Simple Tactics to Boost ROI from Your Investment of Time

Each day offers only 1,440 minutes. Unlike dollars invested in the stock market that we anticipate will give us back more dollars to reinvest, each minute can be spent no more than once. Are you getting the desired return on investing your limited time?

If you're experiencing hiccups, consider these time management tips to boost productivity:

1. Stay true to your priorities, intentionally aligning your actions with those areas of importance and better avoiding burnout. As priorities shift, it’s important to be flexible, shuffling how your time is invested to keep your actions focused on achieving your highest priority goals. It's important to regularly revisit this alignment, assessing how well you are staying focused on what matters most and investing your limited minutes in those priority actions.

2. Learn to say "no". What actions are being asked of you that don't actually need to be done? Are there tasks on your to-do list that could be delegated to someone else who can do them equally well if not even better so you open time for what only you can do? Alternatively, should you consider "not now" for something that can be delayed until a later deadline?

3. Utilize work-life integration for more overall success. Create harmony with goals for home, work, society and yourself by allowing them to complement one another rather than compete with each other. Focus on actions that can accomplish multiple goals at once, plan how you can invest your time with each of your most important priorities at the forefront of your emphasis and maintain pliability to easily address your priorities as they evolve over time.

4. Cut back on distractions with fewer pings and dings. When distracted, it can take us an average of 23 minutes to fully re-engage in the task at hand. Each time we receive a notification for a new email, social media update, text or voice mail, those are the distractions that steal our time. Stop bleeding minutes throughout the day! Turn off the notifications and schedule set times to check each platform. For folks requiring immediate responses, make them VIPs to utilize Do Not Disturb on iOS and Priority Mode on Android.

How do you make sure the limited number of minutes you have in each day is moving you forward in crafting the life you want to live? Make every minute matter!™️

Limit Distractions

As you dive into your daily must-do list, do you frequently find your thoughts drifting? Do you get pulled in different directions all day, especially when time-crunched near deadline? Are there constantly different people, places and things needing your attention? If so, distractions might be depleting your efforts, and it's time to evaluate new solutions for limiting distractions' negative impact on your output.

A set of studies at the University of California found that workers are interrupted every 11 minutes at work. Research shows it can take 10 - 18 minutes to regain focus after a distraction, although some studies indicate it takes an average of 23 minutes for workers to return to a task after an interruption. I am not a mathematician, but my rough math tells me that doesn't leave much time for actually getting things done. Distractions rob us of productivity.

Here are strategies to limit the negative impact of distractions:

• Turn off tech-related notifications. Every one of those pings and dings jerks your thought-process around like a ping-pong ball. Stop the pop-ups that are designed to tell you when you get a new comment on social media. Deactivate previews of newly received email messages. When you need to focus, set your smartphone to silent and remove the vibrate that goes with silent mode. Schedule time for handling calls, social media and emails when it works best for you, and, for folks that do require an immediate response (like key account clients or your direct supervisor), make them VIPs so you can utilize Do Not Disturb on iOS and Priority Mode on Android.

• Wear noise-reducing headphones. Particularly when you need to focus on strategic thinking or creative production, it's imperative to block out all the excess noises around you. The tool of noise-reducing headphones can block out what's happening around you, even if you have no music playing and simply utilize the visual of you wearing headphones to discourage others from disturbing or interrupting you.

• Delete the clutter. Excess in your workspace, too many emails coming into your inbox, stacks of paper and the loads of documents saved on your computer's hard drive can all act as distractions, pulling you away from what matters most. Having less means fewer things to detract from your desired results.

• Schedule tasks that fulfill your goals. Burnout comes from actions being out of alignment with priorities, and being distracted can be a symptom of burnout. Regularly perform a time audit for optimum output, making certain your actions properly align with what matters most to your specific priorities.

• Focus on working intently for shorter durations. When you break projects into smaller, bite-sized actions, you can work to complete each of those individual tasks step-by-step. You'll feel empowered to achieve each task's goal in a single work session, thereby having more rewards for staying on track to succeed with wins for finishing each of these mini-milestones. 

