Enemies of Productivity

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One of the most difficult things to battle with on a daily basis isn’t always an angry customer or a lead that won’t convert. It’s battling your own productivity and trying to make sure that you have enough motivation. We all have to deal with lapses in productivity, but there are plenty of things that you can do to beat lapses in focus and keep on track.

• Interruptions: Whether you’re working from home or working from the office, interruptions can be a huge distraction. Phone calls, the television, colleagues stopping by to talk – or even social media tempting you away from what you’re actually supposed to be doing. Switch your phone to silent, and use apps or blockers on your computer to prevent you from accessing your social media accounts during certain hours.

Image Credit – underminingme (CC License)

 

• Burnout: You’re only able to be productive if you give yourself time throughout the week to be rested, to take time for yourself, to hang out with your friends, and to rest and recharge your batteries. Productivity is absolutely not sustainable if you keep working and working without taking a rest. You need to treat yourself as an asset.

• Multitasking: Trying to do more than one thing at a time is a sure-fire way to do everything you’re doing not very well. If you’re on a call, concentrate on the call. If you’re writing a piece of copy, write the copy. Any attempt to do more than one thing at once will just result in mediocre work.

  Image Credit – Ryan Ritchie (CC License)

• Not Being Able to Say No: In a similar vein, if you have a bit of a problem with saying no to things, you’ll find yourself with a hugely busy schedule that you can’t get a handle on. The more things that you say yes to, the more you’ll have to do. You don’t have to do everything that is asked of you, even if you’re new to the game or are trying to build a name for yourself. Set a schedule. Tell people that you can fit them in when you can fit them in. If that’s not good enough for them and they want it done right now, right this second? Well, that’s tough luck, isn’t it?

• Being Forgetful: This might sound like a bit of an odd point to make, but it’s really important. If you’re a bit forgetful, or if you don’t always remember the phone calls that you need to make or the emails that you need to send, it’s really going to have a huge effect on your productivity – especially if you’re having to catch up on clients that might be unhappy because you’ve missed a call or not replied to an email. If you are forgetful, use an app to jot down notes or put notes in your calendar.

• Not Knowing When to Quit: If you’ve invested a lot of time and effort in a project or towards a certain goal and you know in your heart of hearts that actually, you’re not getting anywhere, it’s really important that you learn when it’s time to quit. Focus those skills that you have elsewhere and instead of wasting that productivity on something that isn’t going to gain you anything in the long run, get started on your next project.

If you have trouble with productivity, why not get a little extra help from the experts? Virtual Sales Ltd can provide bespoke services for all aspects of marketing – just get in touch today and find out what we can do for you.

 

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