Time Management in Home Business? Forget About It!
By Angie Hernandez
Time management can be a scary term. So, forget about it. I don't want you to think it or say it again.
Instead, use the term "Time Freedom." That is the goal for all entrepreneurs, and why most of them choose to work for themselves and from home. To escape having to fill 9 to 5 with pointless tasks and paper shuffling.
Parkinson's Law states that a task will perceivably swell in importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. So, whether 9 to 5, or at home, if you allot "all day" to complete a task, it will, more than likely, take you all day. If you shorten your allotted time, you will, more than likely, be able to complete that given task within the time you've allowed. Parkinson's Law.
But even entrepreneurs can get stuck in the rut at home. Being "busy" all day long, filling every minute with some sort of fidget, is the way many people think they are being productive....results-by-volume. Being busy often is used as a disguise, though, for avoiding the few critically important actions that are uncomfortable.
You need to accomplish more by doing less. Your goal should be to decrease the amount of work you do, while increasing effectiveness and profits.
Notice I said, "increasing EFFECTIVENESS," not efficiency. There is a difference. Effectiveness is doing things that get you closer to your goals, and are productive. Efficiency is doing any given task in the most economical, precise way possible. Being efficient doesn't necessarily get you closer to your goal. Effectiveness does. Remember these two things:
1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.
WHAT you do is much more important than HOW you do it. Efficiency is still important, but only when applied to the right things.
Pareto's Law, or commonly called today, "The 80/20 Principle," means that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort and time. 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers.
In the same respect, what 20% of your sources are causing 80% of your problems? See how it works?
Start putting aside everything that has no bearing on your effectiveness and productivity. Dissect your business and personal life. Those unimportant emails, those MSN articles that grab your attention, those phone calls that could go unanswered.... DROP IT! Leave them alone.
Set a specific time aside to deal with those things... A SHORT amount of time!
Being busy is a form of laziness....lazy thinking and ineffective actions. On the same note, being overwhelmed is as unproductive as doing nothing. Be selective, do less for more results. Focus on the important things, and ignore the rest. The world will not stop. But the minutiae will.
So, to start your journey to learning "Time Freedom," remember these two things, and use them together:
1. Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time. (80/20)
2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important. (Parkinson's Law)
Identify critical tasks that contribute most to your income (that are effective) and schedule them with clear, short deadlines!
Time Freedom begins...
Angie Hernandez, internet marketer and Global Resorts Network Team Leader, is available for a free conference call at (405)640-7811, and can be contacted by email at: goofballforglobal@yahoo.com You may visit her website for information about how you can create a 6 to 7 figure income from your home, here: http://www.globalfreedomride.com
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