You can easily lose time over the course of the day. Even the entrepreneur with the best plan can spin into a whirlwind of lost productivity. Spend a few minute reflecting on your day. Be honest with yourself regarding how much time you actually spent on certain tasks. Gaining awareness of your biggest energy draining or time wasting tasks can help you boost your time, energy, and overall productivity.
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 giant chunks out of your workday. Set a schedule and a total time allotment for social media. If it’s not on the schedule or you’ve already spent the max allowance for the day, stay off it. Use it only for specific purposes like communicating with your audience and monitoring your industry.
Information
Too often we spend time searching for information that we need, and are confident that it is noted somewhere. This can also be 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 another communication tool meant to enhance your business. However, if you are endlessly checking and responding to email, you can easily consume time that would be better 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 work related. Scheduling set times to check and respond to emails can help you stay avoid endless interruptions throughout the day.
Technology
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.
Have more tips for increasing your productivity? Please share them in the comment section below.