Life as an entrepreneur is not always fun and games. “If you don’t work, you don’t get payed!” – so working becomes a sort of obsession for most. We are active 24/7, we always check our phones and we are permanently linked to our clients and business partners. This is how entrepreneurs like myself end up not having time for family or friends and even setting up appointments with love ones just like business meetings. And so a big question arises: are we using our time correctly or are we falling into the trap of distractions?
Well distractions are everywhere these days, especially if your job requires you spend a lot of hours in front of a computer. But it’s not only those who are working online that fall into the distraction-trap. Gossip while smoking one or two cigarettes and you have wasted a good portion of your daily work hours on things that don’t really matter to you in the end.
It’s so easy to get distracted and so hard to keep your focus, especially when your trying to work 20 hours a day. But with a bit of effort, you can not only get rid of distractions and become a more focused entrepreneur, but you can also boost your productivity and discover there are multiple ways of making room for family and friends in your calendar. I’ve selected a few of the biggest distraction I’m faced with daily and come up with some ideas on how to fight back.
- Start with yourself – sometimes you are your worst enemy.
Over-working yourself, juggling to many tasks in the same time or not setting a clear schedule for working hours and personal time, all of these will set you back. Being too focused on your job can sometimes create anxiety and the fear that your are never doing your best (since your are spread to thin between multiple clients and projects). The solution is to become a bit more organized:
- Start by setting up realistic daily tasks and keep to this schedule;
- Tell your clients your working hours and try not to respond to emails outside of those;
- Stay healthy by eating fruits and drinking plenty of water from time to time.
- Limit your daily social media interactions – social media is considered the number one distraction for online entrepreneurs.
Checking your Facebook or Linkedin account from hour to hour, or simply keeping the tabs open (like I always do) will distract and break your focus from more important jobs. You can find yourself scrolling automatically trough feeds and letting hours fly by. Also, getting caught up in other people’s lives can not only distract, but also add to your worries about being successful, living your life and so on. Some solutions to escape the tight grasp of social media are:
- Set up a couple of times per day when you to visit your social accounts and restrict yourself to a max of 15 minutes per visit. This will give you enough time to catch up on your notifications, read messages and interact with close friends.
- Try not to get caught up in the illusion of the perfect lives on Facebook or Instagram.
- In the morning bookmark important links so you can revisit them later in the day, when your productivity is naturally lower.
As a disclaimer: I don’t always listen to my own advice, so if you can’t do it from day one – relax! Take a deep breath and try again tomorrow. It may take you a couple of months to start seeing results, but believe me when I say it’s all worth it! Having time for yourself, going out with friends or visiting your family is what life is all about ????
Did you like my tips on how to live a less distracted live? In 2014 I’ve posted an article about uncluttering your day – you might want to check it out ????
Do you have something else to add? Write your message in the comments sections.
Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash
