4 Ways to Be More Productive at Work

Do you wish you could be more productive? You’re not the only one. Small business owners are working long hours—but with little to show for it, a new survey from The Alternative Board reveals. A whopping 84% of entrepreneurs in the poll work over 40 hours a week. What’s more, only one in 10 feel “continuously overwhelmed” by their workload.

I’m actually impressed that 90% of business owners don’t feel continuously overwhelmed, especially considering that the average business owner in the survey reports having only 1.5 hours of uninterrupted, highly productive time per day. (Sounds about right!)

What’s eating up your productivity?

Parkinson’s Law (“Work expands to fill the time available”) isn’t the only thing keeping business owners from peak productivity. Here’s what survey respondents say are the biggest culprits:

• Poor time management—35%. No matter how much time you have available to get things done, if you don’t use it wisely, you won’t accomplish your goals.
• Poor communication—25%. Do you spend a lot of time waiting for answers to questions from clients, prospects, vendors, or your staff? Thinking things through and communicating clearly enhances productivity. For example, before assigning a new project to an employee, make sure they have all the information they need to get started. Before starting to invoice a vendor, gather the relevant details.
• Personal problems—18%. We all face personal issues from time to time. Unfortunately, if your time management skills are weak at the best of times, personal challenges can really put you behind the eight ball. Aim to build some open time into your schedule each day; that way, you’ll be able to handle last-minute business and personal emergencies without falling hopelessly behind.
• Technology distractions—16%. Smartphones, tablets, texting, and communication apps are a double-edged sword. They make it possible for us to work from anywhere and communicate instantly. However, they also put the entire internet in our pockets, tempting us with endless distractions. (How many times have you gone on Twitter or Facebook to update your business account and gotten sucked in?) In addition, responding to multiple notifications, alerts, and emails on umpteen different devices all day long can eat up time and drain your brainpower.

What’s the biggest time suck for small business owners in the survey? It probably won’t surprise you, but the majority says email eats up most of their time—although only a measly 9% say email is the most important use of their time. Also on the list of top time wasters: in-person meetings and conference calls/video conferences. Just 4% of business owners say those meetings are always productive.

How to be more productive

Increasing your productivity may be easier said than done—but it is doable. Here are four ideas to help you be more productive:

1. Limit checking your email to certain times of day. One-third of business owners in the survey believe this would be the best way they could maximize productivity. While it may not work for every business owner, setting aside 20 minutes in the morning, early afternoon, and before you leave for the day (or whatever cadence makes sense for you) to check emails can minimize multitasking and leave you feeling less frazzled.

2. Get a head start. More than eight in 10 business owners in the survey say the morning is their most productive time of day. Don’t waste this valuable time updating social media, sorting travel expense receipts, or holding meetings—set aside the first hour or two of your day for important tasks that require lots of focus. Getting up extra early and working at home for an hour or so before you head to the office can help ensure you aren’t interrupted during this focused time.

3. Find your most productive place. We all work differently, and while most business owners say they’re most productive at the office, almost one-third say they are more productive when working at home. It really depends on what your needs are, what you have to get done, and how you prefer to work. A business owner who’s the parent of three young children may welcome the relative calm and silence of the office, while those with hectic offices and nonstop interruptions may need to hole up at home to get things accomplished.

4. Model the behavior you want to see. As the leader of your business, you need to set the tone for your employees in terms of maximizing productivity. Try brainstorming with your team to think of ways to eliminate time-wasting habits or processes in your workplace. Share strategies that have helped make you more productive. It’s hard to break habits that eat into our productivity (such as instantly responding to the ding of an incoming email), but working to be productive as a team can make it a little easier.

Richard Branson to Young Entrepreneurs: 'Just Do It'

Through the decades, entrepreneur Richard Branson has not lost that certain wunderkind vibe about him and the way he runs his brand. This aura makes him especially inspiring to entrepreneurs who are looking to start young.

“Most young people with good ideas … will find that 99 percent of people will give them every reason why their idea’s been done before or why it’s not a good idea or why they’re going to fall flat on their face,” Branson recently told Inc.’s president and editor in chief Eric Schurenberg during an exclusive sit-down interview. “In the end, you have to say, ‘Screw it. Just do it.’”

