Using Your Time Effectively And Keeping Yourself Organized
One of the biggest challenges faced by business owners is managing your most valuable asset (your time) effectively.
Let’s face it. The internet (and the world, for that matter) provides a constant series of distractions, tangents and diversions to take us off track. Combating the effects of those distractions is no easy task!
So how do business owners like us stay on track, in focus, and at our most productive?
Simple. Hold yourself accountable for your time. Organize it, structure it and stick to that structure. Basically, do like Santa Claus does: Make a list, check it twice.
Life Without A List
Think about the last time you sat down in front of your computer without a clear plan of what you were going to do. Not just what you were going to do first, but what you were going to do that day. First, second, third, fourth, and so on, until you plan on saying to yourself “Job well done. Time to relax.”
By the way… you should be saying things like that to yourself on a regular basis. If you aren’t, it means you are either selling yourself short and being way to hard on yourself, or you need to adjust your focus so you can start saying it. Either option is bad, and I honestly don’t think one is worse than the other – but I do believe that we are all victims of both from time to time.
Anyway, back on focus (what did I tell you about distractions? I just distracted myself right there, in the middle of a blog post!). We were talking about what happens when you don’t have your tasks mapped out in front of you.
If you have nothing specific set out for yourself, you’re bound to start wandering aimlessly about the web for who-knows-how-long. Check your email, read some tweets, respond to some comments on your Facebook page/YouTube channel/blog/forums… maybe even go through some or all of those twice.
Then, while you’re on YouTube, a funny video of a walrus playing checkers with a french speaking kitten wearing a sombrero sucks 47 seconds out of your life.
After that, you see something even more entertaining in that insidious “Related Videos” box. I really don’t like that box. It is the KING of distraction. Seriously. Related Videos = Work of the devil.
You’re only laughing because you know it’s true – and despite your most sincere promises to yourself to be more productive, it happens over and over again.
So what can you do?
The Power of a To-Do List
I remember an email I read once, from one of my greatest mentors in this industry. In this email, he announced that he would be sharing the single greatest tool he used in his business, every day, without fail.
The email went on to explain that this one tool – to which he attributes the majority of his success – was free for anyone to use.
As you can imagine, this seemed like a great deal! I couldn’t wait to find out what it was, so I read on feverishly. The answer that awaited was so simple – and yet powerful – that I couldn’t agree with him more. This WAS the most valuable tool for a business owner.
You ready? Notepad.
Yup. That free piece of software (or something similar) that comes on pretty much every computer. A simple program that allows you to enter, save and edit text – and that’s all it does.
The reason this is so powerful is because it makes it easy to do what so many of us fall short on: make a list for the tasks that we will complete each day.
Now, whether or not you choose to use notepad is up to you – but this example is so powerful because it is so simple. Before you end today, you should plan tomorrow.
Make a list of all the things that need to get done tomorrow and stick to it. Don’t forget though, the last thing on tomorrow’s list should be to make another list for the next day…
Don’t Just Make A List. Make A BIG List
Sometimes, size does matter. I’m not saying your list should be 50 items long – in fact I strongly advise against packing too much in.
Trying to take on too much at once will lead only to frustration, stress and doubt. Push yourself, but be reasonable. This philosophy applies to writing to-do lists, eating Thanksgiving dinner, and many other important parts of your life.
What I mean by a “BIG” list, is one that you can’t miss. If a notepad file on your desktop and on the taskbar of your computer is enough to remind you to stay on track, great! If you need something more aggressive, do it.
Whatever you do, make sure that list is visible. Tape it to the side of your monitor, hang it from the ceiling above your desk, or pin it to your shirtsleeve.
Personally, I write my list on a whiteboard by my desk. Every time I get up to stretch, or walk into the room on my way to the computer, it’s there. Watching me. Reminding me. Guiding me.
It’s kinda like the Force.
Turn Your List Into A Schedule
For me, this is the part that makes all the difference.
When I write my list, I go back through it and evaluate each task. Next to each item I’ll write down approximately how long it should take me.
Once that’s done, I can add all of the items up (the final number is usually pretty surprising!), so I know how long everything should take, how much work REALLY needs to be done.
From there I can evaluate the expectations I’ve laid out for myself. Too much? Should something be saved for tomorrow? Do I have time to take some of tomorrow’s items on today?
I can also figure in when I plan to start, so I know when I’m going to finish. I can figure in breaks when necessary – because they are necessary.
If you don’t schedule your downtime, you are much more likely to just take it whenever you start getting a little tired or worn out. This isn’t a break. It’s a distraction.
If you have a break planned in advance, you’ll know it’s coming, and look forward to it. When your mind starts to wander, you can use that break as a proverbial carrot to put yourself back on track.
The last part of the scheduling side of this is checking up on yourself. Throughout the day, make a point of evaluating how long each item actually takes.
Try to keep a log, either mentally or on paper, of how accurate your time estimates are turning out to be. The reason you want to do this is two fold:
- It’s a great way to discover what types of jobs are taking longer than the should, and address the issue
- You can start to evaluate how fair you are being with your estimates – allowing you to create a more accurate (and therefore more effective) list in the future
All of this talk about writing a list and holding yourself accountable may seem like common sense, but trust me: It’s the things we take for granted and say “yea, yea, I know…” that we are most likely to blow off.
You’re running your own business now. You are your own boss. There’s no one standing over you, making sure you’re doing what needs to be done.
That was probably the whole point of embarking on this journey in the first place, right?
The bottom line is, now that that “boss” is gone, and they aren’t there to “make” you get your work done, someone needs to step in and take their place.
And since this is YOUR business, guess who that “someone” is going to have to be?
We’d love to hear your tips on how you stay on track in your business, so feel free to leave comments below 
