Focus & achievement when you run a small business

How do you make sure you get key jobs done and move your business forward? 

When you work on your own it can be difficult to stay motivated and to tackle important tasks. If you're anything like me, there's always something that you keep putting off!

I've written before about some productivity tips, how small steps can make a difference (here and here).

Here's something else that can help: having an 'accountability partner' or 'co-working'. Read to the end for a free opportunity to try 'co-working' - without going anywhere!

Accountability partners

It's great when you're your own boss. You can decide what you do, when.

But what about when you want to move your business forward and you're always battling just to get the usual tasks done? Breaking a bigger job down into smaller parts can help, and then you need to give yourself a good talking-to. Or maybe you just need to feel that you're not entirely alone? 

That's where accountability partners come in. The idea is simple: you find one person - they don't even have to be in the same industry as you  - and become accountability partners. I have a friend called Mary and we've used this 'system' for a while to move our businesses forward. 

Every Monday morning we send each other a quick email. In it we list a few bullet points about the key tasks we're trying to get done over the following week. Then we give a quick update on the previous week. From time to time we meet or call each other to talk about our plans, but the key activity is the weekly email. 

This means that we both feel a little more accountable, not exactly answerable to each other, but more likely to get those jobs done and we know the other person is supportive. 

Co-working sessions

This idea is likely to sound a little odd but it really works! Do you have an important task you need to focus on and get done, but just don't get round to doing it? It could be something like re-writing your business description, getting started on a mailing, creating social media posts...

A co-working session is usually held online with a small group of people. You might not know the others - it doesn't make a difference. At the beginning of the session you each say a sentence of two (or use the chatbox) about the task you're going to try to get done.

Then the host sets a timer - usually around 45 minutes. At that point everyone mutes themselves and switches off their camera. Everyone starts work on that task. 

When the timer goes off, everyone stops and takes a few moments to say whether they got their task done. 

I don't really know why this works but it does: it's amazing how a co-working session can help you focus and get something done much quicker than you expect. 

I'm running a free sample co-working session online, together with a marketing surgery at the end on Thursday, 26th October. It's up to you whether you stay for the marketing surgery or not. During that section of the call, you'll be able to ask any marketing questions you have and get help. You can submit questions in advance and stay anonymous if you prefer. Register here if you'd like to join this session.