Home Office: Limit Using Facebook During Work
A new article was published today on Computerworld in the Knowledge Base area of the website. Check it out.
Title: Study: Facebook use cuts productivity at work
Survey finds 77% of Facebookers use the social networking site while on the job
By: Sharon Gaudin
Summary:
The productivity loss overall in a company where employees use Facebook on the job for no business reason is 1.5%. This may not seem like much, but if your margin is 2%, this could mean the difference between closing and staying in business.
A previous study showed students who use Facebook at college get lower grades than students who don’t use it.
Why is this important to home businesses?
If you are cruising around on Facebook for non-business purposes during your work hours at home and thinking you are accomplishing anything, you may not be. When it is just you or you and an employee or two, you’ve got to make the most of your work so you can make the most of your profits.
The most important things you can do while working in your home office or at your home-based business are tasks specific to increasing your bottom line. If what you are doing is not directly putting more cash on your bottom line, you must start doing those tasks first and foremost every day.
Checking email, reading articles in your RSS feed reader, cruising social networking sites for pleasure (not doing research), and performing any task that doesn’t either make money or lead to making money must wait until after the important tasks are done.
You may need to scan your email for important work messages. You may need to scan your RSS reader for articles specific to your business. You may need to reply to a comment on Facebook from a business colleague. But those tasks need to be strictly limited to business and a tight leash needs to be on so they don’t sap your time. If you don’t focus on performing work tasks that make money, you might as well go to the park or play with your kids. The quality of your time would be much better spent.
Every day, do what makes money first, then you will be free to peruse email and articles, and socialize on social networking sites with friends.
If you don’t know how much time you’re spending on each task you perform, get out the kitchen timer and set it for one hour. In that one hour spend your time doing only money-making work, whatever that is for your business. You will be surprised to find at first you are distracted frequently and it will take at least a few days to be able to focus for just one hour.
Another thing you can do is keep a diary for a few weeks on every activity you perform in your business, notes on what you accomplish, how you will profit from it, and what time you started and stopped each task. If you are busy all the time but don’t seem to be accomplishing anything that is adding money to your bottom line, this technique will help you analyze where your precious time is going and what you need to change to improve.
If you spend a lot of time on the phone and need to block out time away from those interruptions, either turn off your phone ringer and let your voicemail catch messages, or send calls to an answering service. Then schedule time each day when you will return calls. You may need to tell people you will return their call within 24 hours, or leave a specific message that you are in a meeting from x-y and will return to your office at z. You don’t have to leave your office to have a meeting with yourself, but those calling don’t need to know that.
Get a handle on your business. Don’t just work in it, work on it. A helpful book to read to improve your business and increase your productivity is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber:
Don’t have time to read? Here is the book on CD that you can listen to in your car or load to your mp3 player and take with you:
Sherri Joubert
Getting more productive
