It's tempting. It's time consuming. It's like tossing money to the wind.



If you're not as productive as you'd like to be, take a step back and get very honest about how you're spending and/or wasting your time. Let's talk about some major time wasters and how you can stop stalling and start doing more:

* Checking e-mail. Many of us spend far too much time getting distracted by mail. Do you find that you go back and forth between ?real? work and e-mail? If so, carve out a specific time each day to read and respond to important messages. Unsubscribe to junk e-mail so you won't have to wade through it. If all else fails, log-out of your account to avoid the lure.

* Browsing websites. This is a real temptation for many of us. If you must do research, you can always delegate someone else to do the legwork for you and narrow down the search so you can focus on making money. Then you can spend your time doing more productive tasks.

* Doing something you're not good at. How many of us have said something like this: ?If I can just learn web design, I can save tons of money by doing it myself.? Right? WRONG. One of the biggest mistakes that online marketers make is trying to do it all. The time you're wasting stumbling through a project is time that you could be using for making money doing something you actually know how to do. Delegate the work or hire someone to do it. The longer you halt your progress with uneventful work, the longer it will take to earn some serious cash.

* Instant Messaging. Yes, it's quick, convenient, and at the tip of your fingers, but it's also the biggest waste of your time?and addictive. Here's where you may have to break your addiction and just pick up the phone. You can get straight to the point without lag time, and then you can get back to the business at hand.

* Online shopping. I know. I know. You can justify online shopping because you've just run out of staples. However, how many of us actually jump online, buy what we need, and get back to work five minutes later? This is another task you can delegate to someone else or schedule for a specific time each week. It's too easy to get pulled into the virtual shopping aisles, start shopping for other occasions, and neglect work for awhile.

With so many temptations on the Internet, it's no wonder that many CEOs spend an average of only 38-48 minutes a day doing productive work. The Internet?although the greatest source of the online marketer's income?can also be the biggest detriment to earning money. Use it wisely, and your business will flourish. Use it foolishly, and your online business will flounder.