I’m moving…to a new desk. In another part of the room. Just for a couple of hours.
Yesterday I posted video #3 in a new series I created to help my peeps get focused at work so they can spend time getting their marketing done. Some of you probably get my emails, so I will just summarize some of the highlights. These are tried and true things that I do and have found to be a big help!
- Turn off your phone when you need to get some work done. That is why you recorded that nice voice message. Remember the one that politely says you are busy and will get back to them as soon as possible? Well, use it. At least turn the sound off or stick it in a desk drawer to stop the distraction.
- Shut down the computer. Okay, you may need to be on the internet to do your work, but close down Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest; whatever is distracting and not something you are working on right this minute.
- Close your email.Again, if sending emails is part of the project you are working on, at least turn off the new mail notification sound so you won’t be enticed by the sound and the pull of whatever that new message might be for you.
- Change your email settings. My favorite focus tip is to only check for messages a few times each day. You could do this by only having your email open in the morning sometime, mid-day, and at the end of the afternoon. Or, you could leave your email open all day and set the email settings to only check for new email every hour, or longer.
I use Outlook for my email on my computer, and the default is for the software to check for new emails every 5 minutes. Well, no wonder I was always distracted. As business owners we get about 200 emails each day, so the constant looking was making me crazy and keeping me from being productive. Admit it. You get distracted by email, too!
This setting doesn’t keep me from sending out email right away. I hit “send” and away it goes. But it only reads IN my emails when I hit the “send and receive” button, or the hour is up. Try it!
- Move to another desk somewhere. For me, that is the island in my kitchen, my husband’s desk if he is out of the office, or a trip to CoHab, our local co-working facility. The change of scenery and lack of clutter around me really help me to concentrate better. Just take the few things you need to work on and that eliminates a lot of the distractions at your usual working space.
Now that you have set yourself up for focused work time, get moving! And if the work you need to be doing is marketing yourself and your business, commit 2 hours each week for it. Every single week. No arguing with yourself. If you aren’t marketing your business, you end up with NO business! Get it on your calendar and get it done.
(If you need some help in Creating Your Marketing Master Calendar, you might swing by my class next week. If you click on the link, you can get the details. This one is local…)
