Welcome to 2021, my friends! We all had great plans and aspirations in the year 2020 and sadly, a lot of those didn’t pan out for most of us. With much of 2021 still in the air, we’re all standing here with our fingers crossed, hoping for a more productive, less problematic year. But, the truth is, we just don’t know yet.
Though there are influences outside of our control that have contributed to the struggles in this past year, it’s important to our success that we acknowledge those struggles, adjust, and move forward. Whatever victim mentality you are struggling with, it’s time to leave that in 2020 and move into this new year with a growth mindset.
If you’re not familiar with growth mindset or what that means, a big portion of that is accepting the things that you cannot control, adjusting accordingly, and then moving forward, as well as leaving the victim mentality behind you. Success demands that we take into our own hands the things that we can control and work to make them better as each day goes by. If we can improve on aspect of our process by one percent each day, by this time next year, you can expect extravagant, tangible, and noticeable results.
4 Tips to Overcome Productivity Killers in Your Reselling Business
1. Avoid social media and “scrolling” apps while working
Have you ever pulled out your phone to check the time, but notice that you have a notification? You decide to check it, but then you start scrolling for a while, commenting on a few posts, and then you turn off your phone ten to fifteen minutes later. The kicker? You forgot to check the time. And so you pull your phone out and start again.
Most people underestimate exactly how much time they spend on these kinds of apps. The algorithms work—they keep you engaged to spend as much time as possible. They are designed that way—to keep you on the platform as long as possible. The best way to avoid getting sucked into the black hole that is social media is to not get on them at all.
This can be hard for those of us who use our phones to run our business. We take pictures, make listings, even comp prices on our phones. If this is you, don’t fret—you can still use your phone without seeing the pull of notification and social media apps on your home screen.
Many phones have the option to block apps during certain times. If your phone doesn’t have that function, you can download different apps that can help you disable them during the time that you’re working. Trust me on this, you think you can handle scrolling and working, but you can’t. The algorithms they use work for a reason. I have lost hours and hours of productive working time because of these apps, and I have also set boundaries during working hours
2. Avoid Multitasking; Stick to One Task at a Time
A reselling business requires a lot of steps. There are various stages to the
reselling cycle, each with their own needs, priorities, and rules. Multitasking at times may seem like you’re getting more done, but with in reselling, multitasking can cause your productivity to plummet.Science shows that multitasking can cause your productivity to reduce by at least 40%. Multitaskers are known to have less mental organization. With the complexity of the steps in your reselling game, switching your primary focus from task to task will cost you time.
Instead of trying to do multiple things at once, break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks. If your attention span is naturally shorter, try doing listings in batches of five. If you’ve got a longer span, try listing in batches of 10 or 20. Maybe you can take pictures of five to ten items, then create drafts for those listings, and complete as many as you can at a time before switching to a new job function. There’s no “better” way for doing batches, it’s all about what works best for you and your process.
But the longer you can focus on any one task before asking your brain to switch functions, the less time you will lose in that transition.
3. Do the Hard Tasks First
The longer you postpone the hard tasks, the harder they become to finally complete. The demands of that task will not lighten up over time, but your energy will. Instead of using your best and freshest energy on tasks that aren’t so difficult, use that to tackle the harder jobs.
Reselling is a large portion of consistency and focus, but it’s also a mind game. Being able to maintain focus and a positive mindset is key to a productive work day. With the harder, more dreadful parts out of the way, the rest is all gravy!
4. Wrong Environment
Sometimes a big damper to your productivity is your set up. You’ll actually find a lot of resellers on social media discussing rearranging their workspaces, picture taking stations, inventory organization systems… and that’s because it is SO important. Where you work and it’s functionality is critical to having a productive work day.
At the best that your budget and space capacity will allow, try and set up the most functional spaces possible. If you can, set up separate photo, listing, and shipping stations. Spending time tearing down and setting up stations between job functions can waste time and make the transitions longer and give more opportunity for distractions.
It’s time to take 2021 and make it ours. Although there are many things happening out of control, we still have the ability and the power to harness that energy to make great things happen for our own businesses.
Here’s to a new year of productivity!
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