Untitled - Hospitality Maldives

In today’s business world it is not uncommon
for many sales people to work from a home
office. At first this may seem like a great
opportunity, however, it does create some
unique challenges. One of the biggest
obstacles is the number of distractions that
can take us away from our work and prevent
us from achieving our objectives.
When you work from a home office it is easy
to get distracted from work, especially if it
is work that you do not particularly enjoy
like prospecting or cold calling. Watering
the plants, running errands or even doing
laundry can be a welcome change from the
daily drudgery of selling. And, if you have
young children, the number of distractions
increases dramatically.
I, too, work from a home office and have
had to deal with this challenge. Here are
a few ideas that can help manage these
distractions and improve your productivity. -
Create an office. When I first began working
from home almost a decade ago, I used to
work at my dining room table. Unfortunately,
this put me in the middle of our household
action. My wife would turn on the television
and I would be instantly distracted from my
work. In other cases, she would talk to me
or ask me a question simply because I was
in the same room. As a result, it was often
difficult to focus on my work. Now I have an
office and do the majority of my work there.
If you don’t have space to create an office,
find somewhere in your house that has the
least amount of traffic and opportunities for
distractions.
• Set specific “business” hours. This is
particularly important if you have young
children. It can be very difficult for
children to understand that they can’t
disturb us while we’re working. If you
have an office, close your door and
place a do not disturb sign on it. This is
particularly important if you are making
client calls because it prevents family
members from inadvertently barging in
on you during a critical call.
• Use a “to do” list—everyday. Having
a list of what you need to accomplish
each day can help keep you focused;
otherwise, it becomes too easy to do
other things around the house. If you
know that you need to accomplish a
certain number of tasks by the end of
the day, it can prevent you from getting
distracted during the day. One of the
challenges with this is that household
duties or running errands are more
enjoyable compared to work we have
to complete. However, I have frequently
found that once I get involved in my
task, the desire to do something else
fades.
• Set deadlines for the projects you’re
working on. Although I don’t have
anyone holding me accountable to these
deadlines, it find that this approach can
help keep me on track. You can also
share these deadlines with other people
to help keep yourself focused especially
if this type of accountability works for
you.
• Give your permission to relax from timeto-time.
It’s okay to allow yourself to get
distracted once in a while. As long it’s
not a regular occurrence, you don’t have
to worry too much about it. However,
if your relaxation time overtakes your
work time, then you need to reconsider
your priorities.
• Share your goals and objections with
a group of advisors. This type of
accountability works well for many
people because they know they will
have to report their progress on specific
projects.
• Recognize that the results you achieve
are a direct result of the effort you put
into your work. When I first started my
private practice, it was easy to put aside
work and do chores or run errands. In
my first year, I treated work like a parttime
job, clocking an average of 20-25
When you work
from a home office
it is easy to get
distracted from
work, especially
if it is work that
you do not
particularly enjoy
like prospecting or
cold calling.
hours per week. When I evaluated my
results at the end of the year I realized I
couldn’t afford to maintain this mentality.
So I started working more. And, I got
better results. I eventually learned that
the more effort I put into my work, the
better results I achieved in terms of the
revenue and income I generated. This
made it easier to avoid the distractions
and focus more on my work.
• Lastly, you can try an approach I
learned from Brian Tracy many years.
When you find yourself procrastinating
on a particular task or project, repeat
the following three words to yourself
over and over. “Do it now.” This can be
a great way to prevent yourself from
getting distracted by other things you
would prefer to do.
Distractions are sometimes positive. A break
away from work can clear your mind, give
you the opportunity to refresh yourself,
and increase your energy level. However, it
is important to remember that you have a
responsibility to yourself and your business
to limit these distractions.
Kelley Robertson works with specialty retailers to help them capture more from each sale. He is the author of two books including the best-seller, Stop, Ask &
Listen—Proven Sales Techniques to Turn Browsers into Buyers. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter
available at http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.