Total the times you look up from email to search the Internet, answer the phone, or check Facebook, and it’s easy to see how wasted hours multiply each week.
As a solo-entrepreneur we have to wear lots of hats in our business and sometimes we’re the only firefighter at the scene. I am always researching ways to be more productive and I end up with a hybrid of what I find. I’m part digital and part analog (can’t get rid of my pencil and paper, baby)!
Natasha Vorompiova of Systems Rock, (love her) has a blog I go back to all the time. Here is great wisdom about dealing with your day.
Here are my 5 steps to bring flow into your work life.
Step 1:
Sit down in a quiet place for 20 minutes and brainstorm your top work projects and goals for the next few months. Take the full 20 minutes otherwise you’ll only come up with you most urgent projects, not necessarily your most valuable.
Step 2:
Now go down the list and circle the most important project that will both move your business forward and bring in the most revenue (either short- or long-term). Picked one? Now do this twice more. You should now have your 3 most significant projects for the next few months. Perfect!
Step 3:
Now examine your next month’s schedule (yes, MONTH) and block off 30-60 minutes during your most productive time period where nothing else gets scheduled. I recommend scheduling this 3-5 days per week but if you can only do one or two – that’s fine. Commit to it!
Step 4:
When your “flow” work time arrives you must:
- Turn off your Email
- Turn off any Social Media Programs/Notifications
- Turn off your phone ringer and let calls go to voicemail*
- Don’t open the Internet unless it’s necessary for your project.
- Keep a pen and paper near you to jot down all the important nagging to-dos that only pop into your head when you focus on important work.
*The bonus of this approach is that by the time you finish working, often these “emergency issues” will already have been solved.
Step 5:
When your “flow time” ends, tack on 2 minutes to quickly jot down on a post-it or project log what your next step should be. This allows you to jump right back in next time and use your time more efficiently since your next move is clearly delineated.
Depending on your current work style, this can feel simple or almost impossible.
Turn off as many personal distractions as you can and work towards removing the others as your experience working in flow grows. Once you get going and see the results of your new work habit, you’ll be more motivated to schedule this dedicated time regularly.
While time blocking can seem like an overly simple strategy, don’t underestimate the power of implementing this in your life.
Unless you have the time to delve deep into your projects, you won’t get that perfect blend of challenge and competence necessary to bring flow, and all the insights it provides, into your work.
This original article was posted on systemsrock.com
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