Great Tip To Become More Productive!!

I wanted to pass on a tip that I have learned that has helped me to become more productive with my home business. It's simple too. Turn off your e-mail alert and only check your email 2-3 times per day MAX! It is so easy to get distracted when you are working so diligently and you hear an email come in or someone sees you on Skype or Instant Message. When you stop what you are doing and check your email, etc. you are not as productive as you could be. It takes quite awhile to get back to what you were doing after the distraction! Try it!

Yes, it is better to check your email only once in a few hours

For me, i check my email once/twice a day. And i turn off my IM, when i am doing things for my home business to avoid distraction.

I totally agree MyFreedom. That is a very big time waster.

The world is not going to end if we don't answer our e-mail
30 seconds after it arrives. That is what I used to do and then
I would wonder why I didn't get anything done at the end of
the day when I "thought" I had been working all day.

Great tip.

Becky

westfam11: ...and then I would wonder why I didn't get anything done at the end of the day when I "thought" I had been working all day.
We've all been there at some time or other. Sooner or
later we figure out that being busy is not the same as
being productive.

Hermas

Thats a tip im going to take on board for sure. I sometimes find myself checking my e-mail as an excuse not to get down to serious work. It is actually becoming almst an obsession because i check the Sam folder almost as often. Unproductive or what?

Yeah, I once had the problem of checking emails too frequently as well, the 'thinking train' just lost its track, if you know what I mean.

It's frustrating to get interrupted while you are focusing to do something.

Another strategy to share is the ABCD strategy. I've forgotten where I got it from.

Basically, you put the tasks you want to complete into these categories. This a daily plan, so it's better to complete this list before you go to sleep or before you start work. In this way, you have a clearer picture.

Act now

Before the end of the day

Cannot leave to the next day.

Delete or delegate

JTYS

yes at one time I spoent too much time checking on emails and IM,

So now I stay invisible so people do not know if I am around when I am working online.

Absolutely.

Time management = single-handling your highest-outcome tasks and pushing them through to completion (not to 99% of completion -- this is worse than 1%, as far as your feelings of accomplishment are concerned).

I would venture as far as to say that every revered executive in corporate America, will offer a definition resembling this one (this isn't something I figured out on my own).

As Goethe said, "Things which matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

Sasha

Yeah, that's what I do too. I check my email when I get up before school, once I get home, and then once before I go to bed. Without some sort of discipline, it can suck a lot of time...

What I do to save time with emails is instead of checking my email 3-5 times a day (which I used to do), I take a a minute or two to check my email with my PDA in my downtime... sitting in traffic, having a cup of coffee sitting in Starbucks, at the park with my kids, etc....

Jaime

Yes I check morning and night and use two PCs so it is easier!

Email has rarely been my problem. Computer games are, and myspace can get me in trouble now and then too. I solve the computer game problem by generally not installing them on my laptop, which is what I use to go online, work online and do my writing, either work writing or casual writing. I then take my laptop to another room.

Doing so at least helps reduce the tempation.

I am a newbie to this forum, but not to working at home. The hardest thing for me was to get it into my fiber that I work at home now. Organization was my answer and setting a minimum amount of time to dedicate to my business daily. For example, my motto: P.R.I.D.E.= Professional Results In Daily Efforts

johntanyishin: Yeah, I once had the problem of checking emails too frequently as well, the 'thinking train' just lost its track, if you know what I mean.

It's frustrating to get interrupted while you are focusing to do something.

Another strategy to share is the ABCD strategy. I've forgotten where I got it from.

Basically, you put the tasks you want to complete into these categories. This a daily plan, so it's better to complete this list before you go to sleep or before you start work. In this way, you have a clearer picture.

Act now

Before the end of the day

Cannot leave to the next day.

Delete or delegate

Thanks for the ABCD idea!

Another thing, I seem to have to watch out for is the increased need to exercise when I am spending a lot more time sitting down each day.

I agree! I have to turn everything off around me and focus on the task at hand or i end up on myspace facebook and checking emails which interrupts everything thought process and it takes me forever to get back into a "groove" especially if im writing articles.

To become productive I think you must concentrate and focus yourself and time on what you are doing.

I must admit I do keep my inbox up all the time - but I go through all my emails every morning, and I only reply to emails that are really important - i.e. a client.

But I do agree that it is a bit distracting to look every time there is a message - and even clients can wait for a couple of hours! I will take this advice on board and give it a go.

Now - if someone could cure me of my growing Twitter habit....

Ros

I check emails daily, early in the morning when I just woke up. I do other stuffs that are not work related so that when its time for me to work, I'm more focused on my work rather than worrying bout my emails and other stuff.

Try to wake up early and your time will be more manageable.

great tip my freedom.

it is so easy to get distracted in our business. as we are working from home its very easy to get sidetracked.

we have to stay focussed, i used to listen to music to help my brain work for my business but i have stopped doing that too now.

no email alerts and no music until i finish my work for that day.

sounds bad....but we all have to stay focussed for success