5 Major Distractions & How To Eliminate Them – Part 2

Great Post Gavin, This one is really informative and shows the reasons why most people can’t seem to focus in and get anything done. These are the little distractions that can set you back in your progress to move forward in your daily marketing activities.

Thanks for Sharing,

Eric Burnett

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A great topic. I always keep my e-mail opened. It is opened now. Why do I do that? I should also change my Google Alerts to come in once a week instead of every day. Okay, I am dragging my hand up there now to close it down.

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Gavin:

Great Post, Great tips!

I have learned this the hard way…I Now put a sign & Lock on my door when doing business…After 3 years the family now understands:-)..I turn off the phone, Skype, & all email.

It is Best for me as much as is possible to work on my Business when the family (especially my 3 & 6 yr. old granddaughters are out–they live with us)

Thanks for this Great article!
Matt Geib The Great!

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Thanks Gavin, this is one I’ll print and even share in the office …..or get my friends to log on here for themselves!

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Some great info here, Gavin.

I’d never really considered having oodles of browsers open to be a distraction, because like you, I kept them open as ‘reminders’.

But thinking about it now, it’s probably not the most productive way to work so I’m definitely going to give your ‘focused chunks of time’ suggestion a try.

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Hello Gavin,

The distractions we have in our personal lives, as well as our business lives can certainly derail our direction. Each day, our Lord willing issues all of us a precious 24 hours to spend any way we desire. Once those hours are spent we never get them back, so we must spend them wisely. Now comes into play a very fundamental for a person’s success in dealing with these 24 hours. It is defined as discipline.

Discipline is that magical key that unlocks all those doors named difficult ‘distractions’. Let’s address one of the distractions, the phone. Thank goodness for the voice mails. Now we can allow our voice mails to obtain a name, number, reason for the call and best time to return the call. Now we have just acquired to benefits: One we control our day and two it allows us to gather our thoughts concerning the reason for the call. Now when we call back, our thoughts are in order and we can handle the call in a lesser amount of time.

Okay Gavin with that said make 2011 your best year ever!
Lloyd Dobson

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@Lloyd, that’s exactly what I do with voicemails otherwise I end up taking pointless calls during my work hours when I’m trying to work. I then get caught up in a pointless call which could have waiting until I was able to give the caller my full attention.

@Jacqueline let me know how you go with the chunks of time. If you haven’t watched the double your online productivity webinar as yet, I talk much more about it there.

@Bill – Excellent, feel free to print and share, the more people this can impact the better. Many more productive people who can achieve more and get better results!

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@Matt, fantastic! It takes a while for the family to understand why you are doing it but there needs to be boundaries otherwise it all blends into one and becomes a constant grey zone which isn’t helpful for anyone.

@Nicole – I used to be exactly the same. In fact I still do it even now without realizing it Usually there isn’t anything urgent which couldn’t wait until scheduled times to check email but I usually do a quick scan first thing in the morning to see if there is anything I need to reply to urgently.

@Eric – I agree 100% the little things all add up and lead to an unproductive day. Being aware of them is the first step, then eliminating them comes next.

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Gavin:

I really appreciate this series. I am determined, yet still struggling, to manage my time while working from home. It’s not so bad to manage the time I spend on client accounts, but when it’s for my own business or marketing I somehow find it easy to get distracted. I always seem to think I can do mine later, and consequently it doesn’t get done.

I’ll be re-reading these posts to remind myself of the principles until they become habit.

I also appreciate the comments you left on my latest blog post. I will be contacting you regarding branding.

Live with passion and purpose,
Vanessa

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I’m sitting here reading your blog with 7 pages open on my browser! Ok, I need to do something about that!

Your idea of using a time for focused time has been an invaluable blessing to me. I’m one who can go for hours on something if I’m really into it, but then I’m wiped out and can no longer work on anything. Not only does the 50-min focused time force me to choose ONE thing to focus on, but the break time forces me to get away from the computer and come back ready to hit it again.

Thank you SO much for giving us all these wonderful tips, Gavin!

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Gavin,
You’ve done it again. The distractions you discuss here are very huge distractions and if we only really thought about how much time they cost us, we’d be so much more like you in taking action to eliminate them.

I truly see your point on opening many tabs just as reminders. I will follow your tips there to write down my reminders and keep open only the browsers that relate to what I am currently working on.

I can see that returning phone calls when you can be fully focused is better for the person calling you and for yourself. The trouble will just be the hard part and then I’ll be used to it as well as everyone else. I like the idea of adding to your message greeting “give me the best time to call you back” since that shows you value their time as well.

Working at home allows me to have mininal outside interrupts most days, but I do have one I can’t control very well. That one is my dog Kiyo, but he usually provides enough unconditional love at other times to make up for it. I just realized that solution though — your to working in chunks of time. Kiyo would love getting my 20 minutes with my full attention.

