Ask any part-time employee and they will tell you their time is worth $12.00/hour or whatever. Hourly workers know the value of their time. Most successful commission sales personnel know the value of their time, and successful salaried workers know the value of their time.
But what about you? It's a different story for the online business owner! You probably work more than eight hours, day and night, and then think about your business even when you are not sitting at your computer working on it. If it's a passion of yours then it is even more challenging to figure out the value of your time.
Maybe you don't know the value of your time. Many people don't, so you are not alone. But knowing the value of your time will help you manage your scheduled and make more profit.
To figure this out take your income and divide in to your total hours worked. It's not a perfect calculation because it doesn't account for the hours that you spend thinking and it doesn't account for your expenses, but you are busy enough that a rule-of-thumb calculation is provide you with enough information.
It's probably a good idea to make this calculation based on a week or maybe even a month time frame. This will smooth out the fluctuations that occur in your schedule and in your customer's buying patterns. This calculation will require you to monitor your work time for a week, which a good exercise to do regardless.
For most new entrepreneurs the value of their time will be just a few dollars an hour, or even less. Don't feel bad if that is the case with you, it will rise quickly once you learn what works and does not work.
Now you have a baseline from which you can measure your progress. Improvement in time value will be more objective and less subjective. Time Management is the key for improving your bottom line, and spending more time with people you love.
We all say we want more time, but each of us is doled out the same 24 hours each day ? no more, no less. Despite this, each of us can have more time for important things. By using our time wisely, we can get more done and maybe even enjoy the time we are granted. To tackle your own time management makeover, try the following expert tips:
1) Evaluate where your time goes. To start really controlling your time, you need to figure out where your daily 24 hours go. For a week, keep a time diary, keeping track of what you do each hour. At the end of the week, glance over your findings.
2) What should you be investing your time in? Time is a gift, so decide what is important enough to spend your time on. Look at your time diary again. Are you spending four hours a week watching television but only one hour with your family? What things can you eliminate from your schedule or at least cut back on? What would that leave time for?
3) Focus on where you are going. Most of us spend far too much time looking at the individual steps we need to take and the small tasks we need to complete. As a result, we lose sight of the big picture. If you spend your time focusing on errands and small tasks you need to get done today or this week, you may not be focusing on your actual goals. Even if you manage to get all your errands done, you will not be moving forward and will feel frustrated and fed up. Instead, start today to focus on what your goals are and start from there when deciding what to spend time on.
4) Learn the gentle art of leverage. Many of the little things that clutter our schedules ? making photocopies, running errands, and picking up groceries ? can be taken care of by someone else. Find ways to get rid of the little details and you will be able to make the most of every hour.
5) Develop a good planner system. If you don't write it down, you will forget it. Find a planner or planning system you like and stick with it. Write down appointments, upcoming birthdays and anything else you need to remember. With all that stuff outside of your head and on the page, you can take a big breath and start tackling what you need to do. Once you start to manage and control your time, you will be able to really focus your energies and take back your life. With less stress and a real feeling of accomplishment, you will love your new life!
Hazel Palache. MFC,MCCht,MNLP. The Professional Women's Success Doctor. http://www.MindMasteryCoaching.com (818-972-4415
Both Bill Mcrea & Hazel Palache are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.