As great as technology is, when it comes to finding the time to completely immerse yourself in your work, let’s face it – the same technology we depend on can just as quickly turn into a major hindrance. Being a web designer, the very nature of my job requires that I spend the majority of my workday online – which makes it that much more important that I take extra care not to get easily sidetracked.

While the suggestions below are mostly common sense, and quite frankly nothing you probably haven’t already heard, sometimes you need a bit of a reminder – myself included! These are all tried and true tricks that work, as long as you commit yourself to sticking to them.

First Things First: Limit Your (Online) Social Activities

Yes, I admit it – Twitter and Facebook are my guilty pleasures. And while it can be difficult, sometimes you just need to set aside a certain amount of time to commit to NOT logging back in. Whether you decide to stay away for X number hours, or until you complete a certain project or task – sometimes you just have to say “No!” Or at least, “not right now.”

There’s certainly nothing wrong with taking a break with some social networking. Heck, in many cases your  networking efforts can lead to new business! But it’s just as important to know when it’s time to lay low for a while, until after you’ve put in a decent amount of time and effort on your current projects.

That Goes Double For Those Third-Party Social Apps

I personally can’t rave enough about TweetDeck – it’s my Twitter app of choice! But whatever your weapon of choice happens to be, simply minimizing the application doesn’t usually cut it.

At the very least, be sure to disable any notifications the program might have, as this is often the most distracting part. But even without frequent pop-ups when new messages are posted, just seeing the icon as an open application makes it all too easy to click on it for “just one quick minute.”

We all know how Twitter works – “just one quick minute” quickly turns into 5 tweets, 20 responses, 7 direct messages and 10 new posts to read (and retweet) from various blogs…

An hour later, you’re now that much closer to potentially missing a deadline. So when you have work that has to get done, the best thing to do is just shut it down!

Close Your Web Browser… Or At Least Hide the Bookmark Toolbar

If I’m on the design phase of a web site, I can easily close down my web browser and stay focused in Photoshop. But when I move onto the development stage, I need to have Mozilla Firefox (as well as a few other browsers) open for testing purposes.

My biggest downfall with this is that handy-dandy bookmark toolbar with links to Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader and the like. With so many of my favorite sites not more than a single click away, it’s all but impossible to not take another “quick” look for “just one minute.”

The simple act of hiding this particular toolbar makes it more difficult than simply clicking a favicon to access these sites.

And While You’re At It – Hide the Address Bar, Too

If you really want to get down to business, consider hiding the address bar, as well. Because let’s face it – without the single click of the facebook favicon calling your name, how difficult is it to type “facebook.com” into the address bar and hit enter? Exactly! lol

What has helped me tremendously is to first open up windows or tabs with the sites I’m currently working on – for example the WordPress admin area of this very post I’m writing in one tab, and the preview version of the post in another. Once these are open, I hide the address bar. This makes it that much more difficult for me to stray off to another web site (or ten), and makes focusing much easier.

A helpful hint… just hit “Ctr” + “R” to refresh or reload the browser window to view new changes.

Don’t Live In Your Inbox

Many people (myself included) keep their email application open in the background as they work. It often serves as a reference point, for example to view a list of updates a client needs to make to their web site – something I need to have readily available when working on that particular project. I’m not one for paper clutter, so I prefer to keep this open on the screen, rather than printing it out.

One simple trick to keep this from becoming a distraction is to increase the amount of time between automatic email checks. I personally use Mozilla Thunderbird as my primary email client, with a copy of messages going to Gmail for backup.

As for the email client, I used to have it automatically download messages every 15 minutes. Even if I only sit down and respond to emails at set times (once, sometimes twice a day) I like being in the loop and seeing what is in store for me. But let’s be honest – seeing that popup with a new message every few minutes is a BIG distraction, one that’s almost impossible not to click on.

Instead, I’ve recently changed my settings to only download mail once every 2 hours. I might get brave and up this to once every 3-4 hours. Maybe… lol. This change alone can be a tough pill to swallow! But after a week or two it will feel like second nature, and you’ll be amazed at how much more productive it can make you.

Turn Off the Ringer and Schedule All Calls

The phone can be another BIG distraction. Calls can easily last close to an hour (even “quick” calls are usually a minimum of 20-30 minutes long). That’s precious time when you are trying to reach a deadline by the end of the day, and didn’t account for phone calls eating into your already tight schedule.

