5 Smart Ways to Get More Work Done Every Day

March 27, 2018 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

“If only I had more time,” you may say to yourself every day. You might feel like you are just a little bit behind on tasks at work. You have a full schedule that demands you to be on point throughout the day, multi-tasking and keeping ahead of your workload. Using these 5 smart ways to get work done every day will help remove the pressure of your workload.

The silver lining here is that you’re in good company. Business owners, executives, and managers overwhelmingly share in the desire for more time. The truth of the matter is that lack of time sometimes results from lack of quality time management.

You might think that you’re doing all the right things to manage your time, but the truth is that everyone needs to constantly add to their repertoire of time management tools. This is because of the double-edged sword of today’s ever-changing technologies. Technology has become more interruptive than ever. Emails and cell phones constantly alert you to impending tasks. On the other hand, there are more technologies than ever before to help you, in the form of handy apps and time management tools.

5 Smart Ways to Get More Work Done Every Day

Cut the Spam

Spam emails are a common complaint of almost all companies. Managers and employees alike are bombarded with unwanted emails and waste valuable company time making heads or tails of which emails are actually important.

In fact, I bet your email box is stuffed with shopping advertising and unwanted newsletters on a daily basis. In fact, you might wonder how you are receiving so many daily emails. The fact is that you may be unknowingly added to email lists. Unscrupulous marketers find email addresses of executives on their own websites and add names without permission. While this is reprehensible, it happens. Cut the spam using a couple of techniques.

First, opt-out of those spammy emails. Yes, this takes time. Break it down by opting out of five or six unwanted mailing lists daily. It will take you less than 5 minutes but cut down on time wasted on sorting your emails in the future.

Second, remove every reference to your email address from your website. Replace your email address with a contact form that will mask your email address but alert you when legit customers are trying to reach you. This will reduce future unwanted emails from arriving in your inbox and save you from wasting more time on spam.

Set a Timer

The chances are that you use a calendar, but you can’t figure out why you still deviate from your schedule throughout the day. The simple fact is that you may not have clearly established time limits. Here’s an example. You plan a 30-minute conference call, but it takes 45 minutes. This pushes your next appointment or task back by 15 minutes. Throughout the day, you get further behind until it’s impossible to get back on track.

Solution? Set a timer. Use a timer app on your phone or even an old-fashioned egg timer. It will send you an audible signal to interrupt that call (or any other task for that matter) so you can bring it to a timely close.

It’s human nature to respond to an audible cue to “shift gears.” As an added benefit, you will start to send the message to your employees that you are embracing a more productive culture in your workplace.

Turn Off the Cell Phone for One Hour

This sounds shocking…but give yourself permission to be cell phone-free for one hour every day. That’s right, for one hour you will be free of distractions like phone calls, calendar alerts, text messages, and social media messages.

Cell phones cause constant interruptions. In addition, when your phone is on you are always multi-tasking because it demands your attention. When multitasking, you are more likely to get distracted from the main task or make mistakes. Worse yet, you’re less likely to completely finish the main task!

Think of the things that you can accomplish in 60 minutes of uninterrupted time. You can return text messages, phone calls, and look at your social media stats at the end of that time period.

Delegate

Do you shoulder the load alone? Do you think that the only way a task will be completed on time…and correctly…is if you do it yourself? Look to your employees and start to delegate tasks to them. Remember that you hired them because you need help, and trust that they have your back.

If the thought of delegating makes you nervous, here are some tips. Identify which employee is the most capable of handling the task at hand. Charge that employee with the responsibility and set clear expectations. Mentor that employee and give feedback on improvement when appropriate.

You may be surprised to see that your employees will flourish under your guidance and to whom you can delegate even more responsibility to in the future.

Set Achievable Goals for Yourself

Here’s food for thought. Are you trying to accomplish more in one day than feasible? Perhaps you’re getting bogged down by work because you’re placing too large of a workload on yourself.

This can lead to feelings that you haven’t accomplished anything, when in fact you accomplish more than you realize!

Take inventory of your own expectations. Set daily workload goals that are achievable. If you can take on more at the end of the day, you can. But if you feel mired down day after day, it will eventually lead to more stress than you need.

Summary

“Lost time is never found again,” Benjamin Franklin famously once said. This is sadly true. If you wish each day that you had just a few more minutes to complete tasks, look to these 5 smart ways to get more work done every day.

If you make these a habit, you will begin to accomplish more each day, feel back in control of your time, and alleviate the stress of not having enough hours in your day.

About the Author

Deborah Tayloe is a freelance web content writer. She’s a consulting writer with EmailMeForm and loves learning about technology. She’s a native of Erie, Pennsylvania and now lives in Bertie County, NC with her husband and an energetic toy fox terrier.

