Read an interesting article on Fast company on ‘Time Blocking’ as a method to avoid distractions and increase productivity. The writer has given the example of an office with no cubicle or private space where getting work done becomes a difficult task due to constant disruptions due to surrounding people.

Today with the internet, even in a cubicle or private office a person can find himself disrupted all the time with emails, chat messages, notifications and more!

Gina Trapani suggest in the article to block some time off where you are focussing on the particular work,

Being available to your boss and co-workers is part of your job. But the most creative and important work you do requires total focus and attention for an extended period of time. Your brain needs at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to dive in, concentrate on one thing, and get into the zone where you’re truly focused and doing your best work. Time blocking is a technique that sets the stage for that to happen. Read More.

I totally agree with this, definitely time blocking is needed in work as well personal life! I find it crucial to spend time with myself and also with friends and family. These time outs ensure that things are going on the right or desired track.

What do you think? Is this something you do to manage time better?

Times are tough for businesses all around the world. What you need now is an efficient way to run your workplace. Here are 5 ways in which we think DeskAway can help.

1. Pay as you go - Why not pay a smaller amount over a few months rather than a one time initial payment? This will be light on your pocket and will give you enough steam to get through the tough times. Better yet, try the free plan as long as you can and only upgrade when you need more horsepower.

2. Cut down on IT & other peripheral costs - Since there is nothing to download or install you can do it on your own. You can pretty much run your entire business with DeskAway and a couple of other online tools. We use DeskAway, iContact, Google Apps, WordPress etc. to run our business. This is the best time to get your non-technical people involved with web tools.

3. Free Upgrades - Paying for upgrades is expensive. With DeskAway, we upgrade our software once a month and its absolutely free. Wake up the next morning, login to your account and enjoy the new features instantly!

4. Less email clutter - Your team and you are as it is frustrated with cutting costs and the last thing you want to do is to manage your projects via old-school email. Wouldn’t you wish you had a system that would remind your team when things are due? Or even give you a consolidated view of your work progress daily?

5. Increase productivity & efficiency - When your team works in a systematic-manner, things get done as planned. More work gets done in less time. There is less confusion and everyone is happy. You have a smooth functioning workplace.

We would love to hear if DeskAway has helped you in any other way.

Justin & Chaunna Brooke, Owner, Mpyre Marketing
http://www.SiteFling.com/

“Where Dominating Google Is Like Riding A Bike”

We are a “done for you” SEO service that specializes in getting high rankings for local offline businesses. Our service includes link building, social media marketing, and content generation.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We use DeskAway to organize and assign project tasks to our team in the Philippines. Now everyone always knows exactly what they should be working on in order to keep the business growing.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Before using DeskAway.com it was a nightmare for us to manage everything on paper. We were constantly creating new spreadsheets that just weren’t working.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
It did take a few days to get comfortable with the software. But we persevered through that and now we are like a well oiled machine.

What features does your team use the most?
Being able to upload and download files from a designated area within each project is huge for us. Also it’s very nice to be able to login and immediately see whats been assigned, what of that is completed, and what hasn’t been completed.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Sometimes 2-3 days can go by and I haven’t talked to a single employee but the work was getting done! We went from being able to get 2 full projects done per day to now getting 4 projects done per day. So DeskAway has doubled our efficiency!

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
DeskAway is a must have for any Internet based business and should even be highly considered for offline businesses. When we talk to people about our business the first thing they ask is how we are able to run everything so smoothly - We tell them it’s all about DeskAway!

Thanks for your great software!