I’m a bit of a stickler for this one (some might use the term obsessive / compulsive) but I schedule 99% of my phone calls, whether they be from prospects or active clients. If you are like me, and lucky enough to have the majority of your work come from non-local clients, it’s not unheard of to consider phone calls to be the equivalent of in-person meetings. For most professional service providers, you have to make an appointment to meet with them. Since none of my clients are local, I follow this general rule for phone calls, as well.

Scheduling your phone calls makes a tremendous difference in being able to keep on track when working on a deadline. Think about it… if in a given day, 3 clients call about revisions to their sites, and a potential new client wants to pick your brain about their best options, you could easily spend a quarter of that day on the phone. Spur of the moment calls usually mean that my mind is half watching the clock, because I know I need to hurry up and get back to work, so as not to get behind on my schedule.

But consider the alternative… if it is a scheduled phone call instead, I’ll have an hour blocked out for the call; I’ll be well prepared for it; and will know that I’m devoting 100% of my attention to that client (or potential client) while we are on the phone. And I won’t risk missing any deadlines (aka pissing off another client). That’s a win-win, in my book.

The simplest way to go about this, is to simply turn off your ringer, and let all calls go to voicemail. You will still get the message, and if it’s urgent, you can call back ASAP. Otherwise, try to schedule a time convenient to both parties, where you know the other person will get your full and undivided attention.

Smartphones: The Ultimate Godsend… er Distraction

I think it’s safe to say that if you are reading this, you have a cell phone – and odds are it’s probably a smartphone. I’m partial to the BlackBerry, myself. But while smartphones are a Godsend that keep us constantly connected to email, instant messaging, social media, etc – it is also just another vehicle for distraction.

So when working, set your phone to “Phone Only” mode so you don’t get sidetracked with every email that comes in. And if you are truly serious about staying focused, set it to “Quiet” mode so you can adhere to the same phone rules above (especially when working on a deadline).

There’s no point to increasing the amount of time between automatic checks of the email client on your computer, if your phone is going to alert you every single time a new message comes in. Yes, push notification is a wonderful thing, but it can really hinder productivity, as well. By keeping your phone on silent, you’ll help curb any additional distractions.

(Not So) Instant Messaging

Whether you use Gtalk, Skype, Yahoo or a multi-IM client like Pidgin – instant messaging is yet another distraction that can hinder productivity.

When hard at work on a particular project, you should at a minimum, set your status to “Busy.” Some IM clients, like Skype, will hold back on alerting you to new messages if your status is set to busy – it will just update the icon in the status bar, rather than actually opening up the chat window on your behalf. A nice touch, if you ask me! This way you know the message is there, but you don’t feel obligated to answer right this second.

While most people respect the “Busy” icon – especially if you update your status message with something referencing “deadlines” – not everyone will hold your same sense of urgency. For this reason alone, the ideal situation is to close out of the program entirely.

Like social networking, choose your times wisely – log back in when it’s time for a break and some chit-chat. But when deadlines are looming, you’re better off laying low…

How Do YOU Disconnect?

In my never-ending quest to make the most of my time, I’ve been implementing more and more of these suggestions on a regular basis, and definitely see a peak in my performance when I do so. Of course, I am always looking for even better ways to maximize productivity, so I would love to hear your best tips and tricks to disconnect!

What do you do to ensure that you stay focused on the task at hand? Please share in the comments below!

And yes, I followed EVERY single item on this page in order to finish writing this post. My sincere apologies for the five month break between posts… utilizing the suggestions above, as well as the ones from my next post (already in draft) will ensure that I don’t take another five month posting hiatus from the blog!

I recently came across a 3 part series of posts on SparkPlugging about organizing your office paperwork. These are guest posts by Brandie Kajino of the Organize. Simplify. Transform Blog, and I am so thankful for them!

A small quote from the introductory post…

First, let’s talk about what “organized” means. Do you hate to file? Me too! So, first of all I’m going to put holes in an widely held organizing misconception: “Organized” does NOT mean perfectly labeled, color coded files, obsessively cleared desktops, or even neatness for that matter! (I’ll pause a moment so you can catch your breath.)

So, if “organized” doesn’t mean your space looks like a magazine layout, what does it mean? It simply means you can find what you need in less than 5 minutes. How cool is that? Freeing, right?