How Many Gifts Were Returned This Holiday Season

March 9, 2018 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

It’s incredibly important for companies to understand the importance of a smooth return process. According to reverse logistics platform Optoro, $380 billion worth of goods are returned by consumers each year. $90 billion of that is during the holiday season.

To better understand who is making these returns Red Stag Fulfillment surveyed over 1,000 people and analyzed their return habits. They found that 28% of gift receivers returned something this holiday season. That means that roughly 28% of your customer base will likely be utilizing your return process at some point.

Delving deeper into the data: 40% of people returned one gift and 21% returned two. That means that the vast majority of people were either satisfied with their gift or didn’t want to go through the return process. Men returned more gifts than women and the most returned items were clothing and accessories.

Ensuring your return process is smooth and hassle free can not only win you repeat business but can result in positive word of mouth attention as well. While it can be more costly up front to streamline this process it can pay dividends in the long run.

Who Returned Gifts This Year Infographic by Red Stag Fulfillment

3 Small Office Organizing Tips to Boost Business Efficiency

February 28, 2018 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Organization is an effective tool that most businesses overlook and undervalue. Being organized goes beyond just tidying up clutter and arranging stacks of papers on desks. In fact, it’s the most effective way to ensure efficiency and productivity whether your office is big or small.

Benefits of organizing office space

Increases productivity – Save time on looking for files and focus more on working on important tasks.
Reduce stress levels – It’s frustrating to look for documents from ages ago. When you organize, label and store files correctly, tracking down old documents can be a piece of cake.
Meet deadlines – As projects pile up, there’s a tendency to forget other important or pending tasks. By organizing, you can ensure that you meet deadlines, and don’t overlook what’s on your checklist.

Organization comprises procedures and systems for various aspects of your business. If you own a small company, creating order in the business process can be quite overwhelming. To help boost business efficiency, below are some tips for you to get organized.

1. Figure out your business style

Every individual has a certain preference in terms of workflow and organization. Have a meeting with your staff to discuss what processes need improvement to create the most efficient system suited to your enterprise.

Once you find the right business system, make sure it helps simplify processes. Employees come and go, but the foundations of your organization will remain. For your company to continue its efficient operations, you have to be consistent within your organizational structure. Keep your system streamlined so that it’d be easier to stick with.

2. Make use of a storage service

If you have a small office space, rather than increasing real estate, make use of a storage facility. Business storage is ideal for small companies that need warehousing and fulfillment space. Instead of paying more to get a bigger office space, business or commercial storage can be an affordable and flexible option.

Choose a storage facility that you can access easily. If you own a business that tends to accumulate a lot of documents and important records, but which are accessed very rarely, a professional storage service is worth considering.

Aside from saving on rent and office space, there are many benefits to storing your business documents in a proper storage facility. These include:

The safekeeping of important documents
Providing more security than in-house storage
Sufficient space for organizing files and finding important documents quickly
Flexibility and easy expansion options especially for start-up businesses
Climate-controlled options for sensitive documents
Reduction in the risk of fire since paper documents are in a protected facility

3. Use the right tools

There are many software and apps that you can use for your business to stay organized. Your tools will vary depending on your type of business, and the products or services that you offer.

Below are some tools most small business owners use to increase their productivity.

Meetings or Conferences – If you need to call or meet a client face-to-face, there are tools to help you stay on track and keep you organized. Google Calendar tracks all important business events so that you’ll never have to miss a meeting or appointment.
Social Media Management – Without an integrated system, you’ll be spending a lot of time promoting your business on social media. Tools like Buffer and Hootsuite are effective platforms for social media management.
Accounting and Bookkeeping – You can organize and streamline payments and invoices, and manage cash flow by using tools like Xero, Wave and Quickbooks Online.
Contact Management – When networking, it’s important to keep valuable contact information. As a business owner, you can try using a good system like Salesforce to manage contacts.
Email management – If you’re already using Gmail in your small business, make use of other Google extensions to help you easily and efficiently organize your inbox and work-related electronic files.

Organizing is an essential process, both in life and in business, that’s why you need to be specific with the work you do. Take the time to get to know all of the essential processes in your business before introducing a work system.

Get feedback, reformulate if needed, and then test the new system. Once efficiency and productivity gains are established, give everyone time to ease into the new system. Then you’ll see business productivity increase in no time.

The tips above are useful in getting your small office organized. But you have to remember that things can also get out of hand. Conduct a quick and easy review of your system periodically to ensure that it remains streamlined and foolproof.

