We've heard it for years. Time is money. But the real question following that statement is, how much time are you wasting?
As a writer, this question is perhaps the biggest and most important question that you are obligated to answer if your business is going to find some traction and become the success that you hope to achieve.
Regardless of how big or small your business is. Regardless of whether your business has a brick and mortar location or is a brick and mortar structure with online presence or you operate exclusively in cyber space, your business wellness depends on your ability to reach your audience.
You either have to create a steady flow of great content or pay someone to do this for you.
Having said that, if you truly value what you do, it is imperative that you focus your actions on creating the all important connection with your audience.
Take a daily productivity temperature reading
At the end of every day, it might be a good idea to ask yourself the question; how was my day? Your answer should be as honest as possible. So that you can remind yourself of what not to repeat (if you had a bad day) or what to repeat (if your day was good and productive), make a calendar notation.
Something as simple as (wasted day) or (great day) will suffice on your daily production calendar.
Wasted Day Example
If you're tasked with producing content and set a production goal of a certain amount of articles only to find that you produced a dismal output for the day, you just experienced a wasted day.
Great Day Example
The great day gives you production that you can be proud of. Let's say, your goal is to pre-write 15-20 articles for release over a given period. And on the day in question you rendered outstanding productivity by completing seven articles, you've earned a gold star for your great day.
The Ultimate Time Wasting Buster Plan
Being responsible for creating the content that enables your ability to connect with your audience, I suggest that you follow the plan that's laid out below.
To up your productivity, my suggestions are as follows:
1. Create an environment that promotes productivity. To do this requires some planning. Your eating, cooking (if required), place of work, breaks, times in which you'll take phone calls, etc., should be planned. As a result of your implementation, you should adhere to this as part of your dedication to the mission for the workday.
2. Give yourself the license to adapt along the way. Don't confuse this with allowing yourself to be drawn in different directions. Just understand that there are situations that may require some flexibility. Honor them; however, this is a time where controlling your time is important to your ability to meet your goals. Stay on task. This suggestion gives rise to the next point.
3. Eliminate all distractions. Anything that might get in the way of your ability to create the content that will help you connect with your audience must be removed from your work area.
- In other words, turn the television off.
- Turn the radio off.
- Make sure that your breaks are just that. They should be scheduled and timed as should your lunch and snack breaks. If your work day is five hours, eight hours or some pre-determined time frame in between, your adherence to the preset breaks will maximize your efficiency.
4. Put your mindset in its proper place. Be proactive. Your attitude is very important. In the proactive mindset, you've determined what it is that must be done and you are going full tilt in that direction. Something is to be said about singlemindedness.
5. Remove stress elements from the equation by avoiding deadlines as much as possible. This one is tricky. It's a fact of life that there are time elements that you will sometimes have to adhere to. But having said this, your efficiency will soar if you remove the stressors associated with the artificial establishment of deadlines. The realities are simple. If you are adhering to the first four suggestions, there won't be a necessity for deadlines. You will be ahead of the curve having done that with relatively little stress.
Commitment to the suggestions in this article will help you buy your time back while serving to increase your work output in an almost exponential manner. After all, your increased output will enable your ability to hit your mark in finding and connecting with your audience.
