Complete Guide To Time Management http://www.TimeManageStrategy.

com

Boost Productivity Instantly With Effective Time Management Strategies

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Complete Guide To Time Management http://www.TimeManageStrategy.com

Table Of Contents

TIME MANAGEMENT ..........................................................................................3 CREATIVITY SPARKS.........................................................................................4 TIME MANAGERS ARE LEADERS.....................................................................5 TIME = MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................6 CAUSES OF POOR TIME MANAGEMENT .......................................................10 UNDERSTANDING YOUR CURRENT PRODUCTIVITY ...................................17 AVOID TIME MANAGEMENT DISASTERS.......................................................22 DELEGATING FOR SUCCESSFUL TIME MANAGEMENT ..............................24 TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: ...............................................................26 AVOIDING DAILY INTERRUPTIONS ................................................................35 GET THE MOST FROM YOUR DAY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR .......................39 HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE HOURS IN YOUR DAY ............................................50

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Time Management
Online business / Work-at-home entrepreneurs Work at home entrepreneurs look for ways to avoid the conventional dynamics of working. They are seeking creative, more defined ways to make a living online. Whether that business is offering a product, a service or both, there is a quest to offer something that is 1.) of value and offers customers what they want 2.) in demand by the general population and 3.) is relatively easy to market and sell, thereby giving the entrepreneur continual streams of income There is a search for freedom and a lucrative income that in many cases can only be satisfied by the solace of working from the comforts of home. This is why the idea of working from home has become so popular and has many would-be business owners pursuing their dreams of owning their own businesses that they can start, run and manage all from the comforts of their personal space = home.

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Many entrepreneurs are in search of (and many have found) the perfect online business, with the perfect product or service. They have found that they are able to enjoy the best of all worlds by living the entrepreneurs dream. Finding that dream for them is sometimes the first step in developing a life that is free from constraints, limits and lots of nos. For them, life is good!

Creativity Sparks
There are many, many ideas for online businesses and the work at entrepreneurs that seek them. The creativity that spark their ideas can be gratifying, but can also be an overwhelming one because of the energy and time that is required for the business to be successful. In an effort to continue to have a lucrative business, creative business ideas and continued monetary success, the online entrepreneur needs to find ways to constructively manage their business projects, their online businesses, their virtual employees (if any) and most of all, their time.

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Time Managers are Leaders

A good time manager is also considered a good leader. Why? Because they take the necessary steps towards achieving goals for their business. They look around and find things and areas that need tweaking and apply principles towards making them work. A good time manager also knows how to lead and motivate others in finding creative ways to make better use of their time. They lead by example and are free with their assistance and information. As leaders, they constantly share ways, tips and strategies on becoming a better manager of time, situations and circumstances. Operating a business online requires the entrepreneur to be an effective manager of their time, enabling them to manage several projects or businesses at once, and, being able to handle them all in a efficient manner. The online entrepreneur cannot enjoy any of their business success if they are losing clients, running out of time not being able to bill their clients for that time, or unable to complete their projects.

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Being able to successfully manage projects is one of the key indicators of a home business entrepreneur who manages their time well. Do they manage by crises or by purpose? Is it part of their goal to go either slow or fast in project management, aiming towards a desired result? The impact that this can have on the work from home entrepreneur affects any potential future business and can also taint their online reputation. All of this is tied into proper and effective time management! Is there a resolution for this challenge?

Time = Management
Managing time effectively is perhaps the number one goal of most every work at home entrepreneur on their quest for success. Without having effective time management, their online businesses suffer despairingly. Making creative use of their time is the goal of most every work at home entrepreneur who wants to be successful in their home businesses. Effective time management will allow the work at home entrepreneur to

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be able to accomplish more with their time and have satisfied customers and a well-to-do business. Effective time management takes a set range of skills, techniques and tools and helps the online entrepreneur utilize them in order to accomplish specific tasks, projects and goals. Without the strategic use of their time, they are essentially wasting their time and not able to complete important business goals. It is very important for the online entrepreneur to effectively manage time in their home business for many reasons: They can complete projects in a timely fashion If they are able to be effective in completing projects, they can take on more work, more employees and better satisfy their customer loads by efficiently meeting deadlines. They are better able to produce quality work More quality work results when there is more time and more attention to detail given to the work. Quality work can only be a result of careful attention and thoroughness to detail.