About the Author

Chris Humphrey is the General Manager of Easytruck Moving & Storage. In 2013, the company combined their expertise in professional moving services & storage to create an entirely new approach to the business – and mobile storage was born! Easytruck now operates over 30,000 sq.ft. of air-conditioned facilities in three convenient locations in Dubai and is the only Mobile Storage operator in the UAE.

Facebook | Twitter

How a Clean Office can Boost Productivity (Infographic)

January 25, 2018 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Some people would associate an untidy, paper-strewn office to be a sign of a busy place where everyone is industriously getting through their work, but usually it’s cleaner offices which are more productive. This infographic from Cleaning Services Group looks at the link between a well-maintained workplace and a greater level of productivity.

To some, the cleanliness of a working environment has no bearing on how much work employees complete. However, a clean office can boost productivity in numerous ways. For a start, illnesses are far less likely to develop in a clean workspace, which means that fewer sick days will be taken and more work will get done. Absenteeism costs businesses millions of dollars every year, so the health of your workforce cannot be understated.

In a clean office, you’ll most likely know where important files are kept and you’ll be able to find these easily. Compare that with a cluttered desk that’s heaving with papers and rubbish. You could waste several minutes rummaging through piles in the search for just one piece of paper. That situation multiplied by other employees over the long-term adds up to hours squandered in lost productivity.

A clean workspace also has a psychological impact. If your office is excellently maintained, you’ll naturally feel a greater motivation to come into work every day than if the place was forever up in a heap with piles of disused equipment and stationery.

Productivity is what matters most in a workplace, but presentation certainly cannot be neglected. A workplace that is maintained in pristine condition is one where management and staff have pride, which is reflected in the quality of work that is completed. The message is simple – a cleaner office can only be beneficial for productivity, which makes all stakeholders happier.

Infographic created by Cleaning Services Group

The Top 5 Strategic Ways for Marketers To Grow Their Business

January 25, 2018 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

In the world of today, the business world is more competitive and cutthroat than ever before. You need not even look to individual businesses for further proof as the entire worldwide scenario is all the proof that you need. There is no way that one can deny the fact that it is truly overwhelming in its scope.

More and more businesses are beginning to understand the basic fact that merely having a product or a service that is in high demand is no longer enough to stay on top of the game. Nor is the fact that you own some of the best and most well-equipped warehouses out there or the fact that your product is rightly priced for the market. All these factors are just the beginning.

Basically, there is no written formula for having a successful business. Success comes from hard work, a combination of many varying factors plus sheer luck as well. The question is – do you have what it takes to survive and be successful in the business world of today?

To know more and find out which particular area your business is lacking in, do take a good look at the top five strategic ways for marketers to grow their business:-

The importance of being meticulous: This is the first and most vital step. During the initial stages of growing your business, you cannot afford to leave things to others for the most part. Although you may think that they are trustworthy and are able to handle certain aspects of your business, this will turn into a recipe for disaster in the future.
In a nutshell, you need to be present at every task (no matter how small or big) overseeing and cross-checking each aspect in detail. That is the only way to get a good head start.
The twin essentials of passion and optimism: This pretty much goes without saying. Don’t just reserve both aspects for yourself, but rather show them to all of your employees so that they become as passionate and optimistic as you are. Additionally, as a businessman, it is up to you to look for the lesson learned in every obstacle and failure that comes your way.
Make sure that you focus on the customer: Too many businessmen get carried away thinking that the sole aim is profit while in reality, your aim should be creating and keeping new customers. In relation to this, you need to focus on the aspect of customer satisfaction and ways to increase it.
The aspect of competitiveness: Except for those companies that enjoy an extensive monopoly in the area of business, competition is everything. It is what drives services to be exclusive and different from one another. Once you have an exclusive USP, you will be able to get hold of the elusive competitive advantage that most businesses out there strive for. Ultimately, you need to think of the one main aspect that sets you apart and will ultimately give you an edge over your peers in the business.
Remember to measure your success: Even though everyone’s definition of success is different, you still need to measure it. Enjoying what you do and consistently meeting your targets are two vital ways to measure the rate of your success. Lastly, the aspect of customer service and satisfaction should be completely sorted out from your side.

Finally, keeping all of the above pointers in mind is just the tip of the iceberg. One needs to follow through and start implementing them into their collective business strategy as well. Only then will you know how rewarding and challenging it is to run a business entirely on your own. Having an efficient and loyal team is only a part of the main puzzle.

Hence, merely planning your goals won’t do. One needs to make sure that all their goals are set for the long term as that is eventually what will decide whether they remain relevant in the market or not.

Article by Caitlyn Bell