Workplace distractions are a large obstacle to Heat Up Your Sales. Studies show 91% of employees feel distracted, with up to 56 disruptions per day. We then waste about two hours each day refocusing our attention back to what we were working on. We waste the equivalent of 20 days, or 4 whole work weeks a year.
What could you do with 20 more workdays? I probably would golf during five of those days. Maybe go to the beach. Maybe catch a matinee…
According to research by CareerBuilder that covered 3,031 full-time US workers and 2,186 hiring managers across various industries and company sizes in the private sector, people find the following distractions to be the most disruptive at work:
- Mobile phone/texting: 55%
- The Internet: 41%
- Gossip: 39%
- Social media: 37%
- Co-workers checking-in: 27%
- Smoke breaks or snack breaks: 27%
- Email: 26%
- Meetings: 24%
For me, the top five items keeping me from selling are e-mail, social media, fire-fighting, visitors and administrative things.
Use the three D’s: Delegate. Delete. Do Later (NST). Delegate administrative things and as much busy work as you can. Delete unnecessary tasks and do later non-selling tasks.
Schedule email two times a day. At the beginning of each day, I sort through emails and file under To Do Now, Reply, Hiring, Selling, Meeting, Review or COVID info…
You should never be checking Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn unless it is part of your job responsibilities.
Have unexpected visitors (“I was in the area…”) call back to schedule an appointment. We have three signs shouting: “No Visitors Without An Appointment.” People still walk right in and expect to meet with the Executive Director or me. Our front-end manager (aka Gatekeeper) shares the best way to get in touch with us for those without appointments.
Remember the question? Is what I am doing right now the best use of my time? Organize. Plan your day. Avoid Distractions. Set your objectives, hustle, and give your professional best.
Call to action: name one thing you accomplished today. Write it down every day. At the end of the week, instead of saying, “I didn’t get anything done again this week,” your five-item success list is the beginning of a trend to Heat Up Your Sales!