We’ve all had days when we want to get a lot done but end up barely making progress by lunchtime. Why does this happen? Often, it’s because of 5 Time-Draining Traps Entrepreneurs Must Avoid. Some distractions are easy to spot, like spending too much time on the internet. But there are other distractions that are sneakier. To start being more productive, we need to figure out where we’re getting stuck first by recognizing these time-draining traps.
Identifying the 5 Time-Draining Traps Entrepreneurs Must Avoid is essential to boost efficiency and avoid common pitfalls. These traps can slow down progress and prevent you from reaching your goals, even when you’re trying your hardest to stay on track.
Emails
Email is really important nowadays. We use it a lot. But sometimes it can cause problems. You might get emails that you don’t need, like newsletters or ads. Sometimes, people send long chains of emails when a quick phone call would be better. It’s easy to spend too much time dealing with emails.
A study by Adobe found that people spend about 3.1 hours every day on emails at work. That’s a lot! Even though emails are important for work, a lot of this time is wasted checking for new emails and deleting spam. This waste of time costs businesses a lot of money, around £6,000 per year for each employee.
We can’t stop using email, but we can use it better. If we are careful about what emails we get and how we use email, we can save time and be more productive. Instead of letting emails control us, we can control them and make our inbox a better place to work.
Pick when to check your email:
Looking at your email every 15 minutes can make you lose focus. Even a quick glance at your inbox can mess up your work. Experts say it takes about 23 minutes to get back to work after a distraction. Switching tasks often stops you from staying focused, which is when you do your best work.
Instead of always checking your email, choose one or two times a day to do it. It doesn’t matter when you pick, as long as you stick to it.
For example, do you like checking your email before starting your day or when you finish your morning routine? Or does it delay you from starting your work? Try one way for a few weeks, and if it doesn’t work, try something else.
Maintain separate accounts.
It’s best to keep your work emails only for work. This is not only safer but also helps to keep your inbox less cluttered. It can be frustrating to have to search through lots of emails about sales or orders when you’re looking for an important message from a client.
You can also create throwaway accounts. These are email addresses that you only use for signing up for services you don’t plan to use for a long time, or to get free stuff. With a throwaway account, you can keep all the unwanted emails separate from your main inbox. You don’t have to bother unsubscribing from newsletters and email lists from services you don’t plan to use.
Delegate:
In my experience, getting help with handling my emails has been the best way for me to manage my inbox without using up too much of my time.
Even though I still have to respond to some messages, I can have someone else decide which ones are most important and even answer some of them for me. My virtual assistant sorts the emails I get based on how urgent they are, and every day I look at the most urgent ones and reply to them. This means I don’t have to always be checking my inbox and I can focus on more important tasks for my business.
Mistakes:
People make mistakes sometimes, but some mistakes cost more than others. For example, forgetting your lunch at home means you have to buy more food, and messing up your computer code cacn make you spend lots of time fixing it instead of moving forward with your project.
According to a recent study by Zapier, 83% of workers spend 1-3 hours each day fixing mistakes. And just in 2008, businesses lost over $37 billion because of mistakes that made people less productive.
Mistakes are common, but they don’t always have to happen. So, how can you avoid making mistakes that slow you down?
Organize your schedule to suit your needs.
Keep track of when you feel the most energetic and how things like sleep, food, and activity impact how focused and happy you are.
When are you most awake and aware? For instance, if it usually takes a while for you to fully wake up in the morning, it’s not smart to do your hardest work or make big choices first. Or if you often feel tired in the afternoon, try not to save your most important tasks for later in the day, if you can help it.
Seek assistance:
When you mess up, you might want to sort it out by yourself. But it’s smart to ask people you trust, like coworkers or mentors, for help.
Talking to someone else and using your coworkers’ knowledge can help you find quicker solutions. This saves time and stops you from making the same mistake again later.
Look for professional help.
Business owners do a lot of different jobs, but not everyone is good at everything. Some things we are just better at than others.
When you give tasks you’re not good at to someone else, it lets you focus more on what you’re good at. And the tasks might turn out better if someone who knows more about them does them.
Data Entry:
Entering data means putting information into your computer or other devices. It’s not the end of the world if you have to switch between different programs to add information, but it does take up a lot of time that could be spent on more important tasks. A study found that office workers waste a lot of time doing manual digital tasks. Another survey showed that many workers spend hours each week moving data around.
So, if you can, it’s good to find ways to avoid doing data entry. One common way is using automation.
Data entry automation is when software helps you avoid manually entering data into your online store or business software. Many tasks can be automated to save time and effort. For example, instead of tracking orders manually, a computer program can do it for you.
You can also use services like Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat) to automate tasks. These services might be harder to learn than regular apps, but they’re good for making your processes more efficient and connecting different services together.
Lack of organization:
Having lots of stuff scattered around on your computer is like having a messy room. It slows down your computer and makes it hard to find what you need. Spending hours looking for a file is a waste of time. Studies show people spend about 4.5 hours every week just searching for stuff.
Being disorganized doesn’t just waste time; it can also make you forget things or miss deadlines. So, how do you keep your digital space tidy?
Luckily, there are many apps that can help. If you use a Mac, you can try Alfred to organize your files better and Duplicate Detective to find and delete extra copies of files. For Windows users, there’s DupeGuru, which does the same thing.
Social media:
when you use websites and apps to connect with other people, share things, and communicate. Even though it feels quick to click buttons like “Send,” “Post,” “Publish,” “Upload,” or “Tweet,” there’s a lot more to think about for making your social media efforts successful. This includes replying to messages, talking with people who follow you, finding things to share, learning about different topics, and planning what you’ll do. Also, each social media site is different, so you have to adjust what you do for each one and do things in different ways.
Small business owners usually spend about 6 hours every week working on their social media. That’s almost a whole day! Keeping up with social media takes a lot of time, and it might stop you from doing the things you really enjoy.
In simple term-
The main point is this: We often waste time on tasks that aren’t important without realizing it. Even if we try to spend less time on things like paperwork, social media, and fixing mistakes, they still take up a lot of our time.
Many business owners choose to hire a virtual assistant to handle these tasks so they can focus on what’s really important. At Autosterea, we want to help busy entrepreneurs achieve more. We match you with a virtual assistant who has the skills and experience you need.
Our virtual assistants go through a strict process to ensure they’re qualified professionals. If you want to focus on important tasks, you can try a virtual assistant for free or talk to our team to create a plan that works for you.
Autosterea is committed to supporting dedicated entrepreneurs by connecting them with top virtual assistants. Book free 30 min discovery call with our expert team to begin, and we’ll match you with a dedicated professional who will help you stay organized.
Or why not give a skilled virtual assistant a try for free today?
Ready to take control of your time? Get in touch with us, and we’ll hook you up with a dedicated pro who’s ready to tackle those time-consuming tasks.
Book free 30 min discovery call with our expert team to begin, and we’ll match you with a dedicated professional who will help you stay organized.
Or why not give a skilled virtual assistant a try for free today?
