In the world of content creation, few things are as important as the amount of productivity that you bring to the effort. While there is obviously a need to be creative and effective with respect to the type of content you produce, being able to produce enough of said content to keep competitors at bay is just as important in the long-run. Unfortunately, many who work from home or create content on their own time find it very difficult to compartmentalize their leisure time on the computer from the important task of content creation. What can be done to improve overall productivity and get the most out of your content marketing efforts? Below, we’ll discuss a few simple solutions that can get you heading in the right direction.

Cut Out Distractions

The biggest consumer of productivity in the world of content creation is no doubt the numerous distractions that can appear throughout the day. Some of these distractions may be based in the “real world” (in the form of telephone calls, visits to your home, and other normal occurrences), but many others come from and through the same platform that we use to create: the internet. In order to maximize your productivity, be prepared to set some ground rules. This means no social media, no non-emergency phone calls, no checking email, or anything else that can quickly waste time. If possible, gather all of the information and sources you need for creating content and pinging to Google, and then turn off your internet until you are finished.

Download a Program to Help

The struggles you face with respect to lost time while creating content is nothing new, and there are programs out there to help you weather the storm. RescueTime is one of these programs, and it can be used to prevent a variety of time-wasting tactics from continuing to be the norm in your daily work. You’ll be able to: 1) set alerts that tell you when you’ve wasted a certain amount of time on an activity, 2) block particular websites that can be particularly huge distractions for you on a regular basis, and 3) evaluate logs after the fact that break down how you spent your time while trying to create content. Programs such as these will straighten out your overall productivity and help you to create more in less time.

Simplify Your Space

The things around us – both on our desks and on our desktops – can serve to keep us distracted in ways that might not be completely understood. A simplified workspace will help further reduce mental distractions and keep us focusing on what matters instead. An organized, clean desk will give way to more mental clarity and fewer objects that may be capturing our attention subconsciously. An organized computer desktop and a streamlined use of programs can help us enjoy a similar atmosphere; some word processing programs may create a dynamic in which we feel free to jump from tab to tab, while others will keep us innately focused on what we should be doing. Much like pinging to Google requires a certain simplicity in order to be successful, your workspace should be organized to be simplistic as well.