We all know that there are a variety of variables out there that can easily take over your day. Even the entrepreneur with the best plan can be sucked into a whirlwind of lost productivity. However, if you are aware of the biggest productivity suckers and have plans in place to avoid the pitfalls, you can overcome them and make the best use possible of your time and energy.
Social Media
Social media is an exciting tool that every business can benefit from but it can also be a productivity sucker. Spending too much time perusing social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can eat into your work hours before you know it. Set a schedule for social media. If you are not in the window of time that you have allotted for social media, stay off it. Use it only for specific purposes like communicating with your audience and monitoring your industry.
Searching for Information
Too often we spend time searching for information that we need, and are confident that it is noted somewhere. But this is a major productivity sucker. Realistically, an organized office has a place for everything and that includes notes on customers and potential customers. If you have a cloud based phone system like Halloo you have information about every customer at your fingertips every time the phone rings.
Email is meant to be yet another communication tool to enhance your business. If you are spending too much time on it however, it can consume time that should be spent on more productive tasks. In order to minimize the time you spend on email, ensure that the only thing delivered to your inbox is correspondence important to your business. Don’t subscribe to newsletters or give out your work email unless it is for work. Avoid repeatedly checking your email throughout the day. Check it only at prescribed times so you can take advantage of uninterrupted stretches of time.
The Learning Curve
Struggling with technology or trying to learn skills that you need for a particular task in your business can turn a seemingly simple task into a productivity drain. If you need different technology or specialized skills, look into one-on-one coaching or simply outsourcing the task. You do not need to do every single thing in order for your business to succeed.
Analyze your daily work activities and see how much time you spend on each. By doing an honest evaluation, you will be able to get a handle on the things that are keeping you from maximum productivity.