This article was originally published on moo.com as part of a small business blog series for ‘Small Business Week’ in the USA: celebrating, helping and promoting independent small businesses.

You can find the original article here.

Ooo, look at that!

The internet is full of distractions and endless excuses to procrastinate. I’m sure we can all happily say it’s a lot easier to play a game of Stackopolis than it is to complete your taxes, file your expenses, send an important email or finalise a design for a client.

In order to help you stay focussed, the team at FreelanceSwitch have pulled together “10 ways to eliminate distractions” in a single awesome blog post. We thought their tips were so great we’ve shared them here on the MOO blog ‘at a glance’:

10 ways to eliminate distractions

1. Turn off your email, IM and Twitter and phone notifications
2. Turn off the Internet. Pull the plug!
3. (If you need the internet to work) find a way to block out distractions
4. Headphones – music is a great way to fall into your own little (focussed) world
5. Create a DO NOT DISTURB sign… co-workers will soon get the hint
6. Clear workspace clutter – create your own Zen Desk, free of ’stuff’
7. Clear computer clutter – create your own Zen Desktop, free of distracting icons
8. Handle interruptions – find ways to quickly get back to the task at hand
9. Use minimal programs (without all the distracting bells-and-whistles)
10. Distraction time – allow yourself 10 minutes to unwind once every hour!

You can read the whole post over on FreelanceSwitch.com.

Getting Things Done

As well as helping you beat the distractions and wonders of the internet we wanted to share some more tips on improving your productivity‘ (from the mind of David Allen). David’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method and book are all about the art of stress-free productivity. He’s delivered talks at Google and other big institutions, but that doesn’t mean to say that the advice isn’t transferable to your small business. You can read more about GTD on the GTD TIMES Blog.