Hundreds of thousands of CEOs for businesses large and small, all seek many of the same things. They want higher profit margins, less waste, more exciting marketing strategies, an increase in industry recognition and of course, higher productivity from their employees. All very valid, important and indeed prudent wishes. And yet, CEOs don’t hold the magnifying glass over their own performances nearly enough as they should.

If the boss isn’t productive, then why should the employees be? Self-critique is sometimes difficult to do. We are at times emotionally fragile, and pride, as well as ego, stop us from evolving. Every leader would love to get more done, but they also have to accept that this will mean them doing more. Outsourcing and delegating some of your responsibilities is therefore inevitable.

Make a List

No matter how much ‘get up and go’ is in your system, knowing where to direct your energy is even more important. That’s why, as easy as it may sound, making a list of things you need to do for each day is going to severely improve your productivity. The point is to stop aimlessly wandering or going from one task to the other without disconnecting from your central goals. Downloading and installing scheduling apps is a cheap effective way to inject some order in your day. Trello is one of the leading apps on both iOS and Android. But even without electronic solutions, the simple act of putting pen to paper to write out what you want to achieve in the way of having meetings, speeches, reading reports and more, will keep you grounded.

Sharing Your Voice

CEOs find they become an octopus without realizing it. They have all their fingers in all the pies and become control freaks. Apart from other negative impacts, this can have, it erodes trust among your C-suite. You must learn to share your voice, allow others to speak and act on your behalf. Rather than taking all sales calls yourself, use one of the premium answering services. With over a decade’s worth of experience, their tailored approach conforms to your needs. If your business has piqued the interest of another business, the service can take down all their information as well as their reason for calling and relay it to you when you’re next available. This is brilliant for when you’re on a flight, in the middle of an important meeting, or speaking with other clients face to face.

Kill the Distractions

All CEOs will have twice as many things to do as they have time. So it’s important that you be merciless with distractions. You are the CEO, you make the rules so don’t be afraid to assign yourself more time if you need it. Give yourself an entire day of just working on things you want to do, rather than obeying your normal schedule. If some plans have slipped and some things are unfinished, then pour all your energy into completing them for that one day out of the week.

Every CEO must lead by example. If the boss isn’t productive with his or her time, then asking employees to be productive is hypocritical. Learn to share your voice, make lists and be ruthless with distractions.