In the workplace, productivity is critical. Work doesn’t get done without it, which means sales don’t happen, and your small business loses money.

Because of a brilliant idea, a lightbulb went off

As a small business owner, you must be on top of your game because others will look up to you for guidance. At the same time, you need your workers to be productive in order for your company to stay afloat. The most common causes of reduced productivity, as well as what you can do about it, are listed below.

Social Media and the Internet

How often do you check your phone or open your browser to see what’s going on in the world through the internet and social media during the day? Often, you aren’t fully aware of what you’re doing and are simply scrolling for the sake of boredom or habit, rather than actually processing the information you’re viewing. These brief interruptions may have a greater impact on your productivity than you may realize. The good news is that there are easy ways to deal with it.

1. Start by setting a timer. Allow yourself a specific amount of time to complete a task before taking a 5-minute web/social break.
2. Install a website blocker on your computer. You can use a variety of website blockers to prevent yourself from visiting your favorite websites. You can set a temporary blocker to keep you from straying from the task at hand, if you need to take a break from emails, Instagram, or even Amazon.
3. Get your phone out of your pocket. Move your phone away from you if your biggest downfall is using your phone, whether it’s mindlessly scrolling or answering text messages. Put it in a drawer, a bag, another room, or anywhere else you won’t reach for it. When something is out of sight, it is always out of mind.

All the muttering

While getting together with your coworkers can be beneficial for morale, brainstorming, and improved communication, it can also be detrimental to productivity. Whether it’s a meeting that could have been an email, or a coworker stopping by your office that distracts you, there are ways to embrace the positives of in-person chatting without disrupting productivity.

1. Intelligent Meetings. Nothing irritates workers more than showing up for a meeting only to discover that it could have been handled via email. If you’re leading a meeting, make sure that you’re going in prepared, with an agenda and a plan to keep everyone on task, and an established goal to ensure that your time together is productive in its own way. It is not only good efficiency practice, but it also demonstrates respect for other people’s time.
2. Choose your words carefully. Popping by a coworker’s cube or office to ask a question or check in on their weekend may be common practice, but it’s also a common productivity stopper. If the discussion isn’t urgent and you’re deep in the zone, politely tell your coworker that you’re trying to power through something on your to-do list and while you’d love to chat more, ask if they can meet a little later. Your coworkers aren’t mind readers and won’t always know when you’re focused, but as long as you handle it the right way, they will be happy to save the conversation for a more appropriate time.

Having a Forced Schedule

How often have you been walking your dog, driving home, or even in the shower, and you suddenly get a great idea? While standard work hours are 8- or 9-5, that doesn’t mean that productivity is limited to those hours. Flexible schedules and the opportunities to work from home are more mainstream than ever and are bringing with them a new wave of productivity. In fact, many employees who either work flexible hours or have a day or two a week to work from home report being more productive than other employees. So how do you make it work for you and your team and ensure people are working and not just bingeing the latest Netflix hit?

1. Let employees choose their work from home day. While having a set schedule and knowing when people will be in your office is helpful, there won’t be a magical day of the week that works best for everyone on your team. Offering the option to choose a day will make your employees feel valued, boost employee engagement, and lead to higher productivity.
2. Trust. One of the biggest reasons employers get uncomfortable over employees working from home is they are afraid their employees will take advantage of it and not truly work. The Society for Human Resource Management has a blog post that talks about this and counters with, “if you can’t trust your employees to work flexibly, why hire them in the first place?” Now more than ever, employees want the opportunity to work from home, and because it’s a valued perk, most employees aren’t going to abuse it. While they may not work the same way they would in the office, they are still going to get their tasks done in the way that works most productively for them. As long as the work is done correctly and on-time, it’s best to not split hairs about how it happened.
3. Create a productive space. When working from home, it’s easy to sit on the couch in pajamas and work away. While that may be a more comfortable way to work, it doesn’t always create the most productive mindset. Create a space that is designed to help you get work done, even if it’s as simple as a desk in the living room instead of your couch.

Conclusion

With all of these tips in mind, remember that you are going to have your days (we see you post-holiday weekend) that no matter how hard you try to get in the zone, it’s not going to happen. Don’t beat yourself up because you can’t be knocking it out of the park every day. Just keep these tips in mind when you need a little productive boost, and if all else fails, treat yourself to something caffeinated to help inspire your next great idea.