The articles discuss such a simple method for accomplishing this! In short, separate your documents into 3 separately marked bins:

• Action
• Projects
• Reference

I did this last weekend and what a difference it has made! Now of course, I do have a filing cabinet w/ folders – and I most definitely do need (and want) to file the reference papers properly… However, it’s so much nicer to have the 3 separate categories of paperwork. This way I know when I’m looking for something that it is in one of 3 bins, as opposed to searching through all the junk on my desk, or a big box with all of the papers jumbled together.

As the article says, I’ve been able to find all sorts of things in less than 5 minutes, which previously could have easily taken 15 minutes or more to find a particular paper. Now, I’ve got a LONG way to go still to having a truly organized office, but this little change has made a huge impact.

Please give the articles a read – you might find how freeing it is for yourself, too!

• Organize Your Home Office Paper: A Crash Course, Part 1
• Organize Your Home Office Paper: A Crash Course, Part 2
• Organize Your Home Office Paper: A Crash Course, Part 3

Do you have any additional home office organization tips or tricks? Please share your tips and tricks with us – I for one know I can use all the help I can get, LOL.

Joshua Clanton recently asked me to submit a haiku on productivity, for his blog.

I’m honored that he asked me, as I am in great company – including Naomi from IttyBiz, both Shane and Peter from the Shane and Peter Blog, Skellie from Skelliewag / Anywired, and Leo from Zen Habits (who inspired the post), as well as many more amazing bloggers!

Although I write a lot on this blog, I’m NOT a writer per-se. And poetry (in this case haiku) does not come easily for me. I’m quite indecisive, to boot, so I ended up with four little poems to submit. I was finally able to narrow it down to two, though.

My husband even made his writing debut in this post, lol. He wrote a haiku just for the heck of it, not expecting it to make the cut. He sure got a kick out of seeing his words online!

You can check out both of our submissions, as well as those of all the other amazing bloggers, on Joshua’s blog here:

• 18 Productivity Haikus – Get Things Done and Achieve Inner Peace through the Power of Poetry

Thanks Joshua!

One of my primary goals for 2008 is to create a healthy work / life balance.

Considering that I run my own web design business while also being employed full time, it often seems that all I do is work. On average, I’d say that I work on average, 60-70 hours a week. I’m sure there are many entrepreneurs, freelancers and work-at-home individuals in the same boat… especially other work-at-home-mom’s and work-at-home-dad’s.

How do I find the time to get so much work done, while still caring for my child and spending time with my spouse… an add to that attempting to maintain a (somewhat) clean household, etc.?

It can all get quite a bit overwhelming!

Below are a few articles I’ve found relating to time management, productivity, and the work / life balance.

I’ve found some very helpful information in these posts! I hope you find some helpful suggestions in these articles that you can incorporate into your daily routines, as well.

Freelance Folder
How to Unleash the Productivity Beast

IttyBiz
Time Management for Entrepreneurs: How to Avoid Burnout

IttyBiz
Time Management for Entrepreneurs: How to Get 4 More Hours In Your Day

Mom Works at Home
Be a Balanced Mom

Mom Works at Home
WAHM – How to Find Time for Your Business

Online Merchant Network
How I’ve Wrestled the Time Management Beast to the Ground

Zen Habits
3 Ways to Claim Your Life Back – How to Step Away from the Computer

One of my favorite parts of Fly Lady is Anti-Procrastination Day. They have this regularly on Wednesdays. I figure this would be a good motivational tool for myself, and hopefully for others!

Goodness knows I can procrastinate with the best of them, lol.

The idea behind Anti-Procrastination Day is that you take one item that you have been putting off – and finally just sit down and Get It Done!

There is also a variation on this… The Anti-Procrastination Day Game. This is where you get a bunch of little cards or pieces of paper and write down one item that you’ve been putting off on each one. Then store these together (in a little box, a bag, an envelope, wherever). When Anti-Procrastination Day rolls around – every Wednesday – you reach in, randomly pick out a piece of paper and do whatever you had written down. At the very least (if it is a big project) just get started on it.

I’ve got some things that I’ve been putting off that are on my weekly to do list, so I’m going to stick with that for now. But on days when I’m somewhat caught up on my list for the week, I have a stash of old business cards (with my old address) that would have gone in the trash anyway. So on the back of these I list one item that I need to finally deal with (one day… lol). When I’m caught up on regular stuff, I’ll be reaching into my Anti-Procrastination Day Game stash.