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They can secure more work because they are able to meet deadlines As a work at home entrepreneur, meeting deadlines for your clients is like guaranteed work! Just about everything on the internet is time-sensitive so when you are able to meet deadlines, you show that you are responsible and committed to the task at hand.

R.O.I. There is a substantial return on investment with attention to detail in the home business of the entrepreneur when they can effectively manage their time. If they can get more done in the course of a span of time, they decrease the amount of time to get the job done, but are still able to make the same, if not more money. The return on their investment (planning time) is phenomenal!

Satisfaction There is an overall feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when the online entrepreneur

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finishes a task. The feeling of completion acts as a motivator and gives him or her creative spark they need to either approach a new client or stir up more business with old clients. These factors are usually motivators for the work at home entrepreneur to manage their time well and find creative ways to work more efficiently. It is usually the small details of running a business (like managing time) that help the entrepreneur make good on his business affairs. However, there are not always good times or easy times when all goes well with the entrepreneur who tries to get many things done in the course of their business dealings. When they are responsible for every phase of their business, there is always the potential of failure or defeat for lack of planning or organizing. What happens when time management does not work well or produce the desired results? Are all online entrepreneurs challenged on the issue of time management? There are times that the work from home entrepreneur finds that their systems and processes arent working. They find that no matter what they do, they cannot stay

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focused and complete the tasks or goals that they have. They find that they are essentially poorly managing their time and not able to achieve neither small nor large goals. What could be the culprit? Poor management of time.

Causes of Poor Time Management

Poor time management - - does the online entrepreneur ever think that he has poor time management? Or, does he automatically think that he is managing his time efficiently and effectively simply because he is a business owner? Either way, he has to carefully guard against wasting time or not maximizing the full use of the flexible time that work at home entrepreneurs enjoy. Without an assertive effort, he can be doomed for incompleteness or even business failure. Procrastination is Detrimental Oftentimes, procrastination is the main culprit of poor time management, but is often not taken as seriously because of the perceived creativity in waiting. In other words, online entrepreneurs often have

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trepidation about moving too quickly on business projects or making decisions too quickly. As noble as this may sound, it can often have the reverse effect and cause the work from home individual to move too slow, move too fast or do nothing at all. Effective time management can help. Failing to plan in any home business is not unlike failing to plan in any other type of business. There must be a business model developed, a marketing strategy implemented and a plan of action to achieve goals for the business. This all ties into the ability to plan, effectively manage time and resources and finding what works for the business. Planning everyday may seem like a lot of work to do but in actual reality once it becomes a habit, it becomes second nature. Study shows that it takes an average of 21 times for something to become a habit. Once something does become a habit, it is much easier to maintain than if it is new or from the beginning. Home entrepreneurs have complete flexibility and convenience in their jobs. There is no one standing over them, dictating their day, telling them what to do, when to do it, how to do it, etc. With all of this

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freedom, an undisciplined person will not know how to effectively manage their time or when to say no certain projects or new business. For many entrepreneurs, they put off their work obligations or duties for varied reasons. Doing this can cause unbelievable stress for the entrepreneur and cause them to manage or work in a crises mode. Working in this way can create other problems that can become difficult to solve or manage. There are mistakes made, incomplete projects, missed goals, poor work quality and even poor business results.

What are some of the major reasons why home entrepreneurs procrastinate? Why is it that they put off making decisions, starting new projects, pursuing new business or even finishing big projects that have impact on more business for them? Lets look at some reasons why: 1. The online entrepreneur has poor work habits The work at home entrepreneur who has poor work habits is usually slow starting everything. They are habitual

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procrastinators and take very long periods of time to complete projects or get anything done. What can result from this type of online business activity? Frustration and loss in business and sales. If they miss a deadline or they fail to communicate with their customers or clients that can result in a loss of business and a negative point on their online reputation. This is not good for any aspiring online and web entrepreneur. Very often, they also procrastinate on everything else in their lives, including personal areas, and are always trying to catch up. This causes high stress levels and low production levels. The online entrepreneur who has poor work habits is also under the impression that they perform better under pressure. Not so. They believe that they can do their best work if they are forced to work faster, sparking their creativity. Not true. What all of this does is simply place them further behind in their work and cause more stress. Period.

