Sometimes the most overwhelming part of running a business has nothing to do with your actual work. Rather, it’s all the distractions throughout the day that hook your attention, making it difficult to be productivity and get stuff done.

The biggest threats to your productivity won’t surprise you. You know they’re there, yet you may find them hard to avoid. The first step toward regaining control of your time and being more productive is to recognize these productivity vampires so you can meet them head on.

1. Email

How many different email accounts do you manage? In addition to your business account and personal email address, you may also manage a customer service inbox, supplier inbox, or other accounts.

• How many times a day do you check each of these accounts?
• Do you respond to each email as it comes in?
• Are you stressed by the end of the day if you haven’t responded to every email?

Having a process and setting aside time to manage your inboxes is essential for any business owner.

2. Social Media

Similar to email, social media can limit productivity because you likely have several business accounts to manage and inquiries to respond to, not to mention keeping up with your personal feeds. Tools like Hootsuite can help you synchronize content across different platforms from a business perspective.

However, the real danger in social media lies in content consumption and the psychological effects it can have. The content posted on social media is endless and infinite. You could scroll through your Twitter feed or browse Instagram for hours without even realizing it.

Studies have shown that Facebook makes people less happy with their own lives. This applies to business owners as well. While you may be posting or browsing content related to your business, it is easy to get distracted by updates from friends and family and then to fall into a psychological rut of FOMO, or “fear of missing out.”

3. The Internet

If social media is as endless and infinite as the night sky, then the internet represents the ever-expanding universe. Don’t fall down the black hole of reading random blogs or articles that are not relevant to the immediate task at hand. It takes a conscious effort to prioritize your to-do list and a great deal of discipline to use the web with a clear intention.

4. Delegate Tasks

The final productivity vampire to watch out for is all of the administrative “housekeeping” you think YOU need to do for your business. This includes basically anything that does not directly drive revenue or help you build your business.

In many cases, this kind of work can be easily delegated to another employee or outsourced. You might not want to let go of some of these tasks because you fear losing control or think you can do them better than anyone else, but letting others take on some of your tasks will give you more time to focus on the things that matter most to you — and your business.

Do you want to be a more productive business owner, but you’re not sure where to start? Check out our time management hacks here.