I just wish I had more time!” “Where did the time go? I just wish I had more hours in the day.” Have you ever made any of those statements or asked that question? In reality you’re saying that you were given less hours than others, but we know that isn’t true. Time is the great equalizer.

W all have the same 24 hours in each day. What makes the difference is how we use those 24 hours. You probably could think of quite a number of persons who seemed to have accomplished a great deal in their lifetime, and often in a short time. They did this within the framework of 24-hour days.

Are you discouraged with how little you seem to accomplish while others seem to accomplish a great deal more in a short time? If you do, you’re not alone as I’ve felt that way at times. What are the possible stumbling blocks? Some of these are -

Seeking perfection. One person will have a vase and a bunch of flowers which they’ll randomly stick in the vase and they have an attractive display. The other will have the same two things, but they’ll spend a much longer time trying to achieve symmetry and matching blooms so they balance just so, while the only person who’ll probably notice those intricate details is the one who did it.

Lack of organization: Disorganization is a huge time-waster. Searching for papers, documents, etc. is great waste of time – yours and others. There is no question about it that to make good use of your time, you must stay organized. No fancy storage system is required, but having a specific place for certain things will allow you to find them immediately when you need them rather than running around searching here and there, frustrating yourself, and wasting precious time. Your lack of organization may affect others so that you end up wasting their time as well.

Taking on more than you can manage: Most of us have a natural desire to help others, and we also have a problem saying, “No.” We often take on much more than we can comfortably handle and find that by saying “Yes” to too many things we actually become unproductive. How is that possible, you may ask? The answer is simple: Time spent on one thing is time away from another. This goes hand-in-hand with the questions small business owners and entrepreneurs should keep asking themselves, “Is what I’m doing taking me closer to my goal?”

If the task is something that could easily be done by someone else, and is not in line with your goals, whether these are personal or business goals, and is actually robbing you of time you had scheduled to work on these goals, it is not an effective self-management decision. This is in no way encouraging selfishness or a ‘me-first’ attitude, but in order to practice good self- management, you should have a plan or strategy for the various aspects of your life and work at sticking to your plan in order to reach your goals.

Because it’s self-management or managing yourself, no one can tell you exactly how you should do this since everyone’s circumstance is different. Further, there are people who can set schedules and live by them, while others like to go with the flow.

It’s important to remind yourself that to the extent to which you practice good self-management it’s to that extent you’ll make good use of your 24-hour days, be productive and reach your goals.

We are all at different levels in our business. If you’re just getting started, claim my Free Checklist at http://getyourbusinessonlinetoday.com

Certain tasks in your business are routine or predictable tasks.  You need to do them daily and sometimes several times per day for best results.  Some of these could include:

• Reading and replying to emails
• Spending time on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
• Visiting forums
• Read and comment on three or four blogs
• Watch You Tube videos for training purposes
• Watch training videos from a Webinar you did not get to attend, or training for a product you purchased.

Every one of these tasks is important to your overall business plan, but each one can result in time-drains if you do not do real-time scheduling to set limits and keep track of your time.  I purchased a timer to help me in this regard.  If only I always remembered to set the timer!

Checking E-Mails

Let’s look at e-mails as an example.  You know the volume of e-mails you receive in a daily basis, as well as how many e-mail addresses you need to check.  It’s so very easy to say you’re going to do a quick check on your e-mails and end up spending an hour of the time you scheduled for work just reading and replying to e-mails.

This is where a timer helps.  If you set it for 15 minutes, when it goes off you know that it’s time to close your e-mail and move on to something else.  Depending on the nature of your business you may want to schedule three 15 minute periods during your workday to check e-mails, then use non-work time to do any additional catching up.

Time on Social Media

Another area that can create a time-drain is social media.  It’s an important and necessary part of your business, it’s a routine task; but how much time you schedule is critical. For example, experts say that your tweets have more impact certain times of the day: 9:00 a.m., 12 noon, 3 and 6:00 p.m.

If those times fall into your scheduled work time, make a resolve with yourself that you will log in to Twitter for 5-8 minutes to reply to @ tweets, RT meaningful posts and tweets, include a promotion or some type of marketing and you’re out!  If you see references to articles or posts you’d like to read, make a note of them and read them in the time you specify to visit blogs/forums, or in your non-business time.

Real-time scheduling of routine tasks have taken me months to master, and I still struggle with them, but they’re important to avoid the “Where did the time go?” syndrome.  This is all part of self-management in your business.

What methods have worked best for you to handle routine tasks?  Please share.  We learn from each other…

“Burn Your To Do List” was a headline I read some time ago, and although the writer may have had really great content, my initial reaction was, Oh no. I could not do without my “To Do” list!  How about you?

Everyone of us as entrepreneurs wear different hats that involve various aspects of our lives, and with the fast pace of life regardless of where you live these days, it’s almost impossible to retain everything mentally.  If you’ve been able to do that successfully, then you have my utmost respect and awe.

We all have different personality types and some are more detailed than others.  One person may be content with jotting down just brief notes of what they need to do on a daily basis, while others prefer a detailed list.  The bottom line is that you as an individual must decide what works best for you.  Here are some suggestions to avoid frustration:

• Every night make a list of the three or four most important things you need to get done the following day.  These would include personal and business.  The advantage of doing this the night before are many, but among them, knowing that you’ve put the important things you need to do on paper, you don’t have to worry about them or that you may forget to do them.  Secondly, you can start the day knowing exactly what your priority tasks are so you save time.

• Some persons like to use a computer generated Planner and that’s great if that works for you.  My suggestion would be to print each day’s activity and take it with you, because I would imagine that it would be frustrating to be away from home and know there’s something you should do but can’t recall what it is.

Making and keeping a “To Do” list is an effective way to keep track of your weekly and monthly goals.  If you have no idea what you should be doing daily, it will be hard to know what you need to give attention to.

What types of “To Do” lists to you use?  Or do you feel you should have a “To Do” list?  I’d love to hear your comments.  We learn from each other…

Flexibility is a self-management skill that is an integral part of your success when running your own business.  It helps to keep you alert  to opportunities to learn new things, but it also helps to prepare you for whatever unexpected twists and turns your business may take.

Being flexible in the hours you spend in your home office will allow you to adjust your hours, as much as possible, to meet your specific needs.  Many women find that they are most productive in the very early morning hours, perhaps before the rest of the family is awake.  Others prefer to rise later and enjoy a few more productive hours at night after the rest of the family goes to bed.

Do you see clients in your home?  You may have specific hours that you see clients in your home so as not to disrupt your family’s routine.  However, your client may on occasion need to see you outside of those times.  Are you willing to be flexible and accommodate your client?  Your willingness to be flexible could mean the difference between endearing that client to you and alienating a prospective or current client.

The key to flexibility in your home based business is to establish a routine for your business that works for you and make a commitment to stick to that routine as much as possible while allowing for the unexpected.