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2. They have continual feelings of being overwhelmed The online entrepreneur who is challenged in the area of effective time management often feels like they never have anything accomplished. They often dont do anything at all in response to either being proactive in their work or in finishing tasks. The overwhelming feeling can also lead to anxiousness and the propensity to make big, expensive mistakes in their work. It is commonly known that when you are tired or overwhelmed, the capacity and possibility of making mistakes increases exponentially. Of course, this adds even more to the feeling of being overwhelmed and feeling under-accomplished. There is also a feeling of uselessness in business projects with entrepreneurs who procrastinate. They feel like it may be easier to do nothing at all because of the sheer size of what their task is. This again is cyclic and can cause a spiral effect in the business. Because one thing doesnt get done, it causes another thing to not get done and the process can continue and can cause even more problems. 3. They feel that they have to be perfect This is quite possibly one of the most common but most detrimental personality traits that a work from home

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entrepreneur has. To a fault, they feel that they have to be perfect, avoid all mistakes at all costs, get things right the first time and be able to completely and pointedly satisfy the customers every whim and need. It is not only unrealistic to think this, but it is also damaging and unfair for the entrepreneur to expect if of himself. Expecting perfectionism is a fallacy of the online entrepreneur. There is no way that they can be perfect, and they place undue stress on themselves by doing so. They want to finish projects, meet deadlines, accomplish goals and do them all at record speed! But what holds them back is often simply getting started. They may view their business projects as burdensome and shun them as unimportant. This often makes them feel better because they are able to convince themselves that if they are not important, then it may be just as unimportant to their clients or customers. The entrepreneur will usually put off completion until the project meets their standards for perfection. Although this perception is only appreciated by the entrepreneur, these standards are often not recognized by their clients.

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This of course reinforces the fact that it is a time waster and they have worked fruitlessly towards an unnecessary end. 4. The entrepreneur is bored Bored? Do work at home entrepreneurs really get bored? Sure they do! But not in the sense where boredom is often used. They get bored with no creativity or change in their work. Although they may perhaps love what they do, they find that doing the same thing day after day becomes monotonous and non-challenging for them. Hence, their boredom sets in and they lose interest in the projects that they are working on. Many times, the work at home person would simply rather be doing something else besides working. Does that mean they are lazy? Hardly! They often just dont know where to start or how to manage their business projects or how to jump-start something in their business to pique their interests. They may look for other creative outlets that are not business related, like engaging on social sites or community forums instead of actually working. Mundane

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tasks like paperwork or online tasks can take precedence over actually doing work. The entrepreneur will simply keep putting tasks off, wishing they would either magically get shorter or go away. Their stress level can increase, knowing that this is bound to not happen, and can make their jobs harder to accomplish and goals harder to realize. What are the results of these traps? Do you practice effective time management?

Understanding Your Current Productivity

Here are a few things to keep in mind that can drastically affect your productivity rate when it comes to your business: 1. Starting your day with no action plan If you start your day with no action plan, youre doomed from the beginning! You start off late and feel overwhelmed from the start. You then spend your day in a defensive and crisis mode. You may also find yourself hurriedly and haphazardly responding to other peoples problems and events and place them above your own issues.

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2. No balance There are seven key areas in our lives where we must practice balance in order to feel and enjoy success: Health how your body feels and how it reacts to outside stimuli Family quality time and responsibilities with family members Financial amount of financial burdens and money obligations Intellectual how outside stimuli affect your life Social how you interact with others Professional the processes that you use to advance your career Spiritual your relationship with God and others Each of these areas requires our daily time for completeness, although they may not all receive equal time each day. Its not so important to spend significant time in each area, but it is important to spend some time in each area.

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In the long run, our lives will be balanced and harmonious if we spend a sufficient quantity and quality of time in each area. However, if we neglect any one of these areas, we can quickly sabotage our success. For instance, if we dont take care of our health, our family life and social life suffer. As well, if we are out of balance in our finances, we cannot adequately focus on our professional goals, career aspirations and other important areas of focus. 3. Cluttered workspace A cluttered workspace can create a cluttered work mind. Problems ensue when you cant find important business documents or locate information for your clients. These things cause havoc, wreak chaos and confusion, but can also lead to lost revenue and delayed billing. Studies have been conducted, proving that a person who works with a cluttered desk spends about one to two hours a day looking for things or being distracted by them. This can add up significantly in hours wasted per week.

