Sabrina Gildehaus, fashion expert and founder of the eponymous Fashion Consulting Gildehaus about a few golden rules and hacks that can help you make your day productive from the first minute.

&ldquo;Focus on being productive instead of busy&rdquo; as Tim Ferriss, the author of three New York Times bestsellers like &ldquo;The 4 Hour Workweek&rdquo;, is worth quoting.

Being a successful fashion entrepreneur takes more than a vision. It requires continuous effort to combine creativity with operation routine. When it comes to running a small business, there is a fine line between being busy and being productive.

There are several golden rules to keep in mind that will&nbsp;make your (professional) life easier:

1. Track and manage your time 

Allocate your time proactively and consciously manage your calendar, it must reflect your priorities! Re-plan ruthlessly and leave the space for uninterrupted working time to answer, for example, important e-mails when you are the most productive. Plan and review your calendar on the weekend or in the morning. Successful entrepreneurs believe in such morning rituals, so-called &ldquo;Platinum Mornings&rdquo;. They spend this time in isolation, prepping their minds for the tasks and meetings during the day.

2. Manage meetings like a pro

Avoid unproductive meetings. Meetings are an essential part of business decisions but try to minimize the number of meetings to secure short decision ways. Set up clear meeting rules for your team and do not shy away from canceling or leaving a meeting, if these are not followed. It just strengthens your authority. Some examples can be:

&bull; Clear agenda, objective, and meeting owner.

&bull; Be on time. Start on time. End on time.

&bull; Stick to the agenda. Postpone new topics to separate meetings.

&bull; Enforce decisions are being taken. No decisions = no outcome.

&bull; Follow up on the meeting outcomes. No follow up = no outcome.

&bull; Minimize disruptions in the meeting! No emails and no mobile phones.

3. Have strong opinions - weakly held

Share your opinion and have a bias for decisions. A good leader takes decisions as fast as possible, only decisions move the business forward. Accept that some of those decisions will be wrong. A good leader knows that decisions involve painful trade-offs but welcomes the clarity that decisions provide. Once a decision has been taken, clearly communicate it, and ensure speedy implementation. If a decision turns out to be wrong, rapidly reverse course, explain the new decision, and do not look back. Key principle: strong opinions, weakly held.

4. Shut off the Internet

The Internet is nowadays the most significant source of distraction, especially for creative people. Of course, online shops, Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest became part of business interactions while talking to customers or as inspirational sources. If you struggle to focus on the task, allocate special time and purpose for using apps or webpages, otherwise turn off the apps that consume your time. Soon you will find your productivity level soaring.

5. Always be in control of your inbox, never fall behind

One of the biggest productivity hacks involves the organization around your e-mail inbox. Especially, when your company is still a startup phase, you are copied in almost every conversation. In order not to drown and not to get distracted, designate time for your e-mails, response time of 24 hours, and inbox zero at the end of the day should be your permanent goal. Answer quick ones quickly, delete fast, and move longer ones to a to-do folder. Use labels, stars, and folders to let your inbox become your to-do list. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, for example, does not even have separate task lists or anything outside his inbox.

6. Constantly learn &amp; challenge yourself

You have to have strong opinions, but you have to learn and be ready to change for better opinions at a moment&rsquo;s notice. Remember strong opinions, weakly held.

Go with eyes and ears open through the world! Learn all the time and read read read! Hard to be successful without spending at least 5 hours a week on reading outside of your work.

7. Set new targets

Make sure you analyze your goals and set the new ones. That is also a proven tactic to give clear direction for all outstanding business decisions and to motivate your team and yourself. It does not only reward emotionally but also motivates and challenges to meet new targets. It does not matter that most targets and plans won&#39;t work exactly but planning enables prioritization and learning.

8. Leverage the incredible power of 1on1s

Referring back to Tim Ferriss, busy people get drowned in detail, productive people keep their eyes on the macro and micro!

Especially, as a young entrepreneur and a leader, it is important to learn to trust your employees. Empower your team! &ldquo;You decide&rdquo; needs to become a key part of your vocabulary and accept that a delegated decision might look different from your own. Of course, it might seem challenging to let other people make decisions in your company, as this is &ldquo;your baby&rdquo;. Nevertheless, your main concern and focus should be on the most critical topics for the business, therefore, outsource trivial but still must-do tasks.

9. Take Regular Breaks

Sometimes, working tirelessly on a strategy, collection, or design ultimately becomes irritating, and it leads to loss of productivity. Therefore, when pondering about how to become more creative or to increase output, do not&nbsp;forget to include breaks regularly as a strategy to re-energize your creative powers.

10. Find your productivity system, stick to it, and optimize gradually

You have to have your productivity system and you need to stick to it. Do not change too often, but optimize gradually over time to also give your employees the chance to adapt to it. Invest time in getting productivity right! It&rsquo;s the most essential and most valuable skill you will ever need as an entrepreneur. Don&acute;t forget that you are the master of your agenda and always pull yourself out when caught up in spirals.

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Sabrina Gildehaus is a fashion expert and specialist from Berlin who now lives in Kiev in the Ukraine. 
She is the founder of the fashion consultancy Gildehaus. Her mission is to support and develop fashion brands and create a community of fashion experts.

She has more than 10 years of professional experience in the fashion industry. Previously she worked with Tom Tailor, Joop! and Zalando SE.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.gildehaus.com">https://gildehaus.com.ua/</a>

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/sabrina.gildehaus/">https://www.instagram.com/sabrina.gildehaus/</a>

10 Productivity Hacks for Young Fashion Entrepreneurs

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