I was recently interviewed for a podcast on the topic of how to work from home without losing your mind. One burning question was “What are the 3 biggest time-robbing mistakes people make when you are working remotely?” (e.g. working on a laptop at a coffee shop, working from home for the day, or working as an entrepreneur 24/7.) Below are solutions that can help boost your productivity in these situations—especially if you drive revenue for a living.
Mistake #1: You say “yes” too often.
Whether it’s a sense of guilt, obligation, or simply a habit, most of us say yes automatically when someone asks for our help. In the book “Procrastinate on Purpose,” Rory Vaden brilliantly points out that if you say yes to one thing, you are simultaneously saying no to something else. For example:
-Saying yes to picking up dinner on your way home from the office means saying no to the quick workout for which you’d blocked out 30 minutes.
-Saying yes to dropping off your kid’s book report (they forgot) at school means saying no to making 10 outbound sales calls for the day for which you’d blocked out 45 minutes.
-Saying yes to a client who makes a last-minute request for an early-evening phone consult means saying no to tucking your kid into bed that night.
Obviously, figuring out when to say yes and when to say no can be a tricky matter. Here are four questions to help you uncover potential blind spots—especially if you’re inclined to yes too often.
- If I say yes right now—will it help me substantially gain more time down the road?
- What is the absolute worst thing that can happen if I say no to this request—at least for the time being?
- How can saying no help me accomplish what I set out to do today?
- What other important things would get my attention if I said no more often?
Here is an additional article on the topic.
Mistake #2: You are not strategic in blocking your time.
The idea of blocking time is not new, but there’s more to optimizing your productivity than simply filling your calendar with a string of tasks and deadlines. Organizing your reserved time in a systematized fashion has an exponential impact on your productivity—specifically: 1) pre-booking your calendar, and 2) batching similar tasks around each other. For example:
Monday:
8:00AM Daily planning
8:30AM Checking and responding to emails
9:00AM Outbound prospecting calls
10:00AM OPEN (available for new client appointment)
11:00AM OPEN (available for new client appointment)
12:00PM Networking lunch
1:30PM Follow-up conference call
2:30PM Blog writing
3:30PM Accounting/invoicing
4:00PM Bank deposit
4:30PM Pick up kids from soccer practice
Note: Two of the slots are left open for new clients from 10am-11am, and 11am- 12:00pm. This is an example of pre-booking; if a new prospect returns your call from last week and asks to meet with you, you’ve already got a couple windows reserved.
Also, activities that are similar in nature are clustered around each other—also known as batching: All client-related activity is scheduled together: emailing, phone calls, and face-to-face client interaction. A writing session after that, followed by accounting-related tasks.
Organizing your time in this manner is time-efficient, and optimizes your energy and mental state. You need to be energized for your phone calls and for the face-to-face meetings, and fully alert to be able to focus on the accounting details.
Pre-booking and batching save time and increase productivity, Here are more tips on how to squeeze more productivity out of your day.
Mistake #3: Failure to pinpoint and prioritize your FIPAs (Future Income-Producing Activities)
Even on a perfectly-scheduled day, it is unlikely your best-laid plans can be pulled off without a hitch. Clients cancel appointments, family emergencies come up, even your boss throws you curve balls with things like unscheduled staff meetings. If enough of these events hijack your days on a regular basis, you eventually get the sinking feeling of working hard, but not smart; you’re extremely busy, but not actually productive in terms of landing clients, growing your business, or driving revenue.
The simple solution? Take some time first thing in the morning to pinpoint your most promising Future Income-Producing Activities (your “Chief FIPAs”) e.g. making outbound prospecting calls, meeting with clients, pitching proposals, etc., i.e. the activities that will have the most significant impact on predictable income in the future.
FIPA’s must meet 2 criteria:
- You can directly control or massively influence the activity, (e.g. making an outbound call)
- The activity has a direct impact on your FUTURE income, (e.g. making an outbound call to a prospective new client).
When you identify your Chief FIPA for the day (e.g. following-up on a hot lead, or dropping in on a corporate client you’ve been trying to reach for a month) you identify an activity which, upon its completion, helps your business and revenue grow. Even on your craziest days, when you make progress on your chief FIPA, you are productive!
Here are two related articles on this topic:
http://www.refuseordinary.com/revenue-youre-focusing-wrong-numbers/
http://www.refuseordinary.com/go-knock-out-the-biggest-tsa-and-then-plow-though-your-ipas/
I will be the first to say, working unsupervised from one’s home (and sometimes from one’s car) is definitely not for everyone, and can be a complete time-sucking nightmare if you don’t have some basic strategies in place. Before you leap to this level of working independently, make sure you have the discipline to employ some of these proposed activities. By having intentional practices such as these in place, you’ll increase the chances of being able to spend more time in close proximity to the people you love while optimizing your productivity.
If you are interested in mastering your ability to work remotely, check out our virtual “5 Week Rock Your Productivity Mojo” program.