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4. Inadequate sleep The culprit of inadequate sleep is the blame for many online entrepreneurs not meeting goals or seeing results in their businesses. Not enough sleep can lead to poorly made decisions or irrational choices as they relate to important business functions. Studies have shown that nearly 75% of online entrepreneurs are sleep-deprived, and that their businesses are inadvertently affected. Being tired is not good or productive for the work at home individual. If the lack of sleep doesnt negatively affect the entrepreneur, the quality of their sleep will. This means that when they do get to sleep, it is usually fitful, restless sleep because of underlying stress and other debilitating factors. Stress-filled days are hazardous to the online entrepreneur and can eventually become damaging. The key is to get adequate rest and proper sleep to experience less stress and become more productive. 5. Failure to take breaks

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Taking adequate breaks and often breaks is a big failure of the online entrepreneur. Because they are not on a routine or rigid schedule as in a corporate setting, they feel that they shouldnt have to or cant take breaks. They may also feel that doing so is a waste of time. Not so. Taking sufficient breaks is critical to daily successes. Many times, the online entrepreneur also neglects to take sufficient breaks because they feel as if they can produce better results. They feel that if they work right through, that they can get more done and be more productive. This does not produce more results or even increase work time. If the body is tired, response and creativity are severely hampered and can cause the quality of the entrepreneurs work to suffer.

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Avoid Time Management Disasters

1. Create systems that work To make better use of your time in your home business, create systems that flow and work well within your work space. Systematize and organize things so that there is a process that leads one step to work with the next step and so on and so on. Dont start over each time you have to create something.

2. Create systems to handle repetitive tasks This would include any paper and/or digital technology that you would use to get the job done in your business. Always have adequate supplies available that you can readily access. Use a calendar, digital or paper, to keep track of appointments. You can see what, wear and when you need to do what each day, at-a-glance. This can help you successfully plan your day for optimal results.

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Always work with a clean desk, with papers filed and organized and always have the most frequently used items for your business in your immediate reach. 3. Plan adequate rest periods Sleep experts recommend for the average, healthy adult to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. This helps them to function properly and be very productive, yet a poll by the National Sleep Foundations 2000 Sleep in America omnibus poll found that, on average, adults sleep just under 7 hours during the work week. As an entrepreneur, you should schedule a sufficient amount of sleep for optimal productivity. The amount is different for each of us and you should allow your body to see what conditions it works best under. Some need eight hours, some more, others less. Your body knows the answer. 4. Develop Your Communication Skills Your ability to competently and confidently communicate what you know both orally and in writing is highly important to your business success. Make it an ongoing commitment to continue to improve your speaking and

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writing skills. You'll save time and have a more successful career.

Delegating for Successful Time Management

Delegation is crucial to time management. The ability to efficiently delegate allows you as an online entrepreneur the freedom and flexibility to work on other projects. To optimize your time, be sure to set a realistic and reachable deadline for any delegated work that you distribute. Make sure that the delegation is fair and balanced and is workable for the person to whom you delegated to. Always be specific about what you want done when you delegate work so as to avoid any confusion and to make sure that you achieve the desired results necessary. When delegating, be very clear about the purpose of the work that you are delegating and what kind of results you expect. Beware of delegating without instructions, as it can cause chaos, confusion and poor work quality.

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If you lack the time to give the person complete and explicit instructions, you may want to give the work to a person who can manage with little interaction from you. This will keep you from micro managing and free you up to be more productive. Always allow the person to whom you delegated to be creative in their work. Simply look for and expect quality results without dictating step-by-step on how the project is to be run. This negates your whole purpose of delegating and can also cause undue stress. Devise a system to report back to you (either online or via a third party) to receive feedback on the individuals progress. This keeps you from being constantly interrupted during the day. Keep a list of critical dates so that you get the feedback regularly. Be sure to also keep a log of all your delegated projects and update the log as you get feedback. This will help you streamline the process even more and manage your time effectively. Always be sure to give credit and praise for the successful completion of the task or solution of the problem.

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Time management Strategies:

1. Planning Take time to reserve at least ten minutes each evening to schedule the next day. You should generally schedule about 60-70% of your time to allow for interruptions and emergencies. Draw from your list of things that are high priority and set up blocks of time where you work on a specific area of your business.

2. Organizing Take the time to organize your office by category. Do this by placing all of your pertinent files and information that corresponds together in one place. Place all of your financial paperwork together. Put all of your financial-related things together. This will help you focus on one project at a time and be a welcomed time-saver. Organize your office in addition to organizing your time. Use lists to keep yourself focused and on track.

