Distractions consume productive time and can destroy your business. Learn to curb those things that suck your time.
Small-business owners are continually bombarded by information. When is the last time you were able to spend one hour working without a single interruption? It’s unlikely that you can think of one, unless you were working at 3 a.m.
Even if you escape to a local coffee house for the day, you can’t avoid distractions. E-mails reach our inboxes 24 hours a day. Instant messages can come in at any hour. Facebook news feeds are continuously available. News alerts, bulletins and text messages call for focus.
All of these distractions dilute our focus on the success of the business. Eventually, the distractions consume your productive time and can destroy your business. For the most part, they won’t generate more cash—the lifeblood of your company.
It’s very easy to say to yourself, “OK, focus. No problem.” But it’s quite another to live this way. It’s a daily discipline that requires concerted effort. You must feed this discipline for it to grow within you and forcibly squeeze out the non-productive distractions in your business life.
So what steps can you take to eliminate distractions?
Think in terms of goals, not tasks
Most small business owners spend their time putting out fires or getting through the daily operational tasks required to run the business. Of course these are important, but someone other than the owner can perform most of them.
If operational tasks consume 100 percent of the owner’s productive time, the business does not grow. Owners need to think strategically. Focus on the goals you want to accomplish for your business, both long-term and short-term. Whether it’s opening a second store or developing a more efficient sales process, the owner needs to spend time thinking before doing.
Carve out islands of silence
When it comes to thinking versus doing, it’s the doing that usually wins out. A business needs employees to focus on doing, but that’s not what it needs from an owner.
