Tag: small business owners and entrepreneurs

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10 Insidious Traps That Waste Online Entrepreneurs’ Time

As an online entrepreneur, you have to be wary of insidious traps that waste your time. These traps can rob you of your energy, focus, and time if you allow them. You need to know they exist, block them, and stay alert.

These are 10 insidious traps that waste online entrepreneurs’ time and how to deal with them.

Email

Many online entrepreneurs waste a lot of time reading and responding to emails. You might be surprised to learn that you spend about 2 hours daily on email.

It is advisable to limit the amount of time you spend on email. Set aside a few minutes to check your email and respond to your emails.

Web Surfing

There are times you are searching for important things only to end up surfing the web. This is especially the case when you open your social media accounts.

Make sure you track your time online. You cannot know you have a problem unless you measure it. After knowing the extent of online surfing, you should take steps to limit it.

Only surf the web when looking for important information. Avoid stopping by to check social media updates. Ensure your social media accounts are logged out always.

Meetings

Research has shown that online entrepreneurs spend most of their time on meetings. Some meetings are a must. However, you should ensure they are short.

Understand when a meeting is necessary and when it is time-wasting.

Although it is necessary to get status updates, getting them through email is better than scheduling a meeting. Schedule for a meeting if only there is confusion.

When you call a meeting, make sure you send the agenda in advance. This ensures everyone is aware of what is required and all involved persons can prepare.

Perfectionism

The work looks good, but it can be made better. Why not change the font? This is what is called perfectionism. You should avoid it at all costs.

The truth is that nearly everything can be improved by doing some tweaks. If you believe the task you were doing is nearly complete, you can set it aside and have a look after a day or later.

Not Delegating

Some online entrepreneurs like the DIY route. Although you are your own boss, it does not mean everything should be done by you. For instance, you want to be the writer, editor, designer, and SEO expert.

If you find you are not good at something, you need to learn how to do it. Unfortunately, this will end up taking a lot of your time.

Learn to delegate some tasks. This will free up a lot of your time. Determine some of the tasks that can be done by your employees and assign them with deadlines. Some tasks like accounting can be done by online systems, such as QuickBooks.

Constantly Looking for New Processes and Vendors

Sometimes you feel you are not getting the best services and prices. It is a good idea to carry out a periodic audit to find vendors that can offer better terms. Also, you might need to consolidate services with a single provider. This will make it easier to manage your bills and relationships.

Unfortunately, new processes come with a learning curve. Thus, you should not just try something new just because you need change.

Instead of wasting time looking for new processes and vendors, hire someone to do the legwork for you.

Being Disorganised

Very few people are natural organisers. Studies have shown that online entrepreneurs waste a lot of time because they are not organised.

Most people have not learned organisational skills that can help them deal with increasing demands and workloads.

Make sure you are always organised. This will reduce the amount of time you spend searching for missing documents.

Not Taking Breaks

It is a fact that you cannot concentrate for over 90 minutes without taking a break. Most online entrepreneurs are known to work for long hours without taking a break. Unfortunately, you will end up spending extra time on tasks.

For you to stay productive and focused, you should take routine breaks. This will ensure you are always refreshed and with renewed energy to tackle your tasks. Also, this will protect you against burnout.

Procrastinating

Procrastinating is a time sucker. When left unattended, it becomes a vicious cycle that can leave you unproductive and demotivated.

You can avoid procrastination by breaking your working time into small manageable chunks. Try to do your most un-enjoyable tasks in the morning.

Multitasking

Doing multiple things at the same time is counterproductive. Studies have shown that multitasking makes you less productive. This is because you need to switch between tasks instead of focusing on a single task at a time. Also, it can harm your brain.

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12 Productivity Hacks for Online Small Business Owners

Running a business is not an easy task. There is a need to be always ahead of your competitors. Even small tweaks to your operations can have a massive boost on your business. You need to manage your time well to stay productive.

These are some productive hacks for online small business owners that are easy and quick to implement.

Prioritise Tasks

The first thing to do is to prioritise your tasks. You can do this by creating lists of tasks to be done daily, weekly, and monthly.

After creating the list of tasks, you should prioritise them. This means organising them in order of most important or urgent to least important.

Include a list of critical tasks that must be done to move your business forward.

Delegate

If you have a team, you need to find what every member is good at and delegate. Determine the tasks to be delegated to your employees.

For instance, if you want to create content for your website, you should delegate it to your content writer. If you have employees who have a passion for writing, you can ask them to devote time for a few articles weekly.

Mute Device Notifications

It is time you do away with unnecessary distractions from your devices. The stream of chimes, flashing lights, and chirps can take your time and focus away from work. You can stop this by muting your notifications.

Studies have shown that stopping to check alerts on your phone can cost you a lot of time. Instead, create a schedule to check your messages and emails. Keep your devices out of sight. This prevents you from being tempted to use them frequently.

Take Real Breaks

Maybe you feel breaks are unnecessary luxuries. This explains why many business owners avoid them. Rather than taking time away from their computer and taking a break, they use their free time to read emails.

It is advisable to take a walk or get a cup of coffee. Although breaks seem frivolous, they provide a period of recuperation. As a result, you can get back to work with renewed energy and focus.

Meditate

Meditation can help take your productivity to another level. Start meditating when you wake up. This will help you clear your mind and bring the best out of you.

It helps you to become less stressed, more focused, and have a higher awareness. The awareness helps maximise productivity and minimise distractions.

Start Early

Create a habit of starting your work early. You can do a certain task before 8 AM. During this time, you should avoid receiving phone calls or emails. This is the time to focus on your to-do list.

You will find this to be a fail proof way of doing the most demanding tasks or those that require consistent attention. It does not matter unexpected interruptions that come your way, you can achieve your goals.

Write Down Your Goals

Writing down your goals can have a huge impact on your productivity. Make sure you write down your goals for each month. After this, you can break them down into small goals.

When you approach your work this way, you can free enough space and make your goals seem more achievable and less intimidating. Moreover, you can derive motivation to achieve your goals.

Create Templates

Make sure you have a template for everything you want to do. It is advisable to start creating templates as soon as you start your business. This means you will not need to create the same thing multiple times.

Also, templates make it easier for your employees to do their work with minimal supervision.

Avoid Social Media

Studies have revealed that social media is more distracting than phone and email. You may want to read a comment, but you end up wasting several minutes browsing aimlessly.

When you start to work, mute your social media notifications. Also, you can log out of your social media accounts to avoid being tempted to peek into the homepage.

Embrace Technology

Technology can help automate some tasks and free up your time. Some tasks like invoicing can be automated.

If you have certain repetitive tasks, technology must be having a solution to them. For instance, you can use software applications to manage your payroll and account reconciliation.

Avoid Multitasking

Many people have embraced multitasking. Unfortunately, multitasking can cause more harm than good. You should note that your brain is not configured to swiftly move from one task to another. Multitasking can make you more stressed out and less effective.

Have Essential Tools

Always plan ahead your work. This will ensure you have all the required tools to do the work efficiently and effectively.

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