Do you ever feel that you never have enough time at work? If you’re constantly attending meetings or writing emails and just doing basic administrative tasks, then you’re not getting to those high-impact tasks that are going to be the ones that will really make a difference to you. That needs to change in your business, or it simply won’t grow as you want it to. These low-impact tasks, such as admin and staying on top of emails and phone calls are important and do need to be done. However, they can waste a lot of time and stop you from doing some of the high-impact tasks that will really help your business to get off the ground.
So if this sounds like you, where you feel constantly busy but rarely feel like you’ve achieved anything, then it is time to make your work more productive and look for ways to help. Here are a few ideas that small business owners need to think about.
Work in Airplane Mode
One of the biggest distractions we have in a modern world is our tablet or smartphone. If we hear a ping, we almost automatically reach out to check our phone to see what the notification is from. So one of the best ways to avoid this is to not check your phone at all. The best way to avoid temptation is to just switch it off or put in on airplane mode. Then you can dedicate time to getting certain tasks done without any distractions. It will make a big difference to you, especially if you are a serial cell phone checker
Use Existing Software Efficiently
All businesses will be using programs like Word and Excel in the everyday running of their business. However, not too many of us really know how to use the programs efficiently. Most users will use these programs and waste a lot of time doing the repetitive day to day tasks. So if you don’t have someone in the business at the moment that is proficient with this kind of thing, it could be worth looking at new ways to innovate. You could also consider outsourcing the work to someone else as it might work out as a good return on your investment.
Look For Apps To Help
There are many different apps for all sorts of things these days. So why not look to see if there are any that you can use to help yourself in business? If you can find some that will help you to be more innovative and save time, then it is going to help you focus on those high-impact tasks. Take making the staff rota, for example. That can be pretty time-consuming. It does need to be done, so why not look for an app that will allow you to do just that? There can be apps for admin, tax, and accounting, even things for checklists and to-do lists. Hopefully, they will help you to be more focused.
Make Emailing Easier
If a lot of the time you are going through emails and wasting a lot of time, then you need to think about a new way of doing things. When you need to remember who to follow up with, as well as finding out if your email has ever been opened, it helps to have some help. But there are things like a plugin from Gmail, for example, that will help you to do just that. You can schedule emails, send yourself reminders to follow up with previous emails, and get notified when someone reads your email. So of you’re getting on with the high impact things in the day, you could deal with emails in the evening, but schedule them to be sent out in the morning, so it looks more professional. Such a help.
Change Your Habits
Getting tools and plans in place to help you be more productive is all very well. But if you don’t get in a change of habit, then they aren’t going to help with anything. You need to get in the habit of prioritizing your work and working in set hourly slots to get things done. Set yourself a schedule such as an hour for emails after lunch, rather than first thing in the morning as it can let you get sidetracked. All these tools and tech can help you to be more productive, but only if you let them help you be more productive, and set yourself some priorities first.
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