This Hack From a Career Expert Takes 5 Minutes and Could Increase Your Income (Almost) Overnight

Career hacks can boost professional growth, build strong networks and help achieve goals faster. But can they increase your income?

According to Laura Mae Martin, mother of three, organizer extraordinaire and Google productivity coach, dealing with procrastination, distractions and overcommitting can help you work more efficiently and position you to improve productivity, opportunities and income.

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Here’s a five-minute hack from this career expert that can help you increase your income.

Act Like Your Own Assistant

When faced with projects at work (or home), breaking down large tasks into smaller, more manageable steps should be a natural plan of attack. However, procrastination is a common, and sometimes chronic, tendency many of us resort to for a number of reasons.  

“Getting started is the hardest part of tackling a bigger task,” Martin told CNBC Make It. “Big, lofty goals, creative projects and self-care can easily slip into those ‘meaning to do’ categories and fall to the wayside.”

To get through hesitancy, Martin suggested that you act like your own assistant and take as little as five minutes a day to prepare for an assignment or the start of a project. “If I were someone’s assistant, and I wanted my boss to get this done tomorrow, what would I do to nudge them along gently, and make it easier?” Martin said.

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How Can This Career Hack Increase Your Income?

You can increase your income right away by earning a raise or getting a new higher-paying job, but relying on career hacks to make more money is a different piece of business altogether.

That being said, dedicating some time during the day to prep a project will free up time to concentrate on positive actions that can absolutely earn you more income. Gaining knowledge and expanding your network can help you monetize your talents by using your interests, passions and abilities to create a new income stream or invest any extra money sensibly. 

Martin told CNBC Make It back in September that you should concentrate on no more than three “specific and immediate” priorities when faced with a goal or assignment.

Making preliminary moves shows initiative, highlights your organizational skills and sets you on a course of efficiency that can lead to promotions within your organization. These qualities are coveted by all companies and can be leveraged into better opportunities outside your present job situation.

Whatever you choose to do with the time freed up by taking five or 15 minutes to work on those priorities and act like your own assistant, the amount of procrastination and tension you eliminate will be immeasurable.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: This Hack From a Career Expert Takes 5 Minutes and Could Increase Your Income (Almost) Overnight

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