Get more work done in less time!
You can get more work done in less time with this #1 productivity habit.
We all have distractions, and we all know what they are.
3 of the most common distractions are:
-
- Videos
- Cell Phones
The absolutely biggest, and NUMBER 1 thing you can do
to improve your performance is to delete your distractions.,
Of course distractions are going to happen.
If you are like most people, then you should know you will lose
over 3 hours of work time every day due to distractions.
What this means is that if you are working for yourself,
and you are Maxed Out on the distraction scale,
then you may quickly find that you have no business, or
that your business needs hospitalization.
Since most people find themselves working online these days,
Most of the distractions come in digital form which is why
email, video, and cell phones are the most common distractions.
The #1 thing that you can do to improve your work performance
and productivity, or your personal performance, is to eliminate as
many distractions as you possibly can.
Of course you also have the general “Website Bounce”.
That is simply going from site to site looking
for – well, you usually don’t know what you are looking for,
you’re just looking.
Offline Distractions
We also lose things, we have to quiet down our children,
take care of bills, clean, talk with people on the phone, grocery shop, and
there are many other things that get in the way of getting our “Major” things done.
Some things just happen, and we are distracted. There are other things
that don’t have to happen to distract us offline.
=>Take your dogs out before you begin your work.
=> Find something for your kids to do that will keep them busy
for a couple of hours.
=> Whatever it is that you are working on, have ALL of your tools handy.
You can waste a lot of your time looking for things.
=> No matter what you are doing, BE ORGANIZED.
Know, or have a very good idea of, what comes next. Being organized helps you to know
what you have done, and what you still need to do.
There is no “Right” or “Wrong” here. Some people are naturally better able
to get things done in an organized and efficient manner.
It is important to always be aware of the #1 productivity habit for working effectively.
So what is your answer? pay attention to what you are doing.
Finding yourself doing something unrelated to your work means, CUT IT OFF!
If you keep in mind the things that you must do,
and why you must do them, then staying focused can become easier.
It takes practice to discipline your mind to keep your destination
at the forefront of distraction.
The magic of the #1 productivity habit that helps you work better, is that it
helps you to focus and stay on track with what you are doing.
Fewer distractions means greater productivity.
Cutting Work Time
Okay, let’s say you have noticed, and identified several of your major time wasters.
How will this save you time?
Since the average person wastes at least 3 hours a day
if you can cut just 1 hour of wasted time, then you have 5 extra
hours a week that you can do something else, or you have produced
5 more hours of productive work.
You’ve heard the saying “Time is money”. If you work for an
employer, your time is their money. If you work for yourself,
then your time becomes even more valuable, and important.
We all would like to be getting more work done in less time,
thus we would have more “Free” time (if there is such a thing).
If you are like me, then you know the feeling of
“There always seems to be something else to be done”, and so you find it.
Even a few minutes of extra time can be a blessing.
Distraction Discovery for less work
This makes one of my clients sound, well – not so bright (sorry client).
Let me tell you about one of my former clients who wanted to
get more focused.
He was an IT guy who
spent most of his day on the computer.
This meant that he had unlimited time on the internet, and most of us do.
I asked him “What are some of the things that draw you away from your work (distractions)?”
His answer was “I have no distractions”. I found that interesting,
since every living thing on the planet gets distracted – at least people do.
After about 5 minutes of getting nowhere, I asked him if he could
monitor everything he did for a two hour span of his work time.
Slightly insulted, he uttered the old cliche’ “Does a bear (you know what) in the woods?”
In addition, I asked him if he would be able to send me a copy of what sites he used, and
how long he was at those sites? “Sure” he said, “But it will be boring”.
“Fine, make certain the what you are working on has no confidential information.
I just want to use you as an example of how well someone can focus.”
The Reveal
Several days later he sent me a copy of his previous day’s 3 (I asked for 2) hours of work.
I was pretty impressed for his first hour. Then I saw:
=> Gmail (20 minutes)
=> Instagram (30 minutes)
=> YouTube (20+ minutes)
=> Porn site (5+ minutes)
I was really glad to see that he never gets distracted.
When I met with him again, I asked him about the time he spent,
not about the site visits. Some things are legit (except the porn thing).
He told me that he was networking on Instagram, answering business
emails on Gmail, checking his competition on YouTube.
“And the 5 minutes on the porn site”? I asked.
“I didn’t see that in your survey sheet, or I would have deleted it.” he replied.
Bottom line is that he gets distracted a lot, and for a good part of his work time.
I was very blunt and explained that his excuses will do him any good,
so he was simply deceiving himself about his time.
We worked up a plan, and immediately began to see that he could get more
work done in less time than he had been able to before. He was pleasantly surprised.
It is not necessary to use monitoring software to log everything you do.
It is important to notice when you are not doing the work you were working on.
One thing about us humans is that we can re-focus our attention in an instant.
One second we are working on a graphic, the next we are reading through, and answering our emails.
I used to read emails that I already knew I was going to delete. DUH!
When you work at saving time, you will want to periodically take a mental break.
Most of us do this automatically, as our brains can only handle so much.
When your mind begins to wander, alert yourself as to what you are doing right then.
Everyone is different. You may, or you may not realize that distraction is occurring.
There is one thing for certain, if you cannot control and eliminate
unnecessary distractions, you will not get more work done in less time,
but you will often find yourself needing more time to complete projects.