11 Ways to Limit Distractions and Do Your Best Work

Stop Feeling Held Back By Distractions

Do you feel as if workday distractions are depleting your productivity? Are you getting less and less done as you're pulled in more and more different directions? If so, you are not alone. As outlined in this article, "on average, most of us experience one interruption every 8 minutes or approximately 6-7 per hour... The average interruption takes approximately 5 minutes, (and) research has shown that, for every interruption, it takes an average of 25 minutes to fully regain your cognitive focus." Wow! That could mean 210 minutes or 3.5 hours of time wasted each workday, driving you further from meeting your goals.

With the negative impact of interruptions throughout the workday, it is important to take steps to eliminate distractions. Here are 11 suggestions of easy ways to get you started:

• Break projects into bite-sized actions. Then, you can feel empowered to complete each task in a single work session.

• Utilize a timer. Some folks use a timer to just get started, setting it for 15 minutes and capitalizing on that momentum to keep going towards completion of the task at hand. Other folks like using a timer to stay on track, setting it for different intervals during however long the task being done should take and making certain to still be working on it at the end of each interval. With either option, it's a powerful productivity tool.

• Wear noise-reducing headphones. Particularly when you focus on strategic thinking or creative production, wearing noise-reducing headphones can block out what's happening around you, even if not playing any sort of music at all.

• Turn off the pings and dings of tech-related notifications. Set your smartphone to silent and remove the vibrate that goes with silent mode. Stop the pop-ups telling you when you get a new comment on social media. Deactivate previews of newly received email messages. Instead, schedule times for handling calls, social media and emails. Then, 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.

• Be realistic about task management. While we all wish we were superheroes, we are humans that can only accomplish so much each day; unforeseen items are going to pop-up and need your attention. Therefore, schedule only 3-5 "must do" items each day, and make sure that each "what" which must be done is assigned a "when" for getting it done.

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

• 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 plopping down into it or position it somewhere more difficult to access. When someone comes into your office without an appointment, stand up and move towards your door, conveying to the visitor that it's 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. You want to help them, but it has to fit in your schedule such that it supports your workflows and productivity.

• Make sure your scheduled tasks fulfill your goals. Burnout comes from actions being out of alignment with your priorities and can certainly derail your productivity, limiting focus and making you more susceptible to distractions. I find it helpful to regularly audit how my actions align with my priorities.

• Work remotely when you most need to focus intently. While a library might help, research shows that a coffee shop can act as "white noise", enabling you to block out everything around you. New surroundings can boost your concentration.

• Reward yourself for successes. While we live in a "do, do, do" society, it is difficult to stay motivated to keeping achieving when we fail to celebrate each achievement. No matter how small or large is the carrot you dangle in front of yourself, having something to look forward to upon competing the task at hand makes it easier to stay focused.

• Practice mindfulness. For some, this means doing one thing at a time with complete focus. For others, this means being fully present in the moment, no matter whether in a meeting or working on the computer. Yet, for different folks, this means scheduling more intense tasks for when you have your peak energy, whether you are a morning person, a night owl or someone that uses caffeine for top focus in the mid-afternoon.

How do you keep yourself organized, focused and productive amidst all of the distractions? With what distractions do you struggle the most? Do you use any of these tactics already?

Hold Your Team Accountable For Greater Success

According to Dictionary.com, accountability is the state of being liable, answerable or subject to the obligation of reporting, explaining or justifying something. Basically, accountability means having to answer for one's actions. In business, leaders who hold their employees accountable are telling their teams "behave knowing in advance you will have to explain yourself and that your actions will have consequences". If team members know that they will have to explain actions taken to the leader or other team members, typically, those employees will make better decisions, better carry their portions of the workload and be better team members, leading to greater success for the team overall.

As a leader, you have big, hairy, audacious goals for your team; however, it is much more difficult (if not impossible) to meet those goals when your team members are not on the same page, not working towards the same objectives and not carrying their respective shares of the workload. Instead of success, the results are more like a rowing team with members not rowing in tandem or in the same direction at the same time: you start spinning in circles, not moving at all or moving backwards. Sadness!

