Taming the Time Bandits -
15 Tips to Take Charge of Your Time
by Ed Duvall
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 drowing 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 Rciprocal
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
practicve 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed Duvall is webmaster for http://www.cashway.com
Grab 100's of free downloads today
Reprint as long as resource box is not changed.
Copyright 2005 cashway.com
| Home | Back |
copyright © cashway.com All Rights Reserved Questions can
be sent here
