D is for Distractions

Today we continue in this series of 26 posts. Although it speaks to Women Entrepreneurs, I hope it will help anyone who is thinking of setting up their own business.
You may read the previous post here.

A is for Ambition 

B is for Business Plan

C is for Customer Connection

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D is for Distractions

At any given point in a woman's brain there are at least two thoughts vying for her attention. This means that a new woman entrepreneur can often go hours or days without doing something constructive towards building her business up. In order to deal with these distractions that take you away from your business growth, it is important to come up with a working plan for the direction which you are headed in. All it takes is a little bit of determination to ensure that you are following this plan during the day.

You don't need to set aside large chunks of time in a concentrated effort. You can take advantage of the ten minute periods that you find yourself free during the day. However, you can't use those ten minutes trying to deliberate what needs to be done. You need to have an action plan ready so that you can begin ticking off various elements. Make a list of things that need to be done. Do you need to prepare some material for the products you produce? Or perhaps there is a potential lead that you need to call up. It could even be updating a social media account with some offer. Whatever it is, have the tasks set up and written down. This will make it easier for you to get them done.

 The question to ask yourself is where are you headed? What are the things that you need to do to go in that direction. For instance, if you are looking to produce ten sets of handmade jewelry, you will need to design the pieces on paper. Then jot down the raw materials that will be needed to put it together. After you check your available resources, you will know what else needs to be purchased from your supplier. You can make a list of these items and place a call to get them delivered. Then you can begin putting the sets together one section at a time.

The possible distractions here could be that you are unable to get time to complete the design, or that you keep getting pulled away from making that phone call to procure the raw material by other chores demanding your attention. However, if you have the list written down, you can then easily divide your time slots into productive segments for your business. Have a single place to write down these lists and refer to them often. Keep them updated as you tick off things from the to-do list section.

 

The Exercise

What You Will Need: Your Business Plan, an organizer and a timer

By now you should have your business plan well thought out and written down. This gives you the goals that you work towards. Each goal will have a number of steps that it can be broken down into. Work on these steps and designate tasks that will help you achieve these steps. These will then have to be written down in an organizer. 

The organizer can be a physical notebook diary where you can write down your to-do list. You may mark off the dates that you intend to accomplish certain tasks by. You can also schedule specific tasks on a date when you know you will have some free time to get to them. Also the satisfaction of ticking off or putting a line through a task that has been completed is a huge motivator. The more you get done, the more you want to do.

However, with everything moving online these days, you may find it easier to use a calendar app on your smartphone as your organizer. Using the online organizer gives you the added advantage of setting reminders for yourself. This is a sure shot way to bring your attention to tasks that need to be accomplished on a particular day. Many of these tasks will be repetitive in nature.

Another way to gain insight into how long you take for these tasks is to keep a timer handy. That way you can record just how long it takes you to do the task, making it easier for you to schedule time for it in the future.

You may also want to pay attention to things that leak your energy away from your projects. These can be any sort of distraction that make it difficult for you to work. Think about the non productive time wasters in your day. Too much net surfing without a goal, watching videos to hone your craft, getting stuck on perfection rather than getting the task done and moving on. Plan how to plug these energy leaks by either using a timer while doing these tasks or by avoiding them altogether.

Using the Pomodoro Technique is a good idea. In this time management system you divide your work into 25 minute intervals separated by short breaks. That way you focus only on the task for the duration and are much more likely to get things done faster. You may use five or ten minute breaks in between tasks to refresh yourself.