Do Distractions Kill Your Productivity?

Distractions kill your productivity and rob you of your potential. If you’re a leader, most of these distractions probably come from your team.

They are not bad people. My guess is that they’re trying hard to make you look good.

But there are some specific reasons why they are constantly knocking on your door. You’ve probably have never thought of two of them and don’t realize that they are in your control.

A Lack of Training
The first reason is that they don’t know what to do when everyday situations present themselves. This boils down to a lack of training.

It’s very likely that you mean to get around to this training at some point but can never find the time. That’s a big problem because it ensures that you’ll have people constantly coming to you, looking for answers.

Invest the time to make sure employees and especially new ones, know what to do.

If you can’t find the time to make it happen, then outsource the training. It will cost you more but it will get done. That’s a major victory for your productive time.

Too Much Control
Do people come to you with questions, not because they don’t know what to do, but because you’ve created a culture where people feel like they can’t make a decision without your blessing.

It’s good to have things done your way, which I’m sure is the right way. And you do need to make sure that people don’t start to freelance off of your proven policies and procedures.

But if you are to ever maximize your productive time, you also have to introduce an element of trust into your leadership style.

You can’t touch every action and every decision that happens in your kingdom. There’s just not enough time in the day.

Make sure people know what to do and then let them do it. Later, you can judge them on their results and hold them accountable if things didn’t turn out as well as expected.

Bottom Line
Treat your productive time like a valuable resource. Otherwise you’ll lose it, as you find yourself ground down by the tasks you pay other people to do. Remember that distractions kill your productivity.