our own bosses.

Many people wonder how I get “the time” to do all I do – juggling my twin toddlers pretty much by myself all day, and running my online projects. When I wrote my book – How to Cash In as a Blogger, many asked how I found the time for that. I found it so weird that I kept getting asking the same question over and over again. Well, when there is a will, there is a way, and there is always enough time to get done all that needs to be done.

Here are 3 productivity hacks that have worked for me in the past 5 years, you may work for you as well:

Guard your time

Now this is the first productivity hack I am mentioning for a reason, and that is because without having the time, you can’t get anything done. So you need to ensure you guard your time jealously.

In 24 hours, I need to sleep at least 7 hours so I don’t get grumpy, I need to eat my meals, I need to feed my family, I need to get my kids to pre school and get them back home in time, I need to write, I need to get blog work done, I need to attend to my freelance clients, and so on. So with all the various tasks that need to be done, I can’t afford to speak on the phone for hours, to be on Whatsapp chatting endlessly, watch all the series on TV or lie in bed all day. I need to guard my time.

Once you guard your time, you will find that you have more time than you thought you did.

Set a routine

Once your time has been guarded, then you need to set a clear routine so you know what needs to be done daily and in what order, leaving a bit of room for flexibility. Having a to-do list helps massively as well. I tend to be on top of my day when I stick to my to-do list.

The beauty of having a routine and to-do list is that you don’t need to think of what needs to be done because you know that already. It helps you become more efficient.

Work hard

Many people say it is work smart and not hard. I tend to disagree with this many times depending on the situation. In order to be productive, you have to be hard-working. Yes you will need to work smart too but you will have to work hard first for your work smart to work for you.

Imagine if Beyoncé was “working smart” from her days in Destiny’s Child? Do you think she would be where she is today? No I don’t think so. For you to relax on your hustle, you have to put in the work in the foundation days.

Do you have a productivity hack to share? Please drop it in the comment box below.

Thanks for reading.