But for today…

I WILL make a final decision on my personal web site design. I have the design finished and even developed into all of the pages (with “coming soon” for the content). There are a few minor tweaks that I’ve been flip-flopping on, though – design items that are updated via CSS, not the pages themselves (I love how that works, lol).

You know, I have no problem deciding on things for clients, but when it comes to designing for myself, I can be so insanely indecisive at times. I’m going to nip that in the bud today… at least for this particular design.

And for extra credit, I’m going to try to crank out a majority of the content today, too.

So, what have you been procrastinating on? Will you get it accomplished today?

I recently came across the Work It Mom! web site. It’s a great resource for business moms – a networking site where you can ask and answer questions, post in forums, read blogs, etc.

They also allow you to submit articles to be posted on their site. This can be a brand new article, or one you’ve previously written.

Well, I submitted my Time Management: Setting Deadlines post – and within a matter of minutes, it was published here.

Can I tell you that made my Monday! I’ve found a ton of great information on this site, and hopefully a little bit of traffic too. Definitely give this site a look if you have a chance. My favorite feature is their question / answer area.

Oh, and if you happen to already be a member, or if you join up… can you rate my article?

Please??? Thanks in advance!

The number one bit of advice I can offer? Be REALISTIC!

I cannot stress enough how important it is to be realistic when setting deadlines for yourself and especially for clients. I have a new prospect and had to fight hard to resist the urge to tell them that I’ll have a proposal for them prepared within a few days. That’s normally what I would have done – then I’d end up spending the next two days up all night working on it – stressing over it – just to meet this short deadline that I gave myself. But why? What’s the point in the added headache and stress?

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Build in enough time so that you can get the work done comfortably. Now, don’t tell them it’ll take two weeks to do something that would only take four days, for example. But if you know it will be tight to get something ready by the end of this week, for example, give yourself a couple extra days over the weekend, and say you’ll have it first thing Monday morning.

I was just drafting my response to this potential client, and I can’t tell you what a HUGE drop in stress I literally felt when I changed the line from “I can have the proposal ready for you on Friday” to “I can have the proposal ready for you by Monday.”

In the working world, that’s only one business day later. In real life, that gives me the entire weekend to work on it to get it just the way I want – to hopefully turn this prospect into a client. I’m sure that if you took my blood pressure, there must have been a big reduction in a matter of seconds as I changed that line above. Just thinking of everything I need to accomplish this week PLUS a completed proposal…. now, I’ve bought myself a few extra days, which is great!

Extended Deadline Does NOT = Time to Procrastinate!

Now, of course, don’t set an extended deadline just so you can procrastinate, lol. I admit I’ve done this several times in the past. That was (hopefully) the “old” me. The “new” me knows the value of time – and as we all know, “time is money.” So I will still work hard on the proposal this week by reviewing the information the potential client gave me, researching related web sites to come up with several options that might work for them, etc.

But, just knowing that I don’t HAVE to get it fully completed this week makes all the difference in the world to my frame of mind. And hey, if I get it completed before Monday – even better! I’ll email it to them as soon as it is ready.

I think your client or potential client would be much happier to have you meet the deadline that you set for the particular project or milestone rather than be late. It certainly does not make a good impression to have that day come and go, and you ending up having to tell them “I’m sorry, this won’t be ready as planned…”

More likely than not, you will look that much better in their eyes if you are able to come in ahead of the deadline, as well. To make sure that you can do this, setting realistic timelines for yourself is important.

I just came across another great article about emails – specifically productivity as far as writing and sending emails.

• Wired How To’s: Write a Perfect Email

I’m personally guilty of writing more than a few book-length emails – one of the big tips in this post is to keep it short! I will definitely be incorporating some of these suggestions into my regular email writing habits.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have also received too many emails to count that violate some of these suggestions as well. I’m sure everyone could benefit from using a few of these techniques. Myself included, of course!

Do you have any other recommendations for writing emails? Please share your tips and tricks here!

I’ve just come across a few articles on productivity and managing your to do list, etc. I especially like Geek To Live’s article about not using your email client as your to do list… guilty as charged! LOL

Anyway, here they are, in no particular order…

Freelance Switch

• 10 Easy Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Day
• The Freelancers Guide to Getting Into Flow
• GTD for Freelancers

Geek To Live

• Separate Your Email from Your To-Do’s
• Empty Your Inbox with the Trusted Trio