• Utilize a timer. Some individuals or teams use a timer to simply get started, setting it for 15 minutes or so and capitalizing on the momentum created by that rush to keep pushing toward completion of the task at hand. Others like using a timer to stay on track, setting it for different intervals throughout the time required for a task's completion and making certain to still be working on the task at hand when the timer goes off at the end of each interval.

• Jot down unrelated thoughts as they pop up. Our brains are meant for thinking, not remembering; therefore, each time we attempt to use brain cells for remembering, it steals our ability to think better. Document those ideas, to-do items or brilliant thoughts so you don't lose them and they don't detract from your efforts to keep getting work done.

• Capitalize on your energy cycles. Output flows more easily and distractions are less impactful when we're in a groove and our most energized. Therefore, take a moment of self-assessment to decide when your energy level is at its peak and, then, schedule how to attack your most challenging work at this time of day when your abilities flow most freely. 

• Limit the impact of folks who drop by. If you have an extra chair in your office, make sure it has something resting in it to keep others from sitting down to chat or position it somewhere more difficult to access so it's less inviting for visitors to setting in and stay awhile. When someone comes into your office without an appointment, stand up and move towards your door, conveying to the visitor that it is not a convenient time. Keep an outbox near your office door so you can take those items down the hall as someone is coming to your office, always encouraging those that make unplanned visits to schedule an appointment for later. You want to help them, but it has to fit into your schedule for you to give that individual your undivided attention without negatively impacting efforts to do your work.

• Work remotely when needed. While a library might help, research suggests the sounds of a coffee shop act as "white noise", helping you block out everything around for the greatest uninhibited productivity. New surroundings can boost concentration. For an added increase in your productivity, leave your laptop's charging cord at work or home, and work more efficiently so you can accomplish everything requiring your computer before its battery loses all of its juice.

• Implement delegation and automation. If someone else can complete a task more efficiently or as effectively as you, cut back on the distractions from trying to do it all on your own by delegating those tasks. Likewise, stop worrying about getting done what you can program technology to do automatically, removing the distractions of trying to remember all those additional tasks by automating what you can.

• Resolve what's weighing on your mind. Problems, conflicts, issues and decisions to be made all take up space in our minds, adding a psychological burden and popping back up in our thoughts at the most inopportune moments. Once those are resolved, they stop coming back into our thought-processes, allowing us to better focus on what needs our attention more.

What distracts you most often? What tactics have you found most successful for keeping yourself organized, focused and productive amidst all of your distractions?

Redefining Productivity for Greater Success - Distractions are Detrimental to Your Desired Results

One of 6 tenants to productivity being "efficiently working at effectively achieving desired results" is how distractions are extremely detrimental to your desired results. In January, I looked at what it means to "be productive" or "boost productivity"; today, I'll do the fourth of 6 deep dives into specifics for redefining productivity to achieve greater success, limiting distractions.

Research shows the average US office worker is interrupted 11 times each hour of the workday, and, then, it takes 3 to 8 minutes to refocus, although it can take up to 25 minutes to really refocus when working in deep thought. My rough math tells me that doesn't leave much time for getting things done, let alone accomplishing your big, hairy, audacious goals. Since time is a very limited resource, it's vital to note how distractions are robbing you of valuable minutes, hours and days; reducing distractions is a valuable skill to learn for boosting your productivity.

Here are 10 easy ways to get started limiting distractions:

• Wear noise-reducing headphones. - Particularly when you focus on strategic thinking or creative production, wearing headphones can block out what's happening around you, even if they aren't playing any sort of music at all. When you work in a shared workspace, wearing headphones has the added bonus of communicating to your co-workers that you are deep in thought and to please not interrupt your efforts.

