TODAY’S TASK: Strategic coffee break

The four walls of the office can be a real refuge for the entrepreneur. A place where you can shut the door, ignore the phone for awhile and get some actual work done.

Sound perfect to you? Well, you might have a potentially serious problem.

I call it OPS, or office prison syndrome. It strikes when a business owner starts to spend too much time in their office, attending meetings, communicating only by email, and generally believing they are too busy to even go out and eat lunch.

The entrepreneur’s skin goes pale, they start to forget what daylight looks like and they lose touch with what is actually happening in their sector.

But luckily, there is a solution – the telephone. Get out your contact book, choose a name (preferably an industry contact, or maybe a mentor) and organise a quick lunch or coffee.

No matter how busy your day is, this should not be considered wasted time. I almost guarantee you that you will get something out of this meeting – an insight into the latest developments in your sector, a bit of gossip or some advice about a problem you might be having.

OPS doesn’t just make you incredibly boring – it’s not good for your business. .

So get it done… Today!