Is Your Business Day Productive?

When you run a small business, sometimes it’s hard to keep your business day on track, and to stay focused (especially when you run your small business from home). I’m thinking quite a bit about this today, since it’s my son’s first day back to school.

I’ve been working on some new changes to my business day to make them more productive and focused. I want to make those hours while he’s gone as productive as I can, so when he gets home I have several hours in the evening to spend time with the family.

During the summer my work schedule is erratic, which makes it hard to stay focused. I maintained my business through the summer, but I didn’t take time to grow it. That is going to be my focus this fall, growing my small business and taking it to a new level.

So how can I make my business day more productive? I have a few ideas I thought I’d share with you.

• My favorite tool to stay on track is a timer. I set my timer for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, then work on a set project for that amount of time. When the timer goes off I can take a short break (10 to 15 minutes, also timed). When break time is over, it’s back to work and the timer is reset.
• I make a list at the beginning of the day. I’m a big list person, so if it’s on the list it gets done, if it’s not on the list chances are it’s not going to happen.
• I also try to set up a schedule for my day. It usually goes along with the list. I schedule my jobs through the day, that way I can prioritize which jobs get done first.
• I review my short and long term goals regularly, and make changes if I need to.
• Only answering email, checking Twitter, Facebook, or Skype at a set time. I schedule a time to work through my email messages and reply to any that need replies. This keeps me from checking my email, Twitter account, etc. every five minutes to see if something is new (one of my favorite things to do when I’m procrastinating).

Of course there are other things I do to keep myself on track, but these are some of the main things I do to keep my days productive. Now I’d love to hear from you. How do you keep your business day on track and productive?

Image via Photoxpress.com