How to Conquer Online Distractions at Work

This might surprise you, but even multi-millionaire businessmen have struggled with distractions at work. For example, the worst time-suckers were Facebook, Skype and email.

We know how tempting it is to check your messages, browse through your friends’ photos and catch up on email notifications while you’re really supposed to be doing something else. The problem is, however, it’s not just a few minutes you lose; it might be 15 minutes in an hour and if you compute it, it totals to several hours in the week.

Believe me; once you let yourself waste time with distractions, you’ll never put into effect the kind of growth you want to achieve in your small business.

Here’s How to Deal with Distractions Online

You have to go right to the source of your distractions and cut yourself off. For example, you can have your Facebook password changed by your assistant so you can’t even get in unless you ask her specifically for the new code. I don’t think that anyone wants to admit to their assistant that they desperately need to access Facebook 20 minutes after changing the password. Now, thanks to that unusual solution, you might find that you don’t log in as much anymore.

The next problem was Skype. Usually, staff members are connected to their various departments and teams via Skype so you can imagine how many times it beeps all day long. Fighting the urge to follow each conversation and issue is just about impossible. So, what you can do is to start turning Skype off.

Wasting Time Won’t Get You Anywhere

A stunning 89 percent of employees surveyed by Salary.com in 2014 admitted to wasting time at work. At 62 percent, the majority of time wasters lose 30 minutes to an hour each day, while 2 percent say they waste 5 hours or more! Of course, so much can be achieved in 5 hours.

If you’re serious about setting up your own small business and creating financial freedom for yourself, time wastage like that will lead you into debt really quickly. All of us need to take some time for ourselves just to browse the internet and check our social networks.

Here’s a suggestion: Take 30 minutes a day for social media and other non-work-related online browsing. You can even spread it out over the course of the day if you like. Thirty minutes is a good solid chunk of time that feels satisfying yet doesn’t heavily harm your schedule.

Manage Your Time Effectively So You Have Time to Waste

Nobody’s asking you to work 12 hours a day—or at least rationally, he or she shouldn’t be. You should make a business plan and tackle important tasks each day and your business should be in good shape. Time management is a huge part of entrepreneurial success, so if you have a scattered schedule, think it’s about time to get organized.

Getting distracted just doesn’t cut it during a workday. It is better to put off signing into Gmail or checking Skype (or asking your assistant for your Facebook password) until you have finished the main tasks of the day. Then, rest assured you can do whatever you want.

Jackson Brown, Jr. said, “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

If you let your online distractions get to you throughout the day, they’ll just be massive time suckers—and you’re the one who’s going to end up paying for it.

Source: Business Marketing