The Chicklete Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Habit’

• Italiano

Getting distracted from the task at hand is easy enough.  All it takes is a slight derailment, and your attention is on another issue.  This wastes time and energy.  It takes discipline to stick to an activity until it’s complete.   Turning this into a habit, by getting into a routine, is one of the easiest ways to maintain control over your time.

Begin by prioritizing — get the most critical things done first.  Don’t just work on those things that interest you, or that you enjoy most.  Work on those issues that are necessary to move your business to the next level.  And set specific times aside each day for working on the same activities.

Break your day into blocks of time.  It’s easier to concentrate on one topic for an hour or two; then take a short break and move around, stretch, or walk for a few minutes.  Schedule time for yourself  to renew and get rid of stress.

Learn to delegate tasks to others.  It’s not necessary to be a “one man band”.  Handing off to an associate will free you up to take care of whatever is on your list of priorities.  It’s simply a question of making choices, and the decisions you make can have a profound impact upon the direction your business takes.

• Italiano

Working efficiently and using time wisely begins with staying focused.  Studies have shown that it takes twenty minutes to mentally get back to a task once you’ve been distracted.  That’s why it’s so important to structure your day to exclude interruptions whenever possible.

We all have plenty of opportunities each day to get “off track”, beginning with the e-mail.  No one will deny that e-mailing is a wonderful way to communicate, but it eats time and makes it very easy to get lost in an activity that probably isn’t a priority.  By setting aside a limited time, perhaps in the morning and again in the evening to check and respond to important e-mails, you’ve freed up time to work on those things that are important to running your business, such as a marketing strategy.

It’s easier to manage your time when you’ve developed the habit of planning daily activities.  The evening is a good time to review what you’ve accomplished during the day, and to prioritize what tasks need attention the following day.  Often, you can plan for the week, with a review of progress made.  Remember the 80/20 Rule — and concentrate on completing the 20 percent of activities that will produce 80 percent of your revenue.