One thing you don’t want to aspire to is to be a great time manager.
You can’t manage time. You can only manage what you do within periods of time. Managing time makes us look at the clock.
No, no, no.
You should want to be a good PRODUCTIVITY manager. Being productive is about IMPACT. It’s about RESULTS. Those are what matter most, so managing those really make the difference.
There are many reasons why we might be unproductive, but today I’m sharing the #1 culprit.
MASSIVE ACTION #2: ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS
Distractions are dastardly, evil, go-to-the-dark-side, weapons of SATAN!
Think I’m going overboard here? Well, tell me this hasn’t happened to you:
- You start working on a project.
- Oh crap, my pen is out of ink.
- Rummage through the drawer.
- Can’t find a new pen, but you find those tickets to that basketball game you want to go to.
- You remember you have to contact Fred and Lance about going.
- You open ups your email and…
- OMG, look at all this unopened emails!
- You start looking through those and remember…
- A pen! I need a pen!
- Your phone buzzes with a notification.
- Somebody sent you another hilarious cat video.
- A pen…
- You get up and head to somebody else’s office, the supply room, or the kitchen at home.
- You’re in the kitchen.
- You open the refrigerator. When you walk by you ALWAYS open the refrigerator.
- Even though every shelf is packed, there’s nothing to munch on.
- Now you’re hungry…but wait!
- A pen…
- 20 minutes have gone by…
Okay you get the picture. We ALL fall into these crazy distraction traps. But the point is that distractions are THE biggest killers of productivity and impact.
No matter where we’re working…the office, at Starbucks, or at home, we must eliminate distractions as best as possible.
So here are some tips for doing just that:
- Set a timer for how long you want to be productive — 30 minutes, an hour, two? (In my 34 years of working at home, I’ve found that two hour blocks are about the max for me.)
- Turn OFF notifications on your phone and your computer.
- Close your door. Put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the outside…and tell everyone you mean it.
- Get the tools together you need.
- Start the timer
- Just WORK
- Rinse
- Repeat as needed
Follow this plan of Massive Action and you will be surprised by how productive you can be.
Hey, most of us know this, we just don’t put it into daily practice. We allow other people, our phone, emails, texts, and social media to steal our attention.
It’s OUR attention, not somebody else’s to control!
Now go be PRODUCTIVE.
PS: BTW, I’ve got a full productivity product you can get right now for $1. Regularly sells for $197, but in these very difficult times I want you to have it for $1. Click here.
