Online Business Success – Use Time Wisely
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?â€
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.
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Well done and can I add keep control and your choices open. Forgive yourself if something does not go as you planned – you probably did something more fun
1Also, learning to say no. We keep saying yes to so many things just out of courtesy and good will that we pile on tasks truly not needed and maybe even regretted!
Thanks for such a useful post!
2Ah, one of my favorite topics. I have taken enough courses on this subject that I should have post-doc status by now. But, asset management (it’s not time management, it where we decide to put our assets and emphasis during the day) is the ultimate of self-discipline nightmares. Especially if one has ADD or delusions of grandeur (where we must change everything).
3Yvonne has the key written in black and white: …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.
All good points, tips and advice Yvonne. Self-management is extremely important to the up-and-coming enterpreneur or small business owner because usually this is an area they lack experience or knowledge of how to attain a disciplined and organized day.
Through out my corporate years, I have been sent to many training programs for time management, self-management and managing teams and departments. It is amazing how much I learned and am able to bring that into my own business so many years ago.
I am glad that you are sharing this information and I will be happy to share with my fans, followers and clients. Great post!
4Note(s) to self!! However, I have had some breakthroughs recently. A big one for me is limiting social media time as I can get lost and waste time if I am online too much. Great tips and checklist on ways to button it up.
5This is a topic that I really need to work on. I am one of those people who just go with the flow.
Thank you for a very informative article, Yvonne.
6Wonderful tips, Yvonne. I agree with them all. The question you provide is an excellent one to help people stay on track. It really helps to ask if what you’re doing will get you closer to your goal. I like how you acknowledge that it looks different for different people – – we all have unique ways that work for us.
7I like that, Roberta. Some of the really fun times are when we play hookey from our business, but we can’t forget to schedule time to catch-up.
8Speaking for myself and perhaps many others, Hajra, when we’re afraid to say No and become overwhelmed, we may begin to feel resentful towards that person and blame them for putting us in that position. But really, they are not to blame because we have to take responsibility.
9Thanks, Roy. I love the “delusions of grandeur”! Lol. I believe most of us have had that illusion at some point in our lives until we realize that it’s an impossible task.
10Thanks, Lynn, for sharing the post. Those corporate years can have a lot of benefit in managing our own small business. It’s interesting that you made that point because I think when we start our own business it’s easy to forget that the same principles that applied to large corporations can be modified and applied to our own business.
11Tambre, Great breakthrough. I’m with you there about social media, and that perhaps allows you to spend more time on another area of your business. I’ve done courses and training of how much time I should allocate to the various social media platforms, yet invariably I find that I spend longer on two than I intended so I limit my visits.
12You’re so welcome, Janette. You know, you may not need to make a lot of changes if going with the flow has been giving you the desired results. That makes me think of how hard some students have to study to get a good grade, while others hear the points in class or scan the text book and they get excellent grades. Some of us need a lot more structure as we’re easily distracted (as I was my first 1 1/2 year online and still struggle), while others, like you, just get it done!:)
13Thanks, Leanne. That’s so true that “we all have unique ways that work for us.” It helps when we can personally identify our strengths and our weaknesses and what will work best for us. The cookie cutter method definitely doesn’t.
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