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Welcome to Vantage Business Support & Insurance Services
We all know how important small business is to the U.S. economy. Some statistics that you may not know are:
(1) they represent 99.7% of all employer firms, (2) they employ just over half of all private sector employees, (3) they pay 44% of total U.S. private payroll (4) have generated 64% of net new jobs in the past 15 yrs.
VANTAGE has been servicing the small business community for over 35 years. Over the years we have accumulated much knowledge, contacts and experience in helping to protecting small businesses and help them become successful and grow. As such, we will be publishing a semimonthly newsletter geared toward providing small businesses with the latest news, products, and guidelines to assist in their success and growth. Please feel free to comment and/or request topics that are important to you for us to research.
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This is just a sampling of what we feel would be important to you. We have much more to offer. If you have any questions or need more information please contact us at 877-886-8277 or click the link below.
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20 Awesome Productivity Tricks Anyone Can Use - Part 1 Tricks 1 to 10.
 Even though we all want to be more productive, it's hard to make major changes. Small changes are easy- and can be incredibly powerful. That's why the following 20 tips are simple enough you can immediately incorporate them into your daily routine. Some tips will help you better use your time. Others will help you harness your energy. Others will help you stay more focused. No matter what, they all work. So try a few - or try them all!-
Create Systems, Not Goals
Commit to a process, not a goal. Don't just set a goal of creating better customer relationships; commit to calling at least two customers a day to ask how you can better serve them. Don't just set a goal of landing new clients; commit to cold-calling at least two leads every day. Commit to a process that leads to a goal and you're much more likely to achieve that goal. Focus on what you will do, not on what you want to happen.
Make Temptations Hard to Reach
Call this the "pain in the butt" technique: when something is hard to do, you'll do it less. Store sodas in the refrigerator and keep bottles of water on your desk. Put the TV remote in an upstairs closet. Shut down your browser so it's harder to check out TMZ. Use a "productivity" laptop that intentionally doesn't have a browser or email, leave your phone behind, and move to a conference room to get stuff done. Convenience is the mother of distraction, so make it a pain in the butt to satisfy your temptations.
Maximize Your Most Important Tasks
All of us have things we do that make the biggest difference. (For me it's actually sitting down and writing.) What two or three things contribute most to your success? What two or three things generate the most revenue? Then eliminate all the extra "stuff" to the greatest extent possible so you reap the benefits of spending time on the tasks that make you you
Purposely Allow Less Time for Key Projects
Time is like a new house. We eventually fill a bigger house with furniture, and we eventually fill a block of time with "work."
So take the opposite approach. Limit the amount of time you allow yourself to complete an important task. You'll be more focused, more motivated, your energy level will be higher... and you'll actually get more done.
Stop In the Middle
Take it from Ernest Hemingway: "The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day...you will never be stuck." His advice applies to all kinds of work. When you stop in the middle of a project you know what you've done, you know exactly what you'll do next, and you'll be excited to get started again.
Chunk Housekeeping Tasks
Even though we'd like to focus solely on our most important tasks, we all have stuff we still need to do. Instead of sprinkling those activities throughout the day- or, worse, taking care of them when they pop up- collect and take of them in preplanned blocks. Better yet, schedule that block for when you know you'll be tired or in need of a mental break. That way you'll still feel (and be) productive even when you're not at your best.
Just Say No
You're polite. You're courteous. You're helpful. You want to be a team player. You're overwhelmed. Say "no" at least as often as you say yes. You can still be polite while protecting your time. And you should protect your time - time is the one asset no one can afford to waste.
Start Small So You Won't Mind
Say you decided you should cold-call 20 new prospects every day. Great idea - but sounds daunting. Sounds really hard. Sounds almost impossible... so you won't. Instead, start small. You can call 2 people a day, right? That sounds easy. That you will do. Then, in time, it will feel comfortable to increase the number. Whenever you want to create a new habit, start small so you will actually start - and stick with it through that tough early time when habits are hard to form.
Build In Frequent Breaks
Small, frequent breaks are a great way to refresh and recharge. Like the Pomodoro Technique, a time-management strategy where you work on one task for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. (To time yourself you can use a kitchen timer or your phone...) The key to not burning out is to not let burnout sneak up on you. Scheduling regular short breaks ensures that won't happen.
Follow the 2-Minute Rule
Here's one from Getting Things Done: when a task takes less than 2
minutes, don't schedule it, don't set it aside for later, don't set a reminder... just take care of it. Now. Then it's done. Besides, don't you have enough on your schedule already?
SOURCE: Jeff Haden |
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DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Our firm provides the information in this e-newsletter for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this e-newsletter are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided "as is," with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.
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