When it comes to building and growing a successful business, you must take the time to pinpoint what are the biggest assets in the productivity of your business. I believe one of the most valuable things you have as an entrepreneur is your time. How you spend your time will determine what you get done and what you get done determines how much money you bring in.
A major problem I see that most people have is distractions and time killers. We waste so much time doing non-productive things. How many times in an hour do you check your email, answer the phone, Tweet, or get a cup of coffee? All those things take away from focusing on the tasks that bring in the income.
Interruptions are everywhere…
In fact, just in writing this post, I have had 5 interruptions!
Those that are in the Home Based Business Industry, we usually have a few extra distractions that many don’t understand. We have kids knocking on our doors (which is a blessing). We have the home phone ringing and the biggest one that bugs me is…
People don’t understand the fact that just because you are working from home, doesn’t mean you don’t do anything all day. You are a real business owner, so you will need time to do what needs to be done in your business. I recommend setting aside certain amounts of time that are for productivity tasks… Not talking on the phone or checking emails.
We have an awesome opportunity to have more time to spend with family and we should take advantage of that. Many of us started working from home to have more time and freedom. Yet, I heard a scary statistic by Rich Schefren, he said that they found that a lot of entrepreneurs spend more time with their email than they do their family. Thats crazy! That doesn’t sound like freedom to me.
I found some statistics on the web:
-The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or approximately 7 an hour, or 50-60 per day. The average interruption takes 5 minutes, totaling about 4 hours or 50% of the average workday. 80% of those interruptions are typically rated as “little value” or “no value” creating approximately 3 hours of wasted time per day.
-The average worker sends and receives 190 messages per day.
I believe those statistics were from 1999, can you imagine what they are now!? With technology today, even though it has made things easier, it has also made it easier to get interrupted with all those text messages, instant messanger, Tweets, etc.
I say all of this to make you aware that there are many time killers that you have to protect you and your business from. So when friends are calling and you are in the middle of a project (and it’s not an emergency) call them back when you are done. Those kinds of interruptions can easily derail you from the tracks you are on.
I also want to mention there is a great article by Lynn Terry titled, “Get Your Focus! How to Beat Distraction”. I recommend you check it out.
So as you move forward in your productivity of your business, I wish you the best of success.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think sometimes people think that when you work from home it’s not ‘real’ work …. or they believe you have lots of ’spare time’. And yes, it’s so easy to get distracted by all the interruptions. It’s good to have a separate work area that can be closed off …. sometimes I’m tepmted to put a sign up stating the work hours etc. Setting hours for ourselves and discipling yourself to stick to them is a good thing and may stop some of that time wasting.
Well Said Elena.
I like the idea of having a sign with your work hours on it! lol
I think it’s harder in the beginning because you are getting used to things, people are trying to figure out what the heck you are doing… and you aren’t bringing in a ton of money at first, so you can’t afford those interuptions.