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Small business owners have it tough, they don’t just have to wear many hats, but they have to fight the biggest battle of all: the Battle Against Time, every single day. Productivity is one of those things that everybody has an opinion on, but as a small business owner, when there’s so much to do and never enough time to do it in, what does it really take to ensure that you are doing everything properly?

Streamline your tasks
The topic of streamlining can cover so many different areas. Streamlining can be technical, for example, a piece of software that can be designed by the Claris Filemaker Pro service to ensure that everything has a very solid process. On the other hand, streamlining can be down to the individual’s perception of tasks. For example, learning how to do things in a certain order to make sure that they are optimising their time effectively. Whatever it takes, when you start to streamline your tasks, you’ve got to remember the end goal. Because while doing something in a different order may not necessarily make it easier, actively streamlining your tasks can be effective, just as long as you know the best approach for your needs and goals.

Work smart, not hard
This age-old adage is something we’ve all got to remember. You can do tasks in a logical order, but you don’t have to. It’s also important to look at the things where you are particularly weak and find ways to outsource them. A very good example is if you are a slow typer; instead of typing, you can invest in a
dictation program that will help you to reel off emails and potentially quadruple your productivity. If you find yourself typing email after email, especially when it comes to firefighting complaining customers, this can make life a lot easier. It’s also important to remember that when you are sending emails, roughly 80% will contain very similar information, so having a collection of templates will also help.

Remove distractions 
Distractions are one of the biggest obstacles. Everybody has their own distractions, whether it’s social media or just not being able to focus. There are plenty of ways to learn how to focus, but you’ve also got to look at the distractions that you just cannot remove from your life, for example, if you need to have your email on in case of someone messaging you. But this is where discipline can make a big difference.

Complete the biggest challenges first
If you cannot remove distractions effectively, you’ve got to get up before everybody else does! If you really want to
grow your business and you’ve got a mountain of challenges ahead of you, you’ve got to complete the biggest ones first. This doesn’t just give you a sense of achievement, but will also give you a better opportunity to work more effectively later on, and smaller tasks that require less energy can be done with ease. 

Being productive as a small business owner doesn’t just involve finding the right tools and techniques, but also about winning the battle against ourselves!

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