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Being organized is a continual process. Spending a few hours organizing yourself today will save you hundreds of hours in the future.

3. Filing Systems A good filing and paperwork system will allow you to be highly productive. Set your files to reflect the following ticklers:

To Do Of course, this would hold everything that you aim to do or have done on a periodic basis, whether that is daily, weekly, quarterly or monthly. Succinct to do lists are critical to the success of the home business person. You should and can also file away any old to do lists after having completed them. This will give you archived information and referencing in case you have to go back and look for client or project information.

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To Read There is not enough time in the entrepreneurs day to read all of the emails, postal mail material, magazines, ebooks and catalogs that come across his desk or computer. When you have information that is coming from several sources both online and offline, you have to be sure to keep them organized for future reference. File this material away for future reviewing and reading when more time is permissible. Keep a tickler file online and offline so that you can easily access them both at will. Especially in cases of online filing, you can do several things to better manage your time. 1.) Sort your mail into a digital folder with a label. Makes it easier to find for future access. 2.) Upload it to your email inbox or email provider. 3.) Transfer the folder to your PDA or other technological devices 4.) Later or whenever time permits, view the correspondence and either a.) delete it or b.) take action on it

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Ideas Use the ideas folder to hold your creative thoughts and any future ideas you have for the business. This can also be a part of your goals and goal setting, but should definitely hold creative thinking ideas and sparks. You can also use this folder to hold other ideas or marketing techniques that you come across. This is to set the stage to spark more ideas within you when you review the folder. This folder has the potential to grow significantly since a large part of any home business is marketing, marketing, marketing. Answers This folder will hold answers to either correspondence that youve sent to potential or current clients or answers that you are providing for yourself. Dont know how much you charged for that last project you did for ABC Customer? Look in the answers folder. What about the quote that you have the online phone directory company after they inquired about your

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telemarketing servicesit could very well be in the answers folder. Answers can be in response to questions that youve asked out or have received into your office.

References The reference folder is critical to your business and helps tremendously with marketing efforts. You should have correspondence that is referrals for past jobs and letters of recommendations in this folder. The reference folder should (and can) also contain references that you need for other types of jobs where another person is needed. In other words, if you are a content writer but need to find a web designer, look in your reference folder and see who recommends whom as that. This can be an invaluable piece of time management and organizational tool for your business. Maximize its use by notating and documenting pertinent and relevant information that is highly targeted to specific niche areas.

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Copies Everything that comes across your desk should be copied in some fashion. That includes purchase receipts, contracts, invoices, tax information, client work orders and any and everything that relates to your business. In order to decrease the amount of clutter that this can cause, digitally copy everything and store it on your computer or on a back-up disk. Very simply, scan documents into your computer and save it to a designated area. This makes it much easier to recall it when you need it. File Away Pretty self-explanatory, this tickler is for everything that needs to be filed away. Develop a system that is easy to remember and takes the guesswork out of where could it be? This system will allow you to find the information that you want when you want it, keeping it out of your way and off of your desk.

4. Computer

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Learn to use your computer effectively and efficiently. Learn ways to take full advantage of it and maximize its use for your business. Invest in classes or at least purchase how-to books for each program in your system. Your computer can make your days more productive and streamlined towards effective time management if it is properly used. Learning it in its entirety and the many features that it has will help you make better use of your time. 5. Creativity Creativity is the spark and backbone of any successful online business. Without it, ideas cannot take shape and businesses cannot be formed. A mind that is relaxed, stress-free and happy is more conducive to sparks and bouts of creativity and has more time to concentrate fully on making good business. Spend creative time thinking, reading and researching ways and ideas that could improve your business. Small bits of time on a daily basis can help and result in effective strategies.

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6. Planning Daily planning the night before work the next day helps to create a synchronized system to help you in your business. A good plan cannot be haphazardly thrown together but has to be meticulously planned. Without a plan of action in place before starting your day, you run the risk of becoming unfocused and distracted. A plan of action, prepared the night before is a blueprint for success for the next day. You know what your next steps are and what your goals for the days should be. You work diligently towards that effort, knowing that once you are finished, goals (large or small) are accomplished and you can move on to the next project for your business. 7. Outlining Projects Making an outline of projects will help the work at home individual make better use of their days and maximize use of their time. In order to see a more productive day, it is good to start with an outline and work from it. First, list where you want the end result of the project to reside. From there, work backwards and develop the steps that it will take to get there.