At the age of 15, Branson dropped out of high school to start his first business, a magazine for young activists titled Student.

Four years later, in 1970, Branson began selling records by mail. In 1971, he opened his first record store. In 1972, he opened a recording studio. In 1973, he started his own record label. The Virgin business empire had begun, and Branson had not yet turned 24.

Today, the Virgin Group is a well-regarded global conglomerate of about 350 companies, branching into the entertainment, travel, and mobile industries.

Not all of Branson’s big ideas have been successful. Virgin Airlines and Virgin Mobile are now flagship brands for Branson, but remember Virgin Cola? With big risks come big, public failures. Branson has a follow-up secret to success: determination even when failure seems inevitable.

“If you have enough determination.... It’s more likely that you will succeed because of what you learned from the occasions when you didn’t succeed," Branson said. “The most important thing is to not be put off by failure.”

Mentally Strong People: The 13 Things They Avoid

For all the time executives spend concerned about physical strength and health, when it comes down to it, mental strength can mean even more.

Here's a list compiled by Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker.


1.    Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves. You don’t see mentally strong people feeling sorry for their circumstances or dwelling on the way they’ve been mistreated. They have learned to take responsibility for their actions and outcomes, and they have an inherent understanding of the fact that frequently life is not fair. They are able to emerge from trying circumstances with self-awareness and gratitude for the lessons learned. When a situation turns out badly, they respond with phrases such as “Oh, well.” Or perhaps simply, “Next!”

2. Give Away Their Power. Mentally strong people avoid giving others the power to make them feel inferior or bad. They understand they are in control of their actions and emotions. They know their strength is in their ability to manage the way they respond.

3.    Shy Away from Change. Mentally strong people embrace change and they welcome challenge. Their biggest “fear," if they have one, is not of the unknown, but of becoming complacent and stagnant. An environment of change and even uncertainty can energize a mentally strong person and bring out their best.

4. Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control. Mentally strong people don’t complain (much) about bad traffic, lost luggage, or especially about other people, as they recognize that all of these factors are generally beyond their control. In a bad situation, they recognize that the one thing they can always control is their own response and attitude, and they use these attributes well.

5. Worry About Pleasing Others. Know any people pleasers? Or, conversely, people who go out of their way to dis-please others as a way of reinforcing an image of strength? Neither position is a good one. A mentally strong person strives to be kind and fair and to please others where appropriate, but is unafraid to speak up. They are able to withstand the possibility that someone will get upset and will navigate the situation, wherever possible, with grace.

6. Fear Taking Calculated Risks. A mentally strong person is willing to take calculated risks. This is a different thing entirely than jumping headlong into foolish risks. But with mental strength, an individual can weigh the risks and benefits thoroughly, and will fully assess the potential downsides and even the worst-case scenarios before they take action.

7. Dwell on the Past. There is strength in acknowledging the past and especially in acknowledging the things learned from past experiences—but a mentally strong person is able to avoid miring their mental energy in past disappointments or in fantasies of the “glory days” gone by. They invest the majority of their energy in creating an optimal present and future.

8. Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over. We all know the definition of insanity, right? It’s when we take the same actions again and again while hoping for a different and better outcome than we’ve gotten before. A mentally strong person accepts full responsibility for past behavior and is willing to learn from mistakes. Research shows that the ability to be self-reflective in an accurate and productive way is one of the greatest strengths of spectacularly successful executives and entrepreneurs.

9. Resent Other People’s Success. It takes strength of character to feel genuine joy and excitement for other people’s success. Mentally strong people have this ability. They don’t become jealous or resentful when others succeed (although they may take close notes on what the individual did well). They are willing to work hard for their own chances at success, without relying on shortcuts.

10. Give Up After Failure. Every failure is a chance to improve. Even the greatest entrepreneurs are willing to admit that their early efforts invariably brought many failures. Mentally strong people are willing to fail again and again, if necessary, as long as the learning experience from every “failure” can bring them closer to their ultimate goals.

