The Time is Now to Invest in Your Business

It’s no secret that we are in a recession, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do if your business is slow. Now is the perfect time to ensure that your business is running efficiently, and to focus on all of those little things you’ve been putting off for months/years/decades.

The people who come out of this recession, just like any other, stronger and better will be the ones who take this time to make their business better. It could mean getting your creativity going by learning Photoshop, so you can create those amazing business cards that you drew out on paper two years ago, or mastering Excel or some other program that will benefit your business. It could be nothing computer related at all, but instead getting creative with how your employees spend their time when business is slow, or reading the four books you bought last year on marketing but never had time to read.

The point is, don’t just sit around wishing the economy would get better, but instead spend this time making your business better. You’ll be glad you did.

Do the job fast, or do it right?

Increasingly it seems like the former is winning out over the latter, but does ”doing it fast” actually save time over doing it right the first time? If you get a few less tasks done in a given day, but don’t have to revisit the ones you sped through again later, how does that impact your overall productivity?

Here’s a challenge. The next time you speed through a task just to “get it done,” take down how much time you spend the first time around. Then record how much time you spend in the subsequent days, weeks or months afterward for that particular task. Include the time spent refreshing your memory on what you did, and on how to fix it so it works the way it should.

Next, do the same for another task of similar size, one that you have taken the time to get right the first time. How much time after the fact do you spend fixing mistakes or revising functionality?

Usually, the conclusion will be that doing it right the first time takes a lot less time in the long run.

Of course there are times when there’s simply too much going on to get everything done “right” the first time. But if you find yourself having too many days like this, it might also be time to re-evaluate how you work, and whether some of your more time-consuming tasks can be delegated elsewhere. But that’s a topic for another day.

Cut down on needless information and filtering time with RSS Feeds.

Regardless of who you are or what you do, you likely find yourself the victim of information overload virtually every time you turn on the computer. Be it by choice or by necessity, the amount of information our brains are forced to process on a given day is just incredible. Luckily, there’s a solution that can help you get your fill of the information you want to have, without sifting through the piles of information that you don’t want.

It’s called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), and it’s been around for a long time now. Unfortunately, many people still aren’t familiar with what RSS actually is, or how to make use of it in daily life. Let’s start with how to best make use of the technology – depending on what your needs are. (more…)