• Turn off the pings, ding and pop-ups of tech-related notifications. - Set your smartphone to silent and remove the vibrate that goes with the silent mode. Stop any pop-up notifications telling you when you get a new comment on social media. Deactivate previews of newly received email messages. Instead, schedule time for handling calls, social media and processing email. Then, for anyone requiring immediate responses, like key account clients or your direct supervisor, make them VIPs so you can utilize Do Not Disturb on iOS and Priority Mode on Android.

• Make sure your scheduled tasks fulfill your goals. - Burnout comes from actions being out of alignment with your priorities, and burnout definitely derails productivity, limiting focus and making you more susceptible to additional distractions. I find it helpful to regularly audit how my actions align with my priorities, thereby supporting my goals.

• Break projects into bite-sized actions. - One of the greatest distractions is procrastination, and we often procrastinate when we don't know where to start. Attempting to complete a project, not a task, is futile; it is imperative to have a list of smaller, more manageable actions that can be checked off one-by-one. When you break projects down into actionable tasks, you feel empowered to complete each task in a single work session or, at least, get started on doing each in sequence.

• Be realistic about task management. - Another frequent distraction is the feeling of overwhelm that comes with too long a list of tasks for any one day. While we all wish we were superheroes, we are humans that can accomplish only so much each day; plus, as unforeseen items are going to pop-up and need attention, making sure our daily to-do list leaves some breathing room is important. Schedule no more than 3-5 "must-do" items each day, and make sure that each "what" which must get done is assigned a "when" for its completion.

• Utilize a timer. - Some individuals or teams use a timer to simply get started, setting it for 15 minutes and capitalizing on the momentum created by that rush to keep pushing toward completion of the task at hand. Others like using a timer to stay on track, setting it for different intervals throughout the time required for its completion and making certain to still be working on the task at hand when the timer goes off at the end of each interval. In either scenario, timers boost productivity.

• Schedule "office hours" during your day. - In these blocks of time, you can focus exclusively on assigned projects while blocking out the distractions of calls, emails and people stopping by your office. Tell others you will be available before and after these times; then, during each office hours' timeframe, send calls to voice mail, don't check emails and hold off on answering knocks to your door. It is as if you are away in a meeting, but your meeting is with yourself to attend more intently to the work that can be done by only you.

• Limit the impact of drivebys. - If you have an extra chair in your office, make sure it has something resting in it to keep others from sitting down to chat or position it somewhere more difficult to access so it's less inviting for visitors to settle in for a while. When someone comes into your office without an appointment, stand up and move towards your door, conveying to the visitor that it is not a convenient time. Keep an outbox near your office door so you can take those items down the hall as someone is coming to your office, always encouraging those that make unplanned visits to schedule an appointment for later. You want to help them, but it has to fit into your schedule so you can give that individual your undivided attention without negatively impacting efforts to complete your own work.

• Practice mindfulness. - For some, this means doing one thing at a time with complete focus, understanding that multi-tasking simply diminishes effectiveness. For others, this means being fully present in the moment, no matter whether in a meeting or working on the computer, to push forward with the greatest impact. Yet, for different folks, this means scheduling more intense tasks when you have your peak energy, whether that's first-thing in the morning, at night or when caffeine boosts your focus in the mid-afternoon. Pick what works best for you.

• Work remotely when you most need to focus intently. - While a library might help, research suggests the sounds of a coffee shop act as "white noise", helping you block out everything around for the greatest uninhibited productivity. New surroundings can boost concentration.

What distracts you most often? How have you had success staying productive amidst all of life's distractions? Have you had success with any of the tactics listed above?

Is the Sum of Your Life's Parts Greater Than Each Alone?

As I was flipping through a catalog from Franklin Covey recently, I came across a quote that really reflects one of my productivity philosophies: "The sum is greater than the parts... When it comes to organizing your life, nothing happens in isolation. As you take an active role in planning your days, weeks and months, the choices you make influence each aspect of your life, multiplying and amplifying your results." It is only by proactively planning for each element of our lives that we are able to achieve our optimum overall outcome.

