This is information I shared yesterday with 40 colleagues.

We talked about time management techniques and how we can better take care of clients, including how to better run an online business.

Homework

How would you answer the following questions?

How do I currently manage my time?

What are 3 things I can do better to manage my time?
1.

2.

3.

What will the results be if and when I do these 3 things?

Is time something you look at as a valuable resource or a thing to waste?

What system do you have in place to manage your time?

Time Management is crucial to the success of an online business. If we don’t set up routines and systems, we will eventually end up surfing around online like a chicken with our head cut off.

Today’s Tuesday Tutorial will give you tips on time management as you begin making money with your website.

Step 1: Set Goals

• Write down goals and put them in a place where you can read them often.  I have a habit each week of writing out new goals and scotch taping them to my desk where I can see them every day!
• Set SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.
• Prioritize your Goals – One thing I’ve started doing is putting a number next to each goal as I write them all out for the day.  I can then go through the “checklist” and “see” the success as it happens.
• Plan each day by inserting your Goals in to your daily calendar. Planning your day can help you feel more in control of you life. Write a to-do list, putting the most important tasks at the top. Keep a schedule of your daily activities to minimize conflicts and last-minute rushes.  Things come up during the day.  What I find is that if I have a plan during the day, things seem to get done more effectively.

Step 2: Avoid Procrastinating!

Here are some ideas to keep procrastination under control:

• Slice up tasks into more manageable pieces and start on the easiest ones
• Chart your progress – “Small success leads to big success!” If you write down and track progress, it helps confidence and aids you in seeing progress, even if its only small
• Set a deadline for completing projects: without a deadline, it’s easy to keep pushing things back
• Have someone you can report to: If I have to return and report what I have (or haven’t done) to someone that I respect, I tend to push myself a lot harder to accomplish things I’ve set out to do.

Step 3:  Break large, time-consuming tasks into smaller tasks.

• Work on them a few minutes at a time until you get them all done.
• As you prioritize your goals and tasks, think about which ones will take the least amount of time to accomplish and do those first.

Ever heard of “Small Success leads to Big Success”?  Now apply this and measure your progress!

Step 4: Practice the 10-minute rule.

Work on a dreaded task for 10 minutes each day. Once you get started, you may find you can finish it. Writing articles and press releases can be this way. Once you get started though, things can really start coming together.

The 10 Minute Rule is pretty simple and works like this. I tell myself that I will engage in the task at hand for at least 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes, I don’t feel like finishing, I can stop and walk away, guilt free. Because most of the time the hardest part of any task is getting started, this rule of thumb helps me push past the roadblocks that keep me from doing things that I may not always feel like doing, but am always glad I did once I’m done.

Step 5: Evaluate how you’re spending your time.

• Keep a “Success Journal” of everything you do for three days.
• Write down everything you do. This can help you determine how you’re spending your time.
• Look for time that can be used more wisely. For example, could you take a bus or train to work and use the commute to catch up on reading? If so, you could free up some time to exercise or spend with family or friends. What about that TV time? Is that really helping you make progress with your business?

Step 6: Get plenty of sleep and exercise.

This is something I really need to work on.  I have a bad habit of staying up late and then dragging some days and not accomplishing as much.  Any advice?

I’ve seen that improved focus and concentration will help improve efficiency.  This helps complete work in less time.  The more rested you are, the better you can think logically and really see things happen with your eCommerce Business.

Step 7: Don’t be afraid to take a break.

• Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting organized.
• When you need a break, take one.

One of my “New Year’s Resolutions” will be to really focus on these time management tips and document my success.  More to come.

How have these tips helped you?

How do you plan to use them in 2009?

Just a friendly hello and Happy 4th of July! Between family adventures at 7 Peaks Water Park in Provo, Utah and the fireworks this evening with Glenn Beck at Stadium of Fire, I thought I’d wish all MollerMarketing.com readers a happy day. As you work on starting your online business, remember that taking a day to relax and reflect can be great for your sanity.

image provided by http://www.grucci.com/

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of things there are to do when building an eCommerce Business? Do you feel like there’s never enough time to get all the things done you want to? Are you devoting the necessary attention to each assignment or are other day to day things getting in the way? Is staying organized difficult for you? If your answers are similar to mine, this article may help. Time management and organizational behavior are crucial to success in any endeavor, especially an eCommerce Business.

