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 productive and GSD (I call that Get Shit 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.
Block time on your schedule to check email and for heavens sake turn those notifications OFF! 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. Pull all of these email addresses into one area; for example if you are an Apple use, use MacMail to have all addresses coming to one area. Stop responding to emails right when they come in. Unless you are outsourcing this to a customer service rep and that is their job. This gets you into email jail and consumes your work day.
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. Again, block the time on your calendar and turn the notifications OFF!
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 team member 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.
