How many times have you said to yourself, “Where did the time go.I don’t feel like I accomplished anything, or at least not what I set out to do?
A lot of times we may set out to do some specific tasks, whether it’s internet marketing or just taking care of some needed chores around the house.
It’s particularly easy to get distracted and lose some time that should be devoted to working through task especially when you’re involved in an internet business. Today’s information age is a time when we are drowning in data, facts, figures, junk mail and it seems if it an electronic item its got some kind of message it’s delivering to you. All of these, plus some, can tend to keep you from doing all that you should.
I’ve found that working in your own online business, is that there are a whole lot more possibilities for distractions than you could ever imagine. If you think about it, not only have you lost the time from the distractions but it generally takes another 5-10 minutes regaining your focus on what you were originally working on before the call.
It doesn’t seem like a lot of time but over the course of a day, like a cowboy getting on his horse, it can really mount up.
Take for instance when I was wriiting my article on reciprocal linking. You can read it here: Secrets Of Reciprocal Linking I wanted to be sure to include some information on automated linking strategies.
What I thought would take less than an hour led to several hours that were filled with information that wasn’t quite relative to the contents of the article. I ultimately left the automation part out of the article. It wasn’t a total loss though. It taught me a lesson about better defining the type of information I was after. You can go here to check linking automation…
http://www.cashway.com/powerlink.htm
Or how about this….
You’re looking for ways to automate and improve your online business. So your’re checking the SE’s for information and products when you all of a sudden find yourself looking at vacation packages to the Bahamas! It’s winter and ohh how nice it would be to be sipping Margaritas on a sandy beach.
Boy, how did that happen?
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing bad about taking a brief break from work…as long as its a planned break that doesn’t interfere with you accomplishing what you set out to do. When it happens several times a day it can amount to a lot of lost time that could have been better spent.
So how do you accomplish all of the tasks you set out to do without extending the amount of hours you’re working in a day? ( Emergencies excepted of course).
Adding some structure to your day like limiting the number of hours your’re going to work can help. There are also a few quick and easy ways to tame the time bandits without having to sacrifice the quality of your work.
Here’s my 15 Tips to Take Charge of Your Time
1 – At the end of the day make a “To Do List”. Setting up your list of tasks at the end of the day will help you get an early focus on starting your day and moving in a positive direction. When you get the hang of this you’ll be able to make your lists up a week in advance.
2 – Break down larger tasks on your To Do Lidt into smaller more “accomplishable” task that won’t be so overwhelming.
3 – Keep you long and short term goals in focus and develop your daily goals from them.
4 – Set a limit on how much time you’re going to work on a task. You know as well as I do that if you have an online business or website it’s easy to be distracted. It’s the nature of the beast and you have to set your limits and follow them.
5 – Schedule the harder or more complex task early in the day when you are fresh and your energy level is high.
6 – If you get tired and don’t seem to be making headway then switch to another task. Doing this can sometimes give you an insight into the task you were trying to accomplish before.
7 – Don’t add new tasks that are not essential to completing your goals. You have to realize that taking on another task may overload you and won’t help you accomplish anything that you set out to do.
8 – Recognize and delete tasks that don’t provide a payoff that will help you reach any of your short or long term goals.
9 – Remember that time is always of the essence. You can never manufacture anymore of it, so don’t waste it.
10 – If your life is also busy outside (ha-ha) of your online pursuits then opt for an organizer to keep track of other areas of your life.
11- On that subject above it would be a good practice to always keep your organizer and To Do List with you at all times.
12 – You may want to consider farming out or eliminating tasks that eat up a lot of your time but produce little or no measurable results in accomplishing your goals.
13 – Give yourself a pat on the back or a reward for a job well done when you’ve worked through and completed one or more tasks.
14 – Pause to reflect. One of the things that sets us apart from the other species is that we are able to think and learn. You can do that by simply reflecting on your days work. Look at what you accomplished, what you didn’t get one and work on improving your strategy to accomplish more.
15 – And finally….Take A Break! You can always take frequent short breaks during the day but also take time to enjoy your family, friends and hobbies.
Gaining control of your time is a subjective process. You’re the one in control and, (hopefully by now anyway) who will ultimately decide how to best tame your time bandits.
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Ed Duvall is webmaster for http://www.cashway.com Grab 100′s of free downloads today
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