11. Fear Alone Time. Mentally strong people enjoy and even treasure the time they spend alone. They use their downtime to reflect, to plan, and to be productive. Most importantly, they don’t depend on others to shore up their happiness and moods. They can be happy with others, and they can also be happy alone.

12. Feel the World Owes Them Anything. Particularly in the current economy, executives and employees at every level are gaining the realization that the world does not owe them a salary, a benefits package and a comfortable life, regardless of their preparation and schooling. Mentally strong people enter the world prepared to work and succeed on their merits, at every stage of the game.

13. Expect Immediate Results. Whether it’s a workout plan, a nutritional regimen, or starting a business, mentally strong people are “in it for the long haul”. They know better than to expect immediate results. They apply their energy and time in measured doses and they celebrate each milestone and increment of success on the way. They have “staying power.” And they understand that genuine changes take time. Do you have mental strength? Are there elements on this list you need more of? With thanks to Amy Morin, I would like to reinforce my own abilities further in each of these areas today. How about you?

7 Startup Lessons From Successful Small Business Owners

If you had the chance to live your life over again, what would you do differently? Most small business owners wouldn’t change a thing—at least, not when it comes to their businesses.

Some 82% of small business owners in the most recent SurePayroll Scorecard have no regrets about when they started their businesses; in fact, 10% wish they had started their businesses earlier. Only 3% wish they had waited for the economy to improve before starting their businesses.

The small business owners who participated in the nationwide survey are happy with their businesses today, and 80% are optimistic about the future of the economy in general. However, these entrepreneurs also admit there were some things they didn’t expect when they started out.

• Almost three in 10 respondents (28%) say the economy has had a much bigger impact on their business than they ever expected.
• 24% say they didn’t realise the toll business ownership would take on their personal lives and health.
• 21% say changing government regulations had an unexpectedly large effect on their businesses.
• 10% say their business location had a bigger effect on their business than they expected.
• 
  

What do small business owners wish they had understood better when they started their businesses? The top answers are:

• Administrative and regulatory requirements (34%)
• How to hire the right people (26%)
• How to better manage their time (19%)
• The need for capital and how to raise it (14%)

It’s also important to thoroughly understand what you’re up against when starting a business. More than one-quarter (26%) of respondents say a better understanding of customer behavior would have been helpful when they launched their companies. Sixteen percent wish they had known more about customer demand for their service or product; many also wished they had a better understanding of the competitive landscape earlier.

If you haven’t yet started your business or are still in the planning stages, take a lesson from the entrepreneurs in the survey:

1. Do your homework

You think you’ve got a great idea, but will your customers think so, too? Conduct market research to see who your competitors are, what your target customers are like and whether they will actually buy your product or service.

2. Know the administrative and regulatory requirements you need to meet

These can range from licenses and permits to local zoning regulations and record-keeping requirements. Once you’re up and running, keep on top of changes to local, state and federal government regulations that affect your business.

3. Have adequate capital

Insufficient capital is a key reason for business failure. Create a budget and financial projections for your new business, and figure out where you can save money and where you need to spend. Don’t forget to take your own income into account: You may have to go without a salary for a year or longer until your business starts making a profit.

4. Watch economic indicators

Keeping tabs on the local, regional and national economy, as well as the world economy, will help you plan for the future of your business. It will also help you make smarter decisions about everything from the suppliers you choose to the types of employees you hire.

5. Don’t underestimate the power of location

I’ve seen some great businesses fail solely because they chose a location that didn’t have enough foot traffic or lacked adequate parking. If the rent on a location seems too good to be true, there’s probably a reason for that.

6. Make time for yourself

Entrepreneurship is all-encompassing and can eat up 24 hours of your day if you let it. But in order for your business to thrive and grow, you’ve got to be mentally and physically fit. Manage your time wisely, being sure to set aside enough hours in the day for rest, exercise, a healthy diet and time with the people you care about.

7. Last, but not least, get help

One-quarter (25%) of respondents regretted not experiencing the benefits of having a great mentor. A good mentor can make your life so much easier — he or she can help you cut through red tape, get the capital you need, find the perfect location and more.