Tips to Increase Productivity
6 Small Business Time Management Tips
1. Ignore Your Email - This probably sounds a lot easier than it is as most people tend to check theirs every 5-10 minutes.
But if you add up all of the minutes that it takes to continually check your inbox and then reply, it’s easy to see why it’s such a time waster.
2. Don’t Multi-Task - In the Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, experts showed that only about 2.5% of people are able to effectively multi-task and still do well at each activity. Additionally, the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London shows that a person’s IQ falls 10 points when they’re overly stimulated by emails, texts, and phone calls. On the other hand, time management experts estimate that focusing on one thing at a time will double productivity, work output, and performance. And when you’re running a small business, that can mean the difference between success and failure.
3. Set Step-by-Step Goals - It’s one thing to set a goal, and quite another to set a detailed goal where the steps and increments needed to accomplish it are outlined in advance. Many people set general goals and then never follow through with them. For example, think of the millions of New Year’s resolutions that are set every year. The problem with these types of goals is that while they’re nice ideas, people just don’t know how to implement them.
4. Organize Your Time and Space - It’s difficult to work in an organized manner when everything around you is in chaos. A study done by Esselte shows that 43% of Americans consider themselves unorganized, and that lack of organization causes them to stay late at the office at least two nights per week. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Organization experts agree that the first step to increasing productivity is to clear and then organize your space. Eliminate everything that isn’t necessary, then create a system for the things that are.
5. Put It in Writing - There’s something about committing to a plan in writing that somehow solidifies it in your mind. By writing down your plan of action for the day including your goals and the details of them – you’ll be armed with a plan that should carry you efficiently through the day. You’ll of course still be confronted with distractions, but if you have a clear understanding of what you need to accomplish for the day, you’ll be more likely to get right back to the task at hand, rather than aimlessly drifting from one task to the next.
Some experts believe you should create this list the night before. That way, you’ll be able to start the next day fully prepared, rather than wasting time deciding how to approach tasks and figuring out what you need to get done.
6. Turn Your Car into an Office - If you’ve seen the movie, Lincoln Lawyer, you’ll appreciate this next, more extreme tip. Do you ever find yourself wishing you could get some work done as you drive between appointments or hang out in your car waiting for a meeting to begin? Instead of wasting this precious time, hook up a fax and copy machine to your car and use the time to do the things that are necessary, but often very inconvenient when you’re on the road. Check out the Possio Greta portable GSM fax, printer, and scanner, and never let your drive-time be wasted time again. You can also invest in a smartphone or a laptop computer with a mobile Internet card so you’re connected at all times.
Source: MoneyCrashers
Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.
Growth strategies for small business.
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