Staying Focused and Stopping Procrastination
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One of my biggest problems when working online running my online businesses is staying focused. Don’t get me wrong, working from home is great, and certainly has its benefits, but it comes with its downsides too. And it’s not just being at home that makes it hard to concentrate - just working on a computer with an active Internet connection means it’s all too easy to get distracted and start browsing the web when you should be focusing on the task in hand.
In the last few weeks I’ve been trying out a few methods to help me focus more and increase my productivity, and so far I feel there’s been a definate improvement in my productivity. Here’s a quick run down of the methods I’ve been using to halt procrastination:
- Daily Task Lists: Every morning before I do anything else, I create a task list for the main things I want to accomplish that day. If I’m working on a product, I will identify a chapter I want to complete that day, if I’m building a website, I’ll write down what else I want to add that day. I always try and be quite specific with each task, and sometimes break down each task into a series of subtasks, making it easier to monitor my progress.
- Prioritise Your Time: As well as creating a list of the daily tasks, I try and sort these into some kind of order as to what needs to be done first. If you are doing work for anyone else, obviously keep in mind any deadlines you have and always meet or exceed these.
- Leave Your Email Alone!: It wasn’t until recently that I realised how much time I wasted in Outlook reading through my emails as well as all the junk I recieve on a daily basis. Obviously it’s important to answer all legitimate emails within a reasonable timescale, but leaving your email software open and checking it every time you recieve an email is a serious drain on your time. I recommend checking it first thing in the morning and then every couple of hours throughout the day. Most people won’t mind waiting a couple of hours for a reply to an email, and this will give you more time to concentrate properly on the task in hand.
- Take A Break: I often worked for 6 or 7 hours without taking a break. Although I thought I was being productive doing this, I now think it was probably more of a hiderance for me. I now try and take a break every hour, as well as taking longer breaks a couple of times a day to get away from the office. Going for a walk, catching up with some friends, or even just watching a bit of tv can give your brain a rest from work and will refresh you ready for when you go back to the office. You will find you’re way more productive with your time that you spend in the office if you’re taking a few refreshing breaks.
- Don’t Avoid What You Don’t Like: I admit, I’m terrible for this one…putting off the tasks I really don’t want to do, or don’t like doing. There are always a few tasks that come up now and again that I just find boring or don’t like doing, so I end up putting these off, which in turn ends up delaying projects and product launches. There are a few ways around this. Firstly, try putting them to the top of your list on a daily basis, and make yourself do these first - it probably won’t even take you as long as you think if you just focus on getting them done first thing when you’re ready and refreshed. Alternatively, I have been using outsourcing more and more in all of my business operations, and this can provide a great alternative for those tasks you hate. Get yourself over to one of the popular outsourcing websites (elance.com, getafreelancer.com or rentacoder.com to name a few) and post a project there with your task that you need completing. Obviously this won’t work with all tasks, but you’ll be suprised how many difference services are available from freelancers from around the world, for minimal cost. I’ll be writing more about outsourcing in the coming months, so keep a look out for that.
That’s about it for my tips on staying focused, I hope you find these useful, just try them for a week and see if you notice a difference. They’re not for everybody, but I can almost guarantee that even if you apply just one of these strategies to your daily routine you’ll see a difference.
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