I love the quote of how TEAM stands for "Together, Everyone Achieves More", referring to the phenomenon how many different people working in harmony towards a shared goal will culminate in greater results than any individual working alone. Yet, that quote applies to much more than simply humans working together, including the power of work-life integration.

The are many elements encompassed in life: work, home, community and the private realm of mind, body and spirit. True harmony can come from integrating these various elements together. While the percentage of each day's 1,440 minutes fluctuates between elements as your priorities evolve, the return on investment of time in each element includes enhanced results for all the other elements in our lives. The benefits from one will boost the benefits experienced from others.

For example, by volunteering for a non-profit, we can learn skills that help in our businesses; likewise, managing our teams at work can help when leading our families at home.

According to Dictionary.com, synergy is "the interaction of elements what, when combined, produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements", and this can benefit your productivity. Utilizing the synergy between elements of your life leads to better work - life integration and enables you to more thoroughly achieve your desired results.

How do you utilize work-life integration for greater productivity results? Are you regularly auditing your investment of time to ensure the way you're spending your time best reflects your priorities? Are there creative ways to achieve multiple goals with individual actions?

Eliminate Distractions to Organize for Greater Success

Do you find your thoughts drifting when you need to focus on important tasks? Do you get pulled in a hundred directions when you are time-crunched to finish a project? Are there constantly different people, places and things pulling your attention in various directions? It might be time to evaluate your tactics for eliminating distractions and come up with new solutions.

While there are many tactics for eliminating distractions that have withstood the test of time, here are a dozen strategies I have found to provide the greatest success:

- If you are working within a specific program on your computer, like Microsoft Word, QuickBooks, MailChimp or your Customer Relationship Manager, open that particular program up to full screen so you have less visible distractions from other programs.

- Turn off the pings and dings that notify you of new social media shares or incoming email messages, empowering you to be in control of when information is handled, not whoever is sending that information to you.

- Utilize Leechblock on Firefox, StayFocused on Chrome, SelfControl on Mac or Keep Me Out across various different Internet browsers, each designed to block you from specific websites for a specific amount of time or limit the amount of time you are allowed on specified sites each day.

- Create a specific game plan for your day, giving you a path to stay focused and on task. Likewise, while the specified times vary from person to person, schedule your most important tasks for the times in your day that you are at peak performance and have the most energy.

- Whether you use a pen and paper or an electronic tool, allow your brain to think, rather than remember, by getting those many different tidbits that must be remembered out of your head. 

 - Employ RescueTime to determine where you might be wasting time and, then, trim the fat.

- Schedule clearly defined “office hours” for when you’ll be available to distracting co-workers, team members and partners who need you; during other times that you have designated for focusing on important tasks at hand, consider wearing headphones as a deterrent to guests, explaining that “I’m working hard now” and encouraging them to come back later. Moreover, when times are exceptionally crazed, some consider putting caution tape across their office doorways as the ultimate deterrent for those hoping to stop by for a chat.

- Learn to say no to drop-in visitors; alternatively, when you can’t say “no” or “not right now”, utilize a timer to create boundaries for how long the conversation can last.

- Group “like with like” for activities, like processing emails, returning phone calls and checking for updates from your team members. With batching, you’ll power through these tasks like a champ!

- When scheduling appointments and meetings, be sure to keep efforts focused by setting an end time along with a start time, empowering you with a set limit for how long to proceed.

- Keep the tools you need most frequently and / or most urgently closest to where you work.

- Utilize breaks strategically. As a growing body of evidence shows, “taking regular breaks from mental tasks improves productivity and creativity… and that skipping breaks can lead to stress and exhaustion.” Ideally, you focus intently on work for 50 minutes, followed by a 10-minute break, and, then, repeat to get through your super productive day. If not so frequently, consider taking a break every 2 hours; go for a walk or eat a snack to focus better.

With what distractions do you struggle most? What tools and tactics have you found to be most successful in eliminating unnecessary distractions?