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After that, conclude the outline with the first step of the project and the brainstorming idea(s) that were used to spark the project from the beginning. When you work this way, you are essentially reducing large projects to smaller, manageable sorts to see results. Work slower, more methodically and carefully to avoid making mistakes. 8. Plan around interruptions Interruptions tend to occur in identifiable patterns with most of them happening early in the day versus later in the day. Interruptions are never convenient nor do they choose a time to happen. Plan for larger projects for later in the day and later in the week when there tends to be fewer interruptions. 9. Assign deadlines Deadlines move people to action and get fast results. Without deadlines, things simply get done when they get done with no hurriedness behind them. Create a deadline and you will be moved to action.

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Avoiding daily interruptions

Many of the interruptions we deal as online entrepreneurs can be eliminated with a little focus and determination. One way to gain better control is to use a log to record each instance of interruptions. To do this, record the following information into six columns:

1. Date Record the date of the interruption. Keep a log of this just as you would client and customer interactions and any other type of communication that you would deem important. This will help you when you refer back to it for more information.

2. Time Many times, your days are busier than others just as certain times of the day are busier than others. It may not be feasible for you to take certain calls at certain times of the day as opposed to other times of the day. Record the time that you take the interruption phone call, so as to notice any developing patterns, systems, etc.

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You may also want to record the time in any digital products that you may have which will make easier for future referencing and notating. Pay particular attention to patterns developing during a set time of day, week, etc.

3. Who If its another call from Grandma, log it. If its another call from the telephone marketers, notate that too. Know and log whos calling you and interrupting your work day. Are there any repeat offenders? You may want to take note of this and adjust your schedule accordingly in order to avoid them.

4. What Notice what type of information the phone call is about. Is it business related at all or just plain idle talk? This can be and usually is where the bulk of the time wasters are found. During business hours is the time to discussbusiness!!

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Work at home entrepreneurs are often the unfortunate victims of assuming that they are not working because they are at home. Interruption calls will sometimes be silly calls like recipe requests, calls to vent or idle gossip. Know and record what the conversation was about. 5. Length How long are the phone calls lasting? A few minutes here and there may not hurt, but can add up quickly! Be firm yet gentle when you are trying to end your interruption phone calls that are fruitless for your business. 6. Rating Rate the phone call based on the previous six factors along with a grading scale similar to this: A=crucial B=important C=little value D=no value

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Plan to record this information for about a week to get an accurate measure of what is really happening. If it was worth your while, rate either high or low based on your preferences. This will help you to better determine where your time goes and how its being utilized. After you have accumulated this data for a week, go back and tally up all of the As, Bs, Cs, and Ds to see where you need to adjust things. Most people discover that more than 50% of their interruptions were Cs and Ds and were things that were not worth the time spent. After this, analyze each C and D interruption and determine how they could have been avoided. Take proactive steps to ensure that it will not repeat itself in the future. Do this especially for the repetitive interruptions. Many times, people will come to you for information that they could have located themselves. To remedy this, show this person how to find the information themselves or they will continue to interrupt you to get it. It is easier for them this

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way, but harder for you and your available time. Teach them how to get what they need on their own.

Get the MOST from Your Day as an Entrepreneur

Your life as an entrepreneur no doubt is a busy one. You need to avoid distractions and conflicts as much as possible to have a good, productive and successful day.

1. Goal-Set at the Beginning of Each Day Start by performing a life assessment to get clear on your top priorities for each day, each week and each month. Setting goals will place you on the right track towards that end. If you do it daily, you will be better able to grasp the process and find what works best. There is a clear, definitive line of focus to divert your energy and help you make decisions more quickly if an event arises that is not a life priority. You can more easily decide how or whether to focus on it right now.

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2. Do Much with Little Time Also, you can benefit from doing as much as possible in as little time as possible by using the 80/20 rule to your advantage. The 80/20 principle states that "80% of an individuals success comes from 20% of their efforts. As a small business owner, you want to figure out where your most profitable 20% is and spend the majority of your time in those activities. For some entrepreneurs, the most profitable activities come from working with current clients, marketing to find new clients, creating more multiple income streams and or sparking creativity in their day. Find out what yours is and concentrate on that.

