Limiting distractions is one of the many challenges facing business owners since 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to work from home more than ever before. And while this has been a great way to save on office space and expenses, as a business owner, it can also be challenging to stay productive and maintain a healthy work/life balance. One of [...]
When you own a business, it's crucial to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. It can be stressful to wake up at 2 AM wondering if you remembered to answer that text message from one of your team members, or if you circled back to a client regarding Slack notifications. This is the situation Emily (name changed for protection!) found herself in. And, [...]
One of the underlying philosophies I use when I work with leaders and teams is "if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” It is important to dig into whatever the underlying cause is of the challenge and only “fix” that part that isn’t working, rather than trying to fix everything. For example, recently one of the organizations I’ve been working with thought they had a problem [...]
When it comes to “new ideas” business owners are inundated with them. “Too many ideas and not enough time or help to implement them all!” is a common refrain. A key to success is having a framework for deciding which ideas to pursue and which are just the “next shiny object.” The Challenge If you’ve ever thought, “I get all excited and I want [...]
The secret about email is it can totally and completely derail your day! Did you know that if you check your email every 15 minutes, you'll be in your inbox 32 times in an 8 hour day? That's almost 3 hours you spend on it. (And - let's admit it - when is the last time you only spent 5 minutes answering email?) So, [...]
We've all had the experience of being interrupted, distracted and annoyed by the buzzing of a cell phone notification. Yet if you turn off notifications you're liable to miss the notification that reminds you about an important appointment! Here's a quick and easy tip to stop the annoyance but still never miss a reminder: change what notification settings. [Tweet "Don't set our phone to vibrate without [...]
Even the most productive of us can get stuck in a rut. I recently received this email from a former client Jim, who struggled with constant interruptions (don’t we all, at some point?). Jim's sales team is one of the top performing teams in his company. He's a great sales trainer, and one of the things that makes him so great is his ability [...]
I'm a big believer that time management is really choice management . . . and not always the BIG, HUGE, IN YOUR FACE, choices . . . but the daily little choices that become habits. Habits - according to the Bing Dictionary, "regularly repeated behavior pattern: an action or pattern of behavior that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody, although [...]
Distractions and interruptions can certainly derail the most carefully planned day. Having a clear (and workable) plan to overcome these distractions can help make anyone's day more productive. But sometimes, the obvious solutions just aren't "doable" for YOU. Sometimes you need to adapt to fit your personality and lifestyle. Yesterday I explained how a Parking Lot can help to reduce internal distractions. Yet, the [...]
Real Life Scenario #10 - “My obstacles are mental distractions. I think of something other than the original task, and lose focus quickly.” If you’ve been following my posts this month – you know that I’m tackling real life time management scenarios all month long. If you have missed a previous post – be sure to check out any that apply to YOUR life. “This may [...]
