I feel like a phony as I write this. After all, I am no one to talk about time mapping or management as I still am in "respond to crises as they come" mode.
However, I have recently been introduced to Julie Morgenstern's Time Management from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule--and Your Life. What I've gotten from this book is a new system and approach to time.
First of all, time is not to be "managed" nor "saved" nor even "spent." Time just is. And it is our experience of it that creates problems! So I have adopted Julie's time mapping concept and now have a general map of the day/week on the wall behind my desk. At any given time I can look up at the current time slot to see what kinds of activities I said I should be doing at this time. If it's 7:45 a.m., for example, I'm going to be having family time with my 3-1/2 year old son, my 9-month old and my husband.
At around 9:30 a.m. my work hours begin. I will work consistently until it is again family time around 12:30. My son and I will enjoy lunch together and perhaps read a book and snuggle in for an afternoon nap.
Mind you, I cannot always abide by the map I've created for myself. It is evolving, a work-in-progress. But what I see as possible with this new approach to my business/personal life, is that while I'm with my children, I'm not feeling resentful or anxious that I haven't gotten to my work. And while I'm doing my work, I'm not feeling guilty or frustrated that I can't spend time with my children.
This alone is the first major breakthrough I'm experiencing because I had gotten to a point where my day was pretty much joyless because of all the angst. Now I know there is a time allotted for each activity and I can take a stand for each.
I can also see clearly where I have given minimal amount of time for myself -- allowing myself some leisure, reading a book, taking a nap, watching Dr. Phil or getting a pedicure. Whatever it is. While I've built a sliver of self time into my week, I can now see -- visually -- where there could be more.
FYI, I used a simple Excel spreadsheet to create this map. I used color formatting for the different cells to code the activities.
This week I'm also having a breakthrough in fun and leisure. I'm taking off one day to take my son to Sesame Place. I have -- unbelievably -- absolutely no guilt or anxiety over the fact that I won't be getting any work done that day. Pretty unbelievable. I give credit to my time map as I can see where there is plenty of work time scheduled in this week and I will get to it.
I'm also thinking in terms of "dancing close to the revenue line," another concept Morgenstern discusses in her book Never Check E-Mail In the Morning: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work. Many successful entrepreneurs talk about this idea of putting your money-making activities first.
We are all so prone to getting into our email and the daily minutiae and wrapping up of loose ends, the real "meat" of our business often gets squeezed into the next time slot, and the next and the next.
Julie talks about doing the top revenue-boosting thing before 10 a.m. in the morning. That way, if your whole day goes to pot, you will be sustained by that productive and effective spurt you had first thing in the morning.
And after all, the reason we're in business for ourselves is to enjoy our lives and experience freedom on a daily basis. Now then, I'm off to enjoy my life!
There is one commodity that nearly everyone runs out of and that is time. For some reason when someone opens a home computer business they believe that suddenly their days will have more hours in them than they did when they worked for someone else. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for them to realize that there are not only the same number of hours in a day, but those hours may seem like they have fewer minutes in them.
Time management is not a skill that can be taught, it is a behavior that has to be learned. Many tools are available to help people manage their time, but they have to take the initial step in getting started before they can make better use of the time they have. Time management will also help them balance their work and home life, commonly referred to as creating a work-life balance and to start they need to realize how closely they are related.
Too many people have a calendar for their work and a separate calendar for their family life. With the two so closely connected, they only need one calendar. Instead of having to consult with two pieces of paper before determining if you can make a meeting or not, pulling out one calendar can make the decision an easy one. It does not matter what brand is considered the best or the most expensive. The only thing that matters is that you get a planner with a calendar and use it regularly.
Before you fill out the calendar you will need to make sure you have your priorities in order. Every day, new priorities will pop up based on emergencies and customer demands. One thing to consider is that when a customer emergency comes up and is direct conflict with a scheduled family event, you will have to decide on where your priorities are on that specific date and time. If you have a helper who can take care of the customer issue, without conflicting with their family calendar, that's a plus. If not, the customer may have to wait until you get done.
Setting daily priorities should always begin with a block of time being set aside as contingency time. That is time set aside to handle unexpected issues and can be as little as 15 minutes. If nothing happens, you have an extra 15 minutes unclaimed at the end of the day. When it does, handle it without throwing your schedule totally out of whack.
The best thing you can possibly do with your home computer business is establish a minimