Productivity Gone Stale: why are you not successful?

Productivity Gone Stale: why are you not successful

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I recently went on a workshop on recent developments in online marketing. The reason for being there was to network with local entrepreneurs and speak to the workshop leader who I knew. During the session we collaborated in pairs to solve a problem that the course leader had set online. We were providedd with a cut-off time and off we went. I had the fortune to work with a very experienced lady and we used her new Mac to do the task. Things progressed smoothly for the first three minutes until her Twitter Client started pinging her with new tweets. Each time a new tweet appeared she would get distracted and look to the right-hand corner of her screen to see the message. The pinging happened every 2 minutes and we didn't complete the task properly. Don't get me wrong, if you want to run asocial media campaign then listening to your audience is required, but there is a time and a place for that too. How many hours a week will be wasted and how many assignments will be delayed as a consequence of these seemingly minor distractions?

"Don't bother him, he's wired in"

- The Social network

This quote crystalizes the state of being productive, well at least the state where we stand a chance of getting there. This line was taken from the film The Social Network and explains how developers in this working environment put their headphones on to focus. This is what we should do: get wired in. Let's look at the reasons we sometimes get distracted:

The Un-Productivity Check List

Try to answer these questions as truthfully as you can.

1. When I work on [Add Important Task Here] I always close my browser window if needed.

2. I limit time on [Favorite Social Networking site] to x minutes in the morning, a touch after lunch and a brief stint in the afternoon.

3. I switch my mobil phone to off (or keep it on silent with phone facing down If you're a mum or dad and switch your mobile off but leave the screen facing up you're alright too).

4. I set my email client (iMail, Gmail, Outlook etc) to Offline'.

5. If the risk of being interrupted by 'noise' like a chatty colleague is high, I either remove myself to a quiet location or deal with them quickly if aproached (e.g. 'Hi [noise], I'm in the middle of something can you drop me an email instead? Great thanks.").

6. When starting my day/task/assignment, I set up a brief agenda which I follow task by task (most tasks require deconstruction to make then more managable).

If you can say YES to 5/6 you're almost Wired In' well done! If not consider the amount of time you are wasting in a dayweekyear? How is that impacting on your work(load)? If you don't notice any impact on your work and you said YES to 1-2 that's even worse

The only distraction we need in front of us should be our: Goals, USPs or Purpose. Put these clearly somewhere, post it notes on your wall, on your desktop or do like me and print them on my coffee mug (though come to think of it, that's a tiny bit sad).

So next time you need to write that all important blog post, get wired in.

Visit my blog for more articleson productivity and Social Media

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