Effective organization and time management are primary means to a less stressful life. These practices can help you reduce your stress, see better results and also allow you to have more “free time” too. What’s free time for an entrepreneur?

You probably know that effective time management will help you get more done each day. It has important health benefits, too. By managing your time more wisely, you can minimize stress and improve your quality of life.

How do you get started when organizational skills don’t come naturally? To start, choose one of the following time management tips, try it for two to four weeks and see if it helps. Make sure you record your “small successes” in your Success Journal – it will be fun to go back and look at what you’ve accomplished. As you begin to see positive results, try adding another tip. If you find that the tip you first selected isn’t helping like you’d like, make some adjustments or try a different one.

Here are some suggestions that have helped me:

* Plan each day. Planning your day can help you feel more in control of you life. Write a to-do list, putting the most important tasks at the top. Keep a schedule of your daily activities to minimize conflicts and last-minute rushes.
* Prioritize, Prioritize! Like many people, you may be spending the majority of your time on a small percentage of your tasks. Prioritizing will ensure you spend your time and energy on those that are truly important to you.
* Just Say No! (to nonessential tasks). Consider your goals and schedule before agreeing to take on additional work.
* Delegate. Take a look at your to-do list. Is there something you can do at a later date? What about forming a team and assigning some tasks to someone else?
* Do a quality job. Taking the necessary time to do work right the first time will help you save so much time in the long run. Errors usually result in time spent making corrections, which takes more time overall.
* Break large, time-consuming tasks into smaller tasks. Work on them a few minutes at a time until you get them all done. This is something I do when submitting to directories. I’m obviously not going to submit to all the directories in one day. Instead, I’ll chip away at it, set a specific amount of time, and then, when that time is up I stop and move on to other projects.
* Practice the 10-minute rule. Work on a dreaded task for 10 minutes each day. Once you get started, you may find you can finish it. Writing articles and press releases can be this way. Once you get started though, things can really start coming together.
* Evaluate how you’re spending your time. Keep a “Success Journal” of everything you do for three days. Make sure you write down everything you do. This can help you determine how you’re spending your time. Look for time that can be used more wisely. For example, could you take a bus or train to work and use the commute to catch up on reading? If so, you could free up some time to exercise or spend with family or friends. What about that TV time? Is that really helping you make progress with your business? It doesn’t help me but I still seem to waste time doing it.
* Get plenty of sleep and exercise. Improved focus and concentration will help improve your efficiency so that you can complete your work in less time. If you’re like me, late nights can sometimes be productive; but the more rested you are, the better you can think logically and really see things happen with your eCommerce Business.
* Take a time management course. If your employer offers continuing education, take a time management class. If your workplace doesn’t have one, find out if a local community college, university or community education program does.
* Don’t be afraid to take a break. Can you say “Burn Out!” Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting organized. When you need a break, take one. Take a walk. Do some quick stretches at your workstation. Take a day of vacation.

Let’s all commit to actively do one or two of these things. Let’s use this blog post as a journal if we need to to monitor our progress. I look forward to reading results.

As we all know, managing our time is crucial to our success in any endeavor we pursue. Here are a few thoughts to help us sharpen the use of our time:

1) Set Goals

• Write down goals (a goal unwritten is only a wish)
• A goal has to be useful, measurable and attainable
• Prioritize goals – ask yourself “What’s most important right now?”
• Evaluate goals frequently
• Visualize your goals, think about how to accomplish them, then “JUST DO IT!”

2) Avoid Procrastination

Procrastination is a time waster of which you have complete control. Here are some ideas to keep procrastination under control:

• slice up tasks into more manageable pieces and start on the easiest ones
• chart your progress – “Small success leads to big success!” If you write down and track progress, it helps confidence and aids you in seeing progress, even if its only small
• set a deadline for completing projects

These are just a few ideas I’ve had that, if implemented, have helped me manage my time more effectively. Any other ideas would be appreciated.