Thanks again, Gavin!

Hope you and Pippa are enjoying a great day today! It will be even better once that new baby arrives!

Dawn and (Dave)

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Gavin,
These are some much needed tips for me. I find sometimes I start out full purpose and focus only at the end of the day wonder where the time went. I recognize some of the culprits you talk about here. I have to say when I make a list and really stick to it I get tons done. Couldn’t agree more there.

Steve Shoemaker

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Gavin,

I agree with the writing things down strategy. I keep a notepad next to my computer and jot down stuff that I can do later. I can add these things to my calendar when I have a chance and then toss the hand written note. Of course if note taking with pen and paper is impractical I’ll use the computer’s notepad. Also, the TSA mastery spreadsheet is amazing in that I can open different tabs for each member in my group and syndicate them in a very efficient manner. Looking forward to reading the other parts of this informative post.

Roland

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Hi Gavin
Thanks for this post and great reminder on effective time management. I must say I had never considered keeping lots of browser windows open a distraction, but thinking about it, you are right. Better to get those ‘reminders’ onto a to-do list and work through them systematically.
I have worked my way through most of the other things you mention, but the one I still have trouble managing is people dropping by for coffee, because they are passing by and know you are home. I have been known to hide when I see people coming, but if you have a better solution, I would love to hear it
Louise

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Hi Gavin!

Story of my life! I totally relate to this. Every day at work (I still have a day job) I get tons of distractions; if it’s not my colleagues wanting to have a chat, it’s my boss calling me for a useless meeting that takes an hour or more. The problem is that people tend to get upset when you try to explain that you are busy. They think you are too arrogant and you don’ like them. Well, tough luck, they just gonna have to deal with it

One thing I also find useful is prioritizing my tasks for better results. What is more urgent needs to be done first and so on.

Great post and thanks for sharing!

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Thank you for posting such a brilliant article. – Shawn

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@Vanessa sometimes it’s harder to manage our own time when we don’t have any boss or consequences if we don’t do the work. If you didn’t do the work for a client, you wouldn’t get paid. Because most people work online for free to start with, it feels like something you can do every so often and not worry about doing it. But if people’s goals are big enough, the less they work online, the less chance they have of making a success from it.

Drop me a message about personal branding when you are ready.

@Dave/Dawn – Sounds like Kiyo definitely needs 20 minutes of your full attention I’m sure he might settle down for a while and not interrupt you as much, but who knows.

@Steve – Get your biggest rocks or most important tasks done first thing in the morning without distraction. If you can get those done and finished, the rest of the day is easy and at the end of the day you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished some meaningful things

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@Roland – you are into a fantastic habit.. writing things down and then processing your notes into your trusted system for you to do later. This helps clear your mind of all those ideas while you are working.
I’m in the process of recording a workflow series which should be ready by next week. It includes: collect, process, organize, review and do.

@Louise – are the people who drop by for coffee usually the same people? If so, could you schedule a time or day when they pop by so you know when they are coming? Or ask them to text you or call you 1 hour before they come so you can finish up anything important?

If people know the boundaries and that you are working on something important then they will value your time.

@Houda – If people try to give you more work to do, have a list of all the projects you are currently working on and say…

“I am currently working on x amount of projects right now which you’ve given me, if I take this new job/task/project on also it means that I won’t be able to finish the other as quickly. Which one is more important, the one I’m working on, or this new job/task/project?

We as individuals can only achieve and manage so much stuff so stand your ground and eventually people will see you get results and will respect you for standing your ground

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Hi Gavin!

Thanks for the 2 posts on distractions! Skype and email checking is a big distraction for me (Sole)… I’ve got to defend Tim, as he doesn’t have a problems turning off skype or not checking his emails for days at a time…

I’m exactly the opposite and love the interaction (and maybe the distraction) and it’s very hard to turn those 2 off. I will have to star working on some self-control and discipline to do so.

Having multiple browser tabs open makes me nervous, so I try to keep them to a minimum… Your suggestions reminded me of “The 4-Hour Week” book, in which the author talks about common distractions (that most people don’t consider distracting) and how to avoid or minimize them.

Thanks again for this timely post for me!

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Thanks for the great tips. I struggle with the multiple tabs in my browser. And I always have my email open. Now I plan to check my email and FB at 9am and 4pm and keep those tabs closed.

Looking forward to getting more things done.

Debbie

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thanks for your post. I recognized a number of items such as the telephone, and personal interruptions. I tended to have my browsers open and often mixed them up but never saw that as a problem before and will make that change. I also spend too much time checking my e mail. thanks, Sybil

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