With so much social media, remote working and 24-hour news, you can become overwhelmed with information – sometimes you need to cut it out
As a small business owner your time is precious; it’s all too easy to get distracted by everything that’s going on around you.
Amid the chaos, many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of trying to do it all and saying yes to everything because that’s what they think will bring clients. But too quickly you can end up taking on too many things.
Maintaining your focus is crucial if you want to make progress. Here’s why…
1) You’ll manage your time better
Sometimes it’s hard to know which job to do first, but you have to learn to prioritise. At the start of the day, make a list of all the things you need to do, then put them in order of importance.
Discipline yourself to tackle your number one task first and don’t stop until it’s complete. If you’re called away, return to the task as soon as you get back. Ticking jobs off one by one is the best way to keep on top of things.
2) You can concentrate better
Dealing with emails, phone calls and social media can really eat into your time. But what would happen if you only checked your emails twice a day? Would the world end? Probably not!
Don’t get stuck in an endless cycle of reading and responding to trivial messages when you could be doing something more productive with your time. Try to limit yourself to checking your email and social media feeds to twice a day.
If you are easily distracted, it might be worth finding a quiet place away from your office to work.
3) You’ll be more selective with ideas
You’ve probably got ideas coming out of your ears. The real challenge in business is choosing which ones to work on now and which ones to shelve or at least put on the backburner.
You have to be selective to keep your focus. If you’re not, you’re going to end up overwhelmed, overworked and overtired. Flitting from one idea to the next won’t accomplish anything.
Steve Jobs once said: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the other 100 good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
4) You can give your employees direction
A lack of clear focus in business not only affects you, it affects your staff too. If they don’t know what your aims and objectives are, they won’t perform well.
Set deadlines for your projects so people can manage their own time wisely. That way, they know what they need to accomplish, and by when.
If your employees feel they are well informed about your direction and vision, they’ll feel more secure.
5) You’ll give customers a positive experience
Customers are of course the lifeblood of any business. If you spend less time focusing on the trivial things, you’ll have more time to focus on the people who really matter – your customers.
Building strong relationships with them and giving them a personalised experience is fundamental to your success.
Turn off the news channel and try to spend part of your day listening to customers and suppliers to gauge how they feel about your business.
Posted by The Secret Businessman