Remove distractions & Increase productivity
Do you get to the end of each day, not really quite sure what you achieved? Do you feel like you did a whole bunch of ‘stuff’ that were other people's priorities, but spent no time moving things forward and working on your high-priority business actions?
If your days are similar to the above, then you have a problem with owning your time.
Now wasting time is akin to sleeping on a pile of gold. It is so precious and you can never get it back.
It is so important that you take ownership of your time. You need to be able to use it wisely to grow and to keep your business moving forward.
When you get interrupted, it takes 20 minutes or more to regain focus. If you allow constant interruptions, such as last-minute requests and meetings, email notifications or messages, etc., your productivity will plummet. You get out of the ‘zone’, and your mind gets burdened with other things at the same time.
A good first step to removing distractions and increasing productivity is to ask yourself why this is happening to you. Where does your time go? What are the aspects or areas of your business that you keep getting pulled into? Who or what keeps taking your time & attention?
Awareness is the first step.
Now in order to get more focused & increase your high-value output, you have to prioritise things in your day. When working on a specific task, turn off notifications & remove distractions.
Dedicate a time or several time slots in your days for doing high-value, deep & uninterrupted work AND time in your day for reviewing and responding to emails, calls & messages.
Remember, it’s not be the end of the world if you don’t respond immediately (you need to quieten your people pleaser here!)
There’s also another reason for wasting time - and it’s an important one. You could be unclear on your time and your activities because you lack high-level direction in the business.
If this happens to be the case, revisit your business mission and vision.
- What made you start the business? Where do you see your business in several years’ time?
- What gets you out of bed every day?
- Who are you doing this all for?
When you get clarity on these things (your north star), it will be much easier to set boundaries with your time and with others in order to focus on what’s truly important.
Remember, you are the owner & gatekeeper of your time. You choose what you do and where you place your attention & focus. You need to make sure you are spending it on what truly matters the most.
If you’d like to learn more, please take a look at my most recent podcast episode on this exact topic:
Click here for the podcast episode.
Click here to watch the video.
Josh ‘Own Your Time’ Stone
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