Before I started Russtek, I spent 16 years at a retail and logistics company in Ontario that sold beer. I worked at many retail stores within the company, starting out as Part-Time while in school, to getting promoted to a Permanent Part-Time position and finally to my last union position as a Full-Time employee.
While in these roles, I always had a specific job to do, a task that was given to me by my manager. From working the tills and serving customers, having to unload a truck or stocking the cooler. I was always given a list of tasks for the day and made sure to complete them.
Back in 2013 after some thought, I decided to apply for and got the job to be a Store Manager at the Beer Store, the company I was with.
With this position, I thought I would be able to become more productive and lead my team while creating my own systems. Now in some ways that was true but for the most part I had really no control in this role as I had to answer to my District Manager. A boss that had his own tasks for me to complete on a weekly basis.
It wasn’t until 2016, the time in my life when I left the Beer Store, I had to figure out what I was going to do next. That’s a story for another day if you haven’t already heard it but.
Having nothing lined up at that moment, I knew I wasn’t going to go back to work for someone else so I had to focus on learning new skills that would eventually help me start Russtek.
This is where I started to take every online course, masterclass and webinar I could find so that I could learn how to not only start and run a business but learn how to use social media to market my business and in turn use those skills to help others do the same.
Trying to find ways to become more productive and avoid distractions while working from home wasn’t easy to say the least. Never having a chance to work “unsupervised†before, so to speak and now not having to answer to anyone was completely new to me and I needed to figure out a way to do it.
I tried different methods and I read many books. Two that really helped were High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard and Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy. These two books set me up to not only become more productive but helped me learn the tools to manage my tasks and how to create the habits I needed to become more productive and successful.
Those books, as well as the two main tools I still use today, ToDoist and Google Calendar have helped me create systems that in turn help me get more meaningful tasks done. This has also helped me not only become more productive but have helped me get more done in a shorter amount of time.
During the first few months while reading the books I mentioned above, learning and taking every webinar and course I could, I really struggled.
There was always something distracting me. A show that I had missed or a hockey game I taped, the laundry sitting in the basket, a sink full of yesterday’s dishes, tables that were dusty or thinking that “I’ll just take a little break†that usually turned into longer breaks. There were always times someone asked to meet for coffee knowing I didn’t have a “9-5†anymore.
I thought that I had freedom and was able to do all the things I was never able to do because now…I was my own boss. As time went on, I knew I was falling behind and the more I fell behind I got to a point where I didn’t think it was possible to catch back up.
It wasn’t until I actually finished those books I mentioned above, that I started to implement the strategies I had learned and started to use the tools I mentioned above. Doing all this helped me to become far more productive.
A while back I was on an accountability call, a team member did a presentation talking about Time Blocking. This accountability call and that presentation changed my life.
If you’re not familiar with time blocking, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Blocking time to not only complete the tasks you need to get done but also to take the breaks needed in the day so you can keep your energy up.
Using the Time Blocking method as well as tools like ToDoist where I create my routines, manage my projects and plan out my days, weeks and months has helped me become far more productive as well, it has helped me grow my business.
Can I add some more value to this blog?
I’ve often talked about and offered everyone ToDoist Premium many times before. The offer I had was getting 2 months of premium for free if you signed up with the link I provided. Although that works well and it’s an amazing offer as it is, I realized that’s just not enough. I wanted to up the value for you and as Russell Brunson always says, I want to over deliver.
So that’s what I want to do now. I am going to offer you a couple of my best templates! Templates I have made that help me stay productive. These are templates that have helped me grow my business.
If you click below, you’re not only going to get ToDoist Premium free for 2 months (After that it’s only $4 a month) but I’ll throw in my 2 most used templates that you’ll be able to start using today.