Productivity means creating a workflow and then following the process.
The old saying "time is money" holds even more weight for small sign business owners. There are only so many hours in a day, and making the most of them usually means bigger profits for your sign making business. Even the most skilled workers can fall prey to being unproductive from time to time. Following the six simple suggestions listed below will help ensure you are being as productive as possible.
- Set goals that are well thought out and clearly defined. If you don't set solid goals you'll find yourself constantly evaluating how things have gone, how they are going, and where they are going to go next. Set specific detailed goals to maximize your efforts, but at the same time leave room for some spontaneous creativity. You should know where you are going, and how you plan to get there, but be open to exploring a new road if it comes up.
- Stay healthy! Sure you are busy running your own business and probably doing a million other things, but you need to make time for yourself. No matter how little sleep you think you can survive on, the fact of the matter is adults need about 8 hours a night to perform at optimum levels. In addition to getting enough sleep, it is also important to eat well and get some exercise and also take good supplements. You will have more energy and be able to better focus on your work.
- Accept rejection and hardship with grace. When things aren't going well for the business it can be easy to play the victim, but dwelling on it will only zap your energy. Try and use any negative experiences as fuel to keep yourself going, enabling you to be more productive and to better handle future rejections.
- Multitask or don't. Some of us do better juggling a dozen things at once, while others can only concentrate on one thing at a time. You need to learn what kind of worker you are and work with it. If you enjoy multi-tasking, be careful not to overload yourself, and if you do better focusing on one project at a time make sure you are moving at a consistent speed to get the most work done possible.
- Set aside specific time for e-mail and social networking. Sure Facebook and Twitter are valuable networking tools, but they can also be incredible time-wasters. In addition, checking e-mail, while necessary, can also steal away more time than you realize. Schedule how much time you will use for social networking and e-mail and stick to your schedule!
- Don't stretch yourself too thin. While it is likely that you want to take on as much business as possible, it can be easy to overload yourself. Try to always overestimate the amount of time it will take you to complete a certain job while underestimating the amount of work you can handle. This way, you will never be overloaded, overwhelmed or panicked and you can get jobs done promptly.
There are plenty of time-wasters out there that steal away from your working minutes. You have the power to control them. When you procrastinate or are disorganized you make yourself your own worst enemy. Rather than constantly being behind, why not make it your goal to make every working moment count by increasing your productivity.