3. Ask for help Such a simple request, but can be so hard for entrepreneurs. If you are a person who feels that you need to do everything yourself, this will undoubtedly make you a bit uncomfortable. However, when you ask for help or when you delegate work, as discussed earlier, you may actually find that

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your day will go smoother and work will be more productive. When you ask for help, you may find that you are actually able to produce much more in much less time and feel more accomplished in the long run. It's wonderful to feel like your projects are being completed without my having to follow up on each and every detail. 4. Automate Take full advantage of and use technology as much as possible in your business. This will help you tremendously in making full use of your limited time as an entrepreneur. For instance, if email access is available for your cell phone, get it and utilize it as much as possible. This will streamline your communication processes and make your time work for you instead of being wasted. You can answer emails in the car, on the train, at your childs practice and whenever or wherever you have spare moments.

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Automation is a great way to multiply your efforts and maximize your results. You set up the process once, and it works from there, the same way, the same time, saving you untold hours of wasted waiting.

5. Simplify Very simply, make things as simple as possible. This means streamlining processes and making things work easier. For instance, if you take credit cards in your business, make that more available than having to deal with checks that have to be carried to the bank, cashed and/or deposited. If there are steps to a process that can be eliminated, do that and watch your productivity swoon. The more you simplify, the easier it will be for your business to run. Things and processes run smoother with fewer steps and decrease the possibilities of errors. Simplification is a great tool for finding more time.

6. Consolidate Consolidation simply means putting several things together to achieve one goal. Consolidating some

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efforts for the business person helps it to run more smoothly and effortlessly. Where are places in your business that you could consolidate your efforts and get more return on your investment?

7. Leverage This concept of leveraging refers to obtaining and using multiple resources of things out of materials you've already created. Although it can take a certain amount of skill and creativity to do this well, in the long run it can pay off double times in value. Once you get into the habit of leveraging, you can significantly multiply your returns from a one-time investment of your effort. In creating new materials for your business, continually ask yourself, "how can I use this again?" Leveraging your time can also be a creative venture to help you maximize the time that you have in the span of a day. Make good use of your time and use some of these creative examples: Exercise Makes you fit, healthier and feel good in general. Use this time to be alone with your thoughts,

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releasing valuable enzymes into our bloodstream. This is a highly leveraged activity and one that can be practiced and enjoyed daily. Hobbies Hobbies give us an opportunity to learn. They help keep our minds and bodies active, focused and busy with other resources. They also help to take our attention away from the daily grind and help us practice in focusing on a single task.

Skills Develop a new skill or learn a new craft. Perhaps this skill can be in some way related to your hobby, or can be work related. Developing new skills keeps us learning and keeps our minds active. It also allows us to learn other things faster and with better retention potential.

Read Whether that reading is just for learning or it is for pleasure, read something and position yourself for better results in your business. Reading will provide opportunities to learn and see things in a

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new light. It keeps your mind active, gives you new ideas and information to use when solving problems and also gives your mind time to relax while you are otherwise engaged.

Think/Write Taking the time to think about our values, beliefs, the challenges we face, the events of our day, or just to think in general gives is the space we need to spark creativity. Take time to reflect on your behaviour, your results, your challenges take time to think so that you can go through your day in a more proactive, thought-filled way. Write it down as journaling or recording to help keep you on track towards your goals.

Quality Time Spend time with your family or friends. Take the time to learn about them, about their day, accomplishments and setbacks. Show your caring ways through your actions, using this time to be

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unselfish and getting into the lives of others you care about. These suggestions will catapult you forward, helping you to think clearer, plan better, learn more, create energy and generate greater focus.

8. Vision Stay connected to the goals and the bigger picture that you have for your business. When you do this, you will find yourself more instantly inspired and sparked by quickening creativity. When this happens, you can accomplish great things in less time. It is ultimately worthwhile to spend each day being inspired by your vision and will help you save time. To better assess where you want to be, ask yourself: Where is my business going to be in 5 years? What steps will I take to get it there? Is the marketing that I am currently doing working? What are some things that I can do to make it better? 9. Chunking

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This strategy refers to completing similar types of work all at the same time. You can implement this into your business in several ways: Make a running list of calls to return. Set aside a block of time dedicated to accomplishing this. Working in time chunks also help you to better focus and concentrate, as you are working in one process and system of thought rather than trying to do too many things at once. Using the phone example, once youve starting making phone calls, you begin to develop a momentum and a phone script and are more successful. Pay bills for the business all at once, even if they are not yet due. This keeps you from having to deal with or think about it later. Sitting down and taking care of all of your business expenses whether its once a month or once every two weeks helps you to better focus on other areas of your business. When you take care of little details all at one time, it frees your mind from being concerned or worried about having to do it all later. This is a wonderful idea for events that repeat themselves on a

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frequent basis (like bill paying or client check-ins) but that also need your complete attention to detail. Write articles or press releases all at the same time instead of spreading them out. And, write (or have written) anything that is related to each other all in one episode or sitting as well. This saves you from having to think about it or deal with it when you are concentrating on other goals. Tasks where this can be done is with: o writing press releases for new services from your business o writing thank-you letters to clients for their (new) business o communicating with marketing contacts via email to establish a relationship with decision-makers.