Ensure folks are on the same page, working towards the same objectives and carrying their respective shares of the workload by holding each member of your team accountable, both for the elements in their job descriptions as well as the core values to be exhibited by members of your team. To facilitate that accountability, you must do the following:

• determine when each team member will need to report back to you and explain his or her actions
• determine what consequences will occur when completed actions fulfill versus do not fulfill the leader's and team's necessary functions
• inform team members of what you have determined
• follow through on getting those explanations when deemed appropriate and carrying out the subsequent consequences, whether rewards or punishments

Beyond those initial steps, for a system of accountability to truly succeed, I've found that your employees must trust and believe there is a fair and accurate process for keeping track of their actions as well as tying their behavior to real consequences. I believe such a scenario can be created with regular checkins of the leader directly connecting with each team member, ongoing open communication and a concerted emphasis on feedback from employees leading to action on your part.

As you develop a culture of accountability and the habits of holding team members accountable, remember the following key points:

• Employees will assume their behavior is correct unless it is corrected... Set expectations clearly.
• Holding people accountable is only 90% communication and problem-solving; the other 10% is the discipline to keep at it and follow through. No, this aspect of discipline and follow through is certainly not easy; however, it is vital.
• You as the leader may never feel truly comfortable holding your team members accountable; there may always be a point of hesitation right before you hold someone accountable for their actions where a voice inside your head says "Maybe I should let this slide..." However, your responsibility as a leader is to forge ahead for the greater good of the team's success.

As leaders and managers, often, our main fear in holding people accountable is that our interaction with that person will turn emotional, whether angry, sad or something else. To move beyond that hesitation, understand that emotion can be a good thing as it will drive change to take place.

Take steps TODAY to start laying the groundwork for your team's greater success:

• Clearly spell out expectations in advance.
• Track employee performance every step of the way.
• Follow through with real consequences based on whether or not your employee's actual performance meets your conveyed expectations.
• Focus hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually on actions the team member can truly control.

Bottom line, just get started... Sometimes, simply asking team members to explain their actions each day is a great foundation on which to build and will develop habits needed for meeting higher goals. You need information in order to hold your team members accountable so start asking questions... What have you been working on today? What successes can we celebrate? What hurdles have you faced so we can overcome them? What do you see as our team's immediate needs, short-term goals and long-term vision? What role do you see yourself playing in our group's successes? How can I help you be a bigger part of the group's successes? With more information, movement can be made, but the key is to get started.

How do you utilize accountability now? Have you seen greater success by holding team members accountable? How can you implement greater accountability?

Top 10 Sources for Information on Productivity, Technology and Running Your Business

While my site + my blog are obviously excellent sources of information to use in boosting your productivity, staying up to date on technology, running your business for optimal profitability and aiding your peace of mind, I spend a good bit of time culling others' information into my Evernote database as well as re-sharing via social media content from other reputable sources which I find most helpful and valuable. 

To further assist you, here are some of my favorite such resources:

- Engadget --- As described at http://www.engadget.com/about/, “Engadget is the definitive guide to this connected life.” I utilize Engadget content to stay abreast of cutting edge technological tools, focusing on how these new or evolving gadgets can most greatly benefit my life or my clients’ lives. Engadget’s claim is that “Our primary focus is on breaking news — the latest in gadgets, technology and consumer electronics. However, we’re also interested in related developments in science, the cultural impact of technological progress, geeky things that make us laugh and, yes, even stories that are old news to some but are simply too cool or interesting for us to skip”. This is a great source for the latest and greatest regarding technology.

- Entrepreneur --- This magazine and website provide advice, insight and news for established as well as aspiring entrepreneurs about entrepreneurialism, small business management and related opportunities. Per http://www.entrepreneur.com/page/225367, Entrepreneur works to inspire, inform and celebrate entrepreneurs. This source offers practical advice on starting and growing a business.

