As an entrepreneur, it is critical to remain focused, productive, and efficient since you are now solely responsible for the business you have started and are operating. We can all get away with letting work slide a little when we’re working for our bosses in the corporate world, or as a student, but being unproductive as an entrepreneur can be a dangerous habit that may take your venture off course.

Entrepreneurs especially, are vulnerable to falling into unproductive traps due to many different factors. For one, entrepreneurs no longer have a boss handing them tasks, giving them deadlines, and applying pressure to make things happen. As an entrepreneur, you now need to set your own deadlines and apply pressure to yourself to get things done in a timely fashion.

Entrepreneurs also tend to face a lot of criticism and negativity when launching their ventures, as you will often hear entrepreneurs explain that they are always told no more often then they are told yes. Constant negativity as an entrepreneur can leave many into believing the negativity they hear which results in a deflation of your motivation. Entrepreneurs need third-party validation and belief that their business is doing the right thing and will succeed, however often times that third-party validation doesn’t come until after you have succeeded.

The challenge of having to all of sudden do everything to get your business launched and operating efficiently can create a stalled environment that can be compared to being pulled in so many different directions that the equal forces in all directions end up leaving you in the same spot. Entrepreneurs need to understand how to set priorities and stay focused amongst the craziness to move their business forward. One way to measure your productivity is to count how many things you cross off of your to do list every day and how many of those things you accomplished are tangible?

Two simple rules that I like to follow to ensure I stay productive are to write down a to-do-list the night before and leave the to-do-list on my computer to look at first thing in the morning. Secondly, set a goal for your self to produce at least 1 tangible item every day. A tangible can be anything physical or physically related such as a client meeting, writing a marketing document that you’ve been putting off, finishing a business plan, or anything that moves your business forward. All too often, we get bogged down and saturated with intangible things like conducting research on the internet and emails that takes away from accomplishing our most productive tasks, which tend to be tangible.

As you work on your business and ideas, use little productive tips like the aforementioned to help you monitor your productivity and more importantly to keep your productivity and your business on track.