10. Analysis Keep track of what's working really well in your business. Assess what you are proud of, what needs work, what needs tweaking and even whats working just fine.

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Analyzing your business and its progression over time will often point out places where you can simplify, consolidate, or change in order to save more time and work more easily.

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How to maximize the hours in your day

1. Maintain Balance Having a good healthy dose of balance in your work life is absolutely essential for success. Without complete balance, you run the risk of one or more facets of your business failing. Earlier we looked at the seven vital areas in an individuals life: Health Family Financial Intellectual Social Professional Spiritual

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Finding balance in each of these areas will help tremendously in managing your time as they keep you fulfilled and committed. Although you will not spend equal amounts of time in each area or time every day in each area, it is important to establish some sort of system of attention given to each area.

Eventually, if you spend sufficient quantity and quality of time in each area, then your life will be balanced. But if you ignore any one of your areas you will get out of balance and potentially sabotage your success.

2. Write it Down! This means writing down goals, to-do lists, aspirations, marketing lists, clients phone numbers, etc. Writing it down is absolutely an entrepreneurs best line of defense towards organization and complete time management. If it can be seen, it can be done. Details are very important and are best utilized if they are written down and reviewed often. If it is to be managed, it must first be written. Writing all

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things down helps you to more easily remember all that you need to accomplish.

3. Keep a Work Log A daily work log helps significantly in time management. Take the time each night to take control of the next days events and plan them as much as possible. Plan your work each day with this in mind. Write down a To Do list with all of the have tos and all of your want tos for the next day. Without a daily plan you can easily get distracted and spend your precious work time wasting on issues that are of no consequence.

4. Prioritize In a work at home entrepreneurs life, their to do has crucial and non-crucial items on it. Despite the fact most people want to be productive, knowing when to decide between crucial and not crucial items can be the difference in a productive or a non-productive day. Prioritize your To Do list each night by placing the most significant items at the top of your to do list.

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Tackle the items on your list in order of their importance. Although you may not get everything done on your list, you will likely get the most important things done. This is working smarter, not harder, and getting more done in less time. 5. Control Procrastination The most effective planning in the world does not substitute for doing what needs to be done. Procrastinating and putting important things off because we dont want to or see the immediate urgency in doing it does nothing but prolong the inevitable. It has to get done! To start something that you have been putting off, create in your mind enough negative reasons for not doing it or enough rewarding reasons to do it. Essentially, you are going to take procrastinated item and turn it into to a game, working with one thing in front of you at a time so other things wont distract you. Break it down to little bite-sized, manageable pieces. Get it started, take the first step and you will likely continue it to completion.

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6. Manage Meeting Time A meeting is when two or more people get together to exchange common information. With online entrepreneurs, that can be via email, webcam, Skype or telephone. Although it can be simple, it can also be one of the biggest time wasters for the work at home person. Meeting times must be managed effectively in order to be effective. Before a meeting, ask Is it necessary? and Am I necessary? If the answers to either are no, consider not having the meeting or excusing yourself from attending. Then prepare a written agenda for the meeting with times assigned for each item along with a starting time and ending time. Circulate the written agenda among those who will be attending. Let people know in advance what is to be discussed. In time management, it is ultimately up to you as an entrepreneur to make the most of your time and maximize it for optimal results. There is very little time in the course of a day, therefore it is advantageous to find what works, work it diligently, tweak when

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necessary and continue to evolve the business in a positive direction. The work at home entrepreneur can enjoy success when he or she implements these strategies and apply them towards their own business model. Mimic the tips given here, but tailor them to your own niche industry, customizing them to your own business personality. Find what works and work it tirelessly as you meet and achieve your goals towards success in your online business! To your success, Time Manage Strategy http://www.TimeManageStrategy.com

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