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[T921]Time Management Game Online

by William Winch, Wil

If you are a home-based business owner without a schedule or have one that is not productive, chances are good that you go to sleep every night wishing that there was more time in the day. If you just had an extra three hours, you could really speed up your momentum and kick everything into high gear. Well, you're on the right track by wishing that, but the answer is not more hours. The answer is time management and your need to successfully grasp the concept of it.

Imagine if you worked for a large company like Xerox and you were in charge of their entire marketing campaign. If you didn't delegate responsibility by giving each person the one task that needed to be done in order to make the company run smoothly, you would probably be fired. When you own your own home-based business, you have to delegate all of that responsibility to yourself. It's not easy, but it can be done and done well.

Here a 5 important tips to help you successfully set a schedule that will explode your home-based business.

1. Think Like A CEO, Work Like An Employee
Since you own your own company, you have to successfully wear two hats. One that allows you to think like a CEO and the other like an employee. You want to reap the rewards like a boss would, but you can't work like one or else you will go broke. You have to work like an employee to make decent profits. No one gets rich taking half the day off to play golf. That is something you do after you make the money.

The first crucial decision you must make is how much time are you willing to put into your business each day. A CEO would put in about an hour. An employee would put in a full 8-hour day with over-time. The balance you feel comfortable with depends on how serious you are to make things happen, and how fast you want to make things happen in order to reach your goals. All stores have hours of operation. How many hours are you willing to be open each day?

2. Focus On What Makes The Difference
If you don't focus on exactly what it is that needs to be done every single day to make money, your business will not survive long. It has been said that in 100% of all you do, there is only 20% that makes the difference. Can you imaging how successful you would be if you isolated that 20%, then multiplied it by 5 to make up your 100%? Look at whatever tasks get your phone ringing and prospects ordering.

This does not mean you have to contantly work all day long. It means that once you know what works for you, you can turn your business on and work 100% for half a day and reap the same benefits you would working your old schedule for a full week. This will require a great deal of testing on your part, so don't be discouraged if you can not find your magic formula right away. Every business is different and requires special attention to detail.

3. Make Time For Personal Development
When you work on yourself as much as on your business, you will begin to see results shifting in your favor. We all would like to be good natured all of the time, but unfortunately today's society focuses more on flaws and mistakes than on good deeds. Personal development keeps the business owner grounded and provides encouragement.

We do not have office parties and co-workers who are on the same playing field to relate with. We need reminders of why it is always important to take the high road and do what is right. Fitting personal development into your daily schedule, even if it is only for a half hour each morning while you are sipping on your tea, will not only keep your attitude up, but it will also keep your momentum up as well.

4. Make Time For Education
This doesn't mean the monthly visit to the local Holiday Inn for your specific company's seminar. Most of the time these trainings are only good for boosting moral and do nothing to really educate you on how to successfully be a marketer. You must find time in your schedule to learn something valuable each and every day. This could be anything from listening to a training call from a source outside of your company or practicing a script with a mentor or buddy.

Times change faster than we can keep up with them, and any successful business owner does his or her best to keep up with the new and exciting advancements taking place around them. If you find that the education offered by your company is not offering you anything new to help you grow your business, perhaps it is time to start thinking outside of the box. Network Marketing companies are only really responsoble for providing you with a product to sell. Seeking a program totally focused on showing you how to successfully market anything will be of more value in the long run.

5. Get Your Work Finished First
It is not easy to discipline yourself when you are your own boss. There are always lots of distractions that pull us away from getting our work finished. This used to happen to me all the time because I have many hobbies I enjoy more that making money. My business began to expand when I disciplined myself to get all of my work finished before I did anything else. I used my hobbies as rewards to myself only when my work was finished, or mostly finished. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but when this becomes your focus you will no longer feel that you let the day escape you.

Managing your valuable time and setting your daily schedule accordingly, is an essential ingredient to successfully grow a business and keeping it moving forward. Your time should be focused on whatever works for you to keep bringing prospects in through the use of your products, not on what you like to do. When you learn how to find an audience who has a demand for what you have, and then filling that demand with supply, you can turn minutes into dollars...even when you are not working.

Understanding this is one of the most crucial aspects of buildingd a strong home-based business. Since techniques like this are seldom taught by network marketing training systems, it is also important to have a willingness to change your way of thinking. It could be the difference between success and failure.

Why?

Could it be procrastination or just plain laziness?

Probably not, successful time management depends on understanding what you are doing with your time each and every day. Managing your time more effectively will allow you to accomplish your tasks more quickly and bring you closer to your goals. Take the time each day to think about what needs to be done, and then do something about it!

Tips For Successful Time Management

1. Know exactly what you want in life. It is so easy for people to spend a whole day working and then accomplish nothing of any real value. Ask yourself, "What exactly am I trying to accomplish here?" If you do not define your goals and figure out your destination, then how will you know when you have arrived?

2. Complete one task at a time. Once you begin something stay with it until it is complete. A lot of time can be wasted switching tasks because you have to take time to prepare for each new task. Time can also be wasted breaking a task down into smaller tasks, just get it done! Concentrate on one thing only, get it done, and then move on. Try not to fill your mind with so many things to do that you
stress yourself out and get nothing done!

3. Get busy! Most of us go through life not knowing what we want. We spend to much time in a state of "I do not know what to do". Decide what you want and then work on getting it! Remember that most of us will lean alot more by doing than by just thinking.

4. Say No! Do not make the mistake of ignoring those who are most important, family. If you cannot say no, then you will soon find yourself pulled in to many directions. No matter how important your obligations may be, spend time with your family. Stick with your area of expertise, do what you do best, no more.

5. Set priorities. Everyone feels overwhelmed at times. Every day stop and ask yourself, what do I have to do today? Focus only on those tasks that must be completed, not on what you would like to do.

6. Learn how to delegate. If you insist on handling every task yourself, not only will you not succeed but other areas of your life, such as family and health will suffer. Turn over those routine tasks to others and concentrate on those things that require your knowledge and skills.

7. Develop the habit of making decisions as soon as possible. If you cannot make a decision right away, then set aside some time when you can gather all the facts and then make the decision. Spend most of your time on action, not decision making.

8. Organize your email. If possible, answer your email right away. Try not to read it and then leave it in your inbox. Create folders and transfer the email you want to keep. Create a folder for pending emails that will need your attention later. Delete junk email right away, do not waste your time reading it.

9. How many times have you heard, "Always finish what you start?" If you made a decision in the past that is no longer providing you with the results you expect, then forget it! Move on to something else. Re-evaluate what is happening now to decide what to do next. Do not forget that failure can be your friend.

If you remember one thing, then I suggest this, do it now! When you put things off you waste alot of time because you will constantly dwell on them. Thinking and planning are important, but results come only with action.

Time management is not about giving up what you like, it is about becoming more productive and discovering more of what you already love. Refuse to spend your time where it absolutely will not give you the very best results. Invest your time only in what will pay off big!

Copyright 2007 by Joe Rispoli

Article Source : Pg. 2

About Author

Both William Winch & Joe Rispoli 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.

William Winch has sinced written about articles on various topics from Email Advertising, SEO Articles and Computers and The Internet. . William Winch's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.

Joe Rispoli has sinced written about articles on various topics from Advertising Guide, Your Online Business and Advertising Guide. Joe Rispoli has been involved in Network Marketing for over 10 years. He believes in the power of personal development. It provides focus. It shapes our dreams. It gives us the ability to hone in on the exact actions we need to take in order to succeed. F. Joe Rispoli's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.