If you’re an entrepreneur you are probably wearing tons of hats in your business. You are the HR department, sales team, chief content creator, CEO, the list goes on. Doing it all makes it very easy to continually be working in a reactive way instead of proactive. You might even be wondering how you can become proactive, and what exactly are examples of being proactive anyway?
Sound familiar?
The truth is, it wasn’t so long ago that I found myself living mostly in reactive mode, which is a tough place to be. It makes everything harder, less efficient, more stressful and makes progress of any kind feel extremely slow.
Proactive people don’t let their business and life run them. They are the boss of both. From personal experience, I can tell you it’s so easy to feel like the day is running you instead of you running it.
So if you are ready to take control of your work and life then these examples of being proactive are for you!
10 Examples of Being Proactive
In no particular order, below are 10 examples of being proactive and how to identify if you are working in a reactive way so you can stop and become more productive.
1. Scheduling Your Inbox
I think we can all agree that we have a love-hate relationship with email, am I right? Plus, if you’re spending your whole day in your inbox, how do you get anything else done?
Reactive:
- Checking email first thing in the morning, leaving it open throughout the day, and responding to emails immediately.
Proactive:
- Set specific times throughout the day to check and reply to emails. If you want to check first thing in the morning, then set the expectation that you are only checking to see if something needs an immediate response – all other emails can wait.
*Bonus Tip: If there is an actual work emergency and someone needs you urgently, they will find you.
2. Set Your Daily Priorities
You have probably noticed by now that I love a plan! Especially when it’s made up of small achievable steps because that guarantees action toward a goal.
Reactive:
- Diving right into your day with no plan and not knowing what your day’s priorities are (same goes for the week, month, etc.) or how they align to your goals.
Proactive:
- Write out your top 3 must-do priorities for the day. If you get more done, great, and if not, then you know what you have for tomorrow.
3. Prioritize the Hardest Task First
I recently needed to make cold calls for market research. I kept putting this at the bottom of my list, even though it was the most critical task, because it was also the hardest. What should have been scheduled quickly, took two weeks.
Reactive
- Putting the most challenging tasks off until the end of the day when you are already worn out and don’t have enough time to finish… which almost always ensures they don’t get done.
Proactive
- Doing the hardest task first to make sure that it gets done. Plus, when you get the most challenging one done first, you will already feel super accomplished, and you set yourself up to get everything else done!
4. Batch Your Tasks Instead of Working on Everything
Batching is when you complete the same type of tasks during a set time period. Until recently I thought I was batching, but I learned that I was batching wrong… now I love to batch my work and I get so much more done!
Reactive:
- Doing a bunch of different tasks in a specific period. For example: “I want to write three blog posts today” sounds like it’s batching them, but it’s not. This turns into drafting each blog post, editing each post, creating graphics for each post, etc. This means you have to continually shift your mindset for each of those different types of activities.
Proactive:
- Batch your tasks by type. Draft the blog posts in one time block, edit them in a different time block, create the graphics in another, and so on. You’ll be amazed at how much more efficient you are that way.
5. Put Your Phone on DND
Ever notice how you can be making a ton of progress on something, then your phone buzzes…. and 30 minutes later you are finally getting back to that task… then before you know it… *buzz*
Reactive
- Your phone notifications are on, and you pick up your phone every time it goes off.
Proactive
- Turn off the notifications or put your phone on DND when you are trying to get stuff done.
Tip! I recently started setting a 25-minute timer on my phone. And for the 25 minutes I solely focus on one task and turn everything else off.
6. Schedule Social media
When it comes to examples of being proactive this is a tough one for me, mostly because I mindlessly open Instagram, I love to scroll. We can all agree it’s very unproductive.
Reactive
- Checking social media first thing in the morning (and constantly throughout the day), as well as posting all of your content manually.
Proactive
- Set specific times throughout the day to check and reply to social media notifications.
- Automate your posting using 3rd party tools or pre-scheduling them within the app if you can.
7. Take a Break!
Do you ever notice that you are hungry, and then 3 hours later you are starving, and now hangry?
Reactive
- You don’t take a break until you absolutely need to, and then it’s usually in the middle of chaos, plus you are impatient and exhausted.
Proactive
- Schedule a 10-15 minute refresh at least every 2 hours. This will boost your productivity, energy, and mood.
8. Create a Morning Routine
When I get out of bed and do my morning routine, I feel so much better throughout the entire day, no matter what happens.
Reactive
- Waking up and running around trying to eat, get ready, and get to your video conference call on time, then right when your call is about to start, you spill your coffee…
Proactive
- Create a morning routine and stick to it. Even if it’s just 30 minutes, you’re setting yourself up for success for the rest of the day! Whether you want to drink your coffee in peace or get a workout in, make your well-being a priority.
9. Set Deadlines and Stick to Them
People tend to take all the time they are allowed to complete a task. For instance, have you noticed that when something is due in two weeks, it takes the entire two weeks to do it? But if you have another task that is even bigger but is due in 3 days, you somehow make it happen.
Reactive
- When you procrastinate and use up the entire amount of time to do a task, even if it shouldn’t take that long.
Proactive
- For every task, set a realistic deadline and stick to it. If something is only going to take a couple of hours, don’t allow yourself a month to do it. Get it done and move on to bigger things.
10. Set Goals with Action Plans
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Reactive
- Coming up with a goal but having no supporting plan. Anyone can say, “I’m going to be a millionaire,” but the proof is in your action plan.
Proactive
- Turning your visions into reality using short and long-term goals with supporting action plans. All big goals are made up of small steps in the right direction.
Shift from Reactive Toward Proactive Today
If you’re like me, you may find yourself being reactive without even realizing it. But making a conscious effort to become proactive will make all the difference in your productivity.
I hope these 10 examples of being proactive will empower you to work more efficiently, deliver high-quality products and take control of your every day.
Sure, there will be days when your plan goes out the window. That’s life! But the great thing about life is that you can always take a moment to choose to get back to being proactive and toward building a life you love.
In the comments below let me know which of these proactive habits you are going to start doing!
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