How to minimise distractions and make time for marketing

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One of the biggest challenges our clients face is simply making the time to implement the integrated marketing plan that will help them achieve their ambitious business goals.

Defining your key sales messages and engaging with your target market in an exciting and relevant way takes time, and even having a full-service marketing agency to help still leaves you with lots of tasks that need your attention. Some of our clients still feel like there aren’t enough hours in the working day.

At Boxed Red, we want to do everything we can to help your business succeed, and if that means helping you create some more time in your day to dedicate to marketing tasks, so be it.

We’ve rounded up four ways you can minimise distractions and make time for those tasks that always seem to fall to the bottom of your to-do list.

1. FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU’RE SPENDING TIME

Do you get to the end of the day and wonder where the last eight hours have gone? Sometimes it’s difficult to remember the last task you did, never mind what you tackled when you arrived at your desk this morning.

The first step to reclaiming some time in your work day is understanding exactly how you spend your time. It’s time to track every minute, for at least one week.

Whether you simply note down every single task on a spreadsheet or install a free time and task tracker such as RescueTime, you need to start with an accurate picture of what you spend the most time on.

At the end of the week, you’ll be able to recognise the biggest time sucks for you, is it interruptions at your desk? Or does the constant lure of email keep you from getting the important work done?

2. TAKE CONTROL OF NOTIFICATIONS

You know what it’s like; you sit down to crack on with that important task when a new email pings into your inbox and you instinctively click on the icon to open the mail. Then a co-worker pops by your desk with a task you need to pick up and your phone pings with a Facebook mention or Instagram like.

Before you know it, all these tiny, unimportant interruptions have stolen an hour of your time and you can’t remember what you were working on and have to start all over again.

Take control of those interruptions and switch off ALL your push notifications. You’re in charge of when you answer correspondence, not the notifications. Try setting a timer for 25 minutes of solid work, then take a five minute break when you deal with the small tasks that don’t take much brain power.

You can even ask that co-worker if you can come back to them in a few minutes once your timer has finished, don’t suffer in silence.

3. DON’T DROWN IN EMAIL

Many of our clients feel like most of their time is spent in the depths of their inbox, and it’s stealing valuable time from the tasks that really make their business grow.

Do your emails really need to be answered within minutes? Or would an hour or so be acceptable to your clients and customers? It’s more than likely that an hourly check in on your inbox is more than enough.

Limit yourself to 10 minutes of responding and actioning emails every hour throughout the day. Instead of dipping in and out every few minutes, you’ll free up valuable chunks of time that can be spent on the important stuff.

4. CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Sometimes your desk can be the most distracting place in the world. The telephone is ringing, your email notifications are popping up every few seconds and your co worker just wants to chat about their weekend when you have a deadline looming.

Think about where you can physically move to to get some distance. https://boxedred.com/how-to-minimise-distractions-and-make-time-for-marketing/ https://boxedred.com/how-to-minimise-distractions-and-make-time-for-marketing/ https://boxedred.com/how-to-minimise-distractions-and-make-time-for-marketing/ https://boxedred.com/how-to-minimise-distractions-and-make-time-for-marketing/ https://boxedred.com/how-to-minimise-distractions-and-make-time-for-marketing/Can you shut yourself away in the meeting room for 50 minutes of intense focus? Can you work from home or take a laptop to a nearby coffee shop?

Sometimes the most important tasks of your day (or the one that you keep putting off) needs to be prioritised and singled out. Take yourself away from the distractions and you might be surprised at what you can achieve in an hour.

What’s your favourite way to get the important stuff done in your day? Let us know in the comments!

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