As small business owners, we are often distracted from answering the phones, attending conference calls, and dealing with office interruptions. We could have had such a busy day that we didn’t accomplish anything by the end. It’s so frustrating. But how do we quickly and easily return to what we need to do, without getting swayed by yet another small, less important task? Before we can answer this question, we need to determine your business priorities.
Topics discussed
- Ask yourself these questions to gain a clearer understanding of your workday priorities.
- 7 Simple Ways to Keep Focused during the day
- Have bins for each client.
- Keep only two clients or projects on your desk at any time.
- Assign a part of your desk for papers that need to be done now, and another place for papers that are not important:
- Before you leave, review your tasks and papers for tomorrow, order them from most important to least important, and lay them out on your desk to go for the next day.
- Schedule sections in the day to check business and personal email.
- Write down your tasks in your planner. Even the most minor tasks can be written in your planner.
- Turn off social media notifications to eliminate the pop-ups on your screen.
Ask yourself these questions to gain a clearer understanding of your workday priorities.
Would you rather support your clients (affiliate)/customers with their tasks than take care of your own?
Do you want to improve your business’s productivity?
Do distractions happen when you don’t want to do a task?
Would you rather do office work on the weekends or evenings?
Will the tasks I do today take me to the next step tomorrow?
Now that you answered these questions, write them down. When you start your day and notice yourself going off course, review your answers and see if the task you are doing at that moment aligns with your priorities.
After determining your priorities, here are some practical tips to help you stay focused throughout the day. I use these tips to stay focused on the numerous clients (affiliate) I work with throughout the day.
7 Simple Ways to Keep Focused during the day
Have bins for each client.
If you are like me, you have client papers that need to be printed or used. Therefore, having a place for each client’s materials works well. I like the stacking options, as shown in the images below from Amazon.
Keep only two clients or projects on your desk at any time.
I like to work on a project and then set it aside so I can focus on another one, but if I add more projects to my desk (affiliate), I get distracted, and it becomes cluttered, which is when I lose my papers and focus.
Assign a part of your desk for papers that need to be done now, and another place for papers that are not important:
I like to assign the left side of my desk (affiliate) to projects that I need to work on now. It’s easy to find because I have a desk (affiliate) lamp in that space. The left side is where I put upcoming projects.
Before you leave, review your tasks and papers for tomorrow, order them from most important to least important, and lay them out on your desk to go for the next day.
This seems to clear my head of what needs to be done the next day, allowing me to enjoy the evening and attend to the home tasks that require my attention.
Schedule sections in the day to check business and personal email.
If needed, inform clients (affiliate), employees, and colleagues (affiliate) of the times you review your emails to avoid confusion or frustration. I prefer checking my personal email at lunch and after dinner, as it works well for me.
Write down your tasks in your planner. Even the most minor tasks can be written in your planner.
Write it down quickly if you think of a task while doing another task. Writing it down for the next day helps me refocus because I know I will be working on it the following day.
Tip: Be as specific as possible. If it is for a client, add the clients’ initials in front of the task. This step will give you clearer guidance on what you need to do the next day.
Turn off social media notifications to eliminate the pop-ups on your screen.
This post explains how to disable email notifications on the five main social media sites. It includes links to support pages with instructions for each site.
We never complete every task every day, so don’t worry if you can’t finish one. It will be there tomorrow. If you need to complete a project, add an extra half hour to the allotted time before and after the project to ensure it fits in.
I hope this helps you accomplish more and manage your time more effectively. Feel free to visit another post I wrote about this topic, which will give you even more tips.
Comment below on what your favorite way to keep you focused during the day. I would love to hear from you.
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I find it difficult to only check email at scheduled times. I’m better than I used to be, but still have a way to go!