- Fast Company --- Per http://www.fastcompany.com/about-us, Fast Company offers “a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethical economics, leadership and design” and works to inspire "innovative and creative thought leaders who are actively inventing the future of business". Fast Company sets out “to chronicle how changing companies create and compete, to highlight new business practices and to showcase the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business.” This is a great source for content regarding technology, business and design.

- Huffington Post --- Founded and led by conservative-turned-liberal Arianna Huffington, this online news aggregator is a destination for content regarding world news, US politics, business, technology, entertainment, style, television, arts, books, recipes / food and comedy information. This site provides both reliable, breaking news as well as commentary and can catch you up on expansive breadth and depth of what is happening across a wide array of topics. Learn more about the community’s code of conduct and how to comment on conversations at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/p/frequently-asked-question.html.

- Inc Magazine --- For tips, advice, tools and services to help you start, run and grow your small business, the printed publication, website and social media feeds connected to the Inc brand are exceptional. As it describes itself, this is the only major publication designed exclusively to “guide CEOs and owners of small-to-midsize companies to success”. While plenty of useful information is available on its homepage, I like to visit http://www.inc.com/technology and http://www.inc.com/grow. This is a great source for information about starting up, growing your company, leading, innovations, technology and money. 

- Lifehacker --- With daily updates on its site and social media as well as annual lists to be downloaded, this source “curates tips, tricks and technology for living better in the digital age”. Lifehacker offers plenty of personal productivity and software recommendations to help you work smarter and save time. Always looking for additional content from worldwide experts, Lifehacker offers its pertinent details at http://lifehacker.com/5732066/about-lifehacker, and follow its applicable blogs for ways to get more done.

- Make Use Of --- Whether you sort the content by topics like Android, Gaming, Hardware, the Internet, iOS, Mac OS X and Windows or you reference its "top lists" of apps, software, tools and websites, there is a wealth of technology-focused information on the websites and social feeds of Make Use Of’s brand. At http://www.makeuseof.com/about/, you can learn more about this “leading destination for digital productivity tips and your guide to cool stuff on the Internet.” This source helps in using technology to boost work and play.

- Mashable --- As described at http://mashable.com/about/, “Mashable is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world.” Whether you are seeking better understanding on apps, being your most productive, gadgets, mobile devices, running a business, social media or software, Mashable offers helpful and insightful content. 

- Real Simple --- This company’s magazine, website and related products offer practical information and useful tidbits related to money, family, life strategies, technology, travel, etiquette, organizing, food and recipes, beauty, fashion, holidays, entertaining, weddings and health. I find their checklists particularly helpful, and you can subscribe to receive a daily quote that can be inspiring and amusing. Check out the Daily Finds at http://www.realsimple.com/magazine-and-more/inside-website/daily-finds for a sampling.

- Technology in Business --- This corporate brand is dedicated to promoting greater use of technology in businesses via asset management systems, technology systems, sales, marketing and business training. Per http://www.technology-in-business.net/about-us/, “technological advanced in the past few decades have greatly increased the competitive nature of business… (the site’s) aim is to continue this trend by providing… the latest information and best technologies available today.” This is a great source for information about using technology to increase productivity and to grow your business.

On a related note, I encourage you to check out Alltop as a solution for culling many of these resources together. It's an excellent tool to sort content by source, topic or how recently the information was posted.

What are your go-to blogs, social feeds, websites or publications? Do you have any go-to sources of information, particularly related to productivity, technology and running your business?

Evernote Announces New Ways to Boost Productivity

Evernote is a secure suite of apps that allow users to capture all sorts of content. Plus, all elements of the database are easy to sort, edit, search, share, present and fuel collaboration. Evernote’s ubiquity allows me to access the same information everywhere at the same time as it syncs all uploaded content “real time” between devices. Evernote’s mind-boggling search capabilities allow me to quickly access whatever content I’m seeking, and its sharing allows me to provide others access to various elements of my database as well as collaborate with committees, teams, clients, vendors and partners alike. Yet, what Evernote offers is getting better as I type.

