As a small business owner, there are countless people and projects clamoring for your attention, which can make it difficult to focus. Distractions often prevent you from getting your work done. Yet, executing strategies that bring you fast cash are essential to build your business quickly.
You may think there are not enough hours in the day. However, the true solution is becoming focused and sticking to your plan to complete projects. Let me share three empowering strategies that will help you improve focus and spike productivity.
1. What are your biggest time wasters?
When you think about what distracts you from work, it may be any of these activities:
• Email
• Personal phone calls
• Social media
• Errands
• Not delegating enough
• Non-money-making activities
• Other people’s priorities
Take out a piece of paper and write down what activities are the most distracting to your productivity. Getting clear on what takes you off course and competes for your attention is the first step to improving productivity. Think about what gets in your way on a daily basis.
2. Allow yourself to say no
I know you work hard, so have a little compassion for yourself. Making yourself feel bad will not help change the situation. As an entrepreneur, you never get to the bottom of your to-do list and it’s time to accept this as a fact. Take a moment to consider what you need to say “No” to in order to clear your desk for priority projects.
Here are three steps you can take situations to say “No” and guard your time:
• If what you are working on is not generating money or a big game changer, stop doing it.
• Set strong boundaries with family, friends, colleagues and even clients if needed.
• Hire childcare if you need it; even two hours a day can improve productivity.
3. Use Tools that Boost Productivity
Try any of these suggestions to become more focused and enhance your productivity.
• Get away from your desk to disrupt your routine. Try a café, the library or even work at home once a week to be super focused during this time.
• Close all non-essential windows on your computer like Facebook Twitter, email, etc.
• Let calls go to voicemail and return calls later.
• Use an egg time or countdown clock on your phone or computer for focused time periods. When the timer rings, you are done—no matter how much you’ve accomplished.
Please keep in mind you are human and tomorrow is another day. Whatever you don’t finish will be there tomorrow, but having an end time is just as important as setting time aside to focus on priority tasks.
Your The Leveraged Business Assignment
I encourage you to also make a list of what you need to stop doing or delegate to free up time for more important, money-generating activities. Since there are only so many hours in a day, the better you get at using your time productively and not allowing yourself to get distracted, the more you‘ll accomplish.
This is just one of the many best practices we dive deep into with the students of The Leveraged Business Business School, the premier training school for growth-minded entrepreneurs looking to quickly attract more clients and make more money. If you’re interested in finding out more, visit www.ClientAttractionBusinessSchool.com for more details. To speak to an enrollment coach, click here.
