Productivity Hacks Small Business Owners Swear By
Running a successful small business means maximizing your productivity and efficiency. When you increase your productivity, you’re getting the most out of your resources. Ultimately, this minimizes your costs and enables you to increase your profit margins.
Due to this, small business owners are adept at finding savvy ways to boost their productivity. If you want to enhance your own productivity, take a look at these top tips now…
Work in Blocks
Attempting to work constantly for long periods of time is rarely productive. Although you will feel like you’re working endlessly, this approach means you will struggle to maintain your focus and tasks will take longer to complete.
Working in blocks, however, gives you more structure to your day and ensures you factor in an appropriate number of breaks. Depending on the type of tasks you’re working on, split your time in 30, 60 or 90-minute blocks and take a break after each one.
Increase Automation
Instead of attempting to micromanage or requiring human input for every task, automate business processes wherever you can. Automation will substantially increase your productivity and remove human errors from processes too.
There are plenty of automation options available, so you can find the right solutions for your business. Implementing an electronic workflow solution is ideal when you’re managing numerous staff or managing documentation, for example, while automatic assembly machines are perfect for manufacturing firms. Whatever automation tools you use, you can look forward to increased productivity and optimal quality control.
Check Your Emails at Set Times
Today’s workforce is besieged by distractions, which can reduce your productivity by a significant amount. How many times have you been pulled away from a task because the phone rings or an urgent email hits your inbox?
By restricting how often you check your emails and voicemails, you’ll find that you get more done throughout the day. When you do check for updated communications, you can amend your To-Do list accordingly. Until then, however, focus on the task at hand and only view your emails or listen to your voicemails at scheduled intervals.
Reduce the Frequency of Meetings
Companies often have meetings simply because they have been scheduled, rather than because there are pressing matters to deal with. Inevitably, meetings are much longer than they need to be, which means the personnel involved aren’t being as productive as they could be.
Eradicate meetings that aren’t needed and ensure that critical meetings take place standing up or are carried out by conference call or using virtual software. This will minimize the time used and ensure meetings are used as productively as possible.
Improving Your Productivity
The trick to enhancing your productivity is to work smarter, not harder. By using technology to improve your output, rather than allowing it to distract you or disrupt your day, you’ll find that your productivity is significantly increased. With relatively minor changes, you can drastically alter the amount of work you get through in an average day and your productivity levels will soar.