CEO Phil Libin with EBCCs

On October 2-3, 2014, Evernote held its 4th annual conference in San Francisco, CA, entitled “From Inspiration to Achievement”, and CEO Phil Libin (wearing the black t-shirt and gray sports coat in the photo to the left with all of us Evernote Business Certified Consultants in attendance) demonstrated how Microsoft’s tools are outdated while Evernote is revitalizing the world of business tools, providing collaborative, productivity tools so everyone can complete “your life’s work” in this one workspace. As Libin explained, with the four key elements of work being write, collect, find and present, “we’ve gotten past typewriters, filing cabinets and desktops”. Now, Libin is positioning Evernote as each individual’s and each team’s workspace, in which folks will be able to more easily write, collect, find and present with the additions of the Scannable app, enhanced Presentation mode, Context and Work Chat as well as an amazingly advanced Web Client version that allows for incredibly enhanced focus as one is working in Evernote online. Here’s what’s out now or coming next month:

- The Scannable App is a companion to the Fujitsu ScanSnap Evernote Edition Desktop Scanner, which will allow for feeding data into various folks’ mobile devices and will greatly assist in “moving paper forward”.

- The enhanced Presentation mode is adding headers and footers in the layout editor, allows the presenter to make edits simultaneously as sharing the content, will make it easier to create a table of contents, automatically sets page breaks that can be changed by the presenter and makes meetings less terrible by boosting collaboration, enhancing information sharing and driving discussions.

- Context understands that people don’t write, collect, find or present in a vacuum so Evernote will use augmented intelligence to provide Premium and Business users what’s needed for being more productive, showing as needed other notes, people’s LinkedIn profiles and relevant new articles from CrunchBase, Factiva, Fast Company, Inc, LinkedIn, Pando, TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal.

- Work Chat aims to refine the connection between working and communicating, allowing you to see who’s viewing the same note at the same time and empowering you to start a chat with team members, sharing notes within that particular chat; users will have real-time collaboration and rely less on email for doing today's work.

- The overhauled Web Client addresses what issues have always plagued accessing Evernote online, offering a simple, elegant and powerful platform to eliminate distractions while working; users will get formatting only as needed and includes beautiful search functionality.

With concurrent sessions focused on “Using Evernote to Reduce Overhead, Build a Smarter Team and Get More Done”, “Creating a More Productive Workday with Evernote”, “Effortless Teamwork: Using Evernote for Seamless Workflows”, “Merging Your Paper and Digital Worlds” and “Building the Success Habit with Evernote”, this conference was clearly focused on empowering Evernote users with a tool to be their new workspace, better enabling everyone worldwide to more easily complete their life’s work.

About which of the new offerings are you most excited? 

Further, how do YOU use Evernote now?

Stop Procrastination in Its Tracks

If you find yourself stalling on important tasks, it might be the onslaught of distractions facing you each day; however, it could also be that you are procrastinating. If it is procrastination, take action:

* Don't know what to do or how it should be done? Make sure to ask, whether that's the client for whom you are performing the task, your manager that has asked you to complete this action or a business advisor / related expert in the community... Once you have such clarification, you'll be more confident, which will make it easier to get started.

* Make decisions based on the best available information and move forward. Gather what details you can, but don't delay unnecessarily if you don't know every conceivable facet.

* If you focus on fewer things at once, you'll get more accomplished faster; then the increased rate of success can fuel even more success.

* Break large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. Bite-sized items are much more likely to be completed so make sure the items on your to-do list are concrete actions.

* Schedule time on your calendar for each task to be finished. Each "what" that has a "when" assigned to it is easier to get done.

* Set a timer for 15 minutes (or whatever you deem a reasonable timeframe), and get started; if you have momentum when the timer goes off, reset it for the same timeframe, and, then, continue as long as you maintain that momentum or until your next commitment.

What tactics do you utilize to overcome your own procrastination?