Overwhelmed... Trying to Do it All?

Whether you've been in the promotional products business for 10 days or 10 years, you know that this is a business where it is easy to get overwhelmed. The day-to-day operations of running a successful promotional products distributorship can be challenging.

Today's blog post will give you five proven strategies to get more done in less time and avoid being overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed by clutter? If you're buried knee deep in samples, catalogs and piles of paper, here's a quick organizing tip. Pick one area to start with. If it's your follow-up list, prioritize the calls and emails. If it's the top of your desk, work on one small area at a time. Set a timer for 10-20 minutes and just take action. It's amazing how much you can get done in a short amount of time. To keep the momentum going put on your favorite music while you're getting organized. It will energize you and help you stay on task. To eliminate even more paper clutter consider paying invoices online and accessing your supplier catalogs digitally.

Overwhelmed by email? Turn off the email alerts and vow to check your email at ONLY certain times during the day, such first thing in the morning, lunch and at the end of the day. For questions that you get asked frequently, set up an FAQ page you can refer customers to. Consider setting up an additional email address for non-urgent emails.

Overwhelmed by social media? And who isn't these days? Set a time limit for yourself. I recommend no more than 30 minutes a day during business hours. If you post to more than one social media site, use a social media management tool such as Hoot Suite. Save the socializing for the evenings when you're not working.

Overwhelmed with small orders and smaller profits that take up too much time? Do a client profitability analysis. Some customers and their orders may not be worth the time they take. Consider setting a minimum order limit and turning down business that doesn't meet your profit goals. In the long run this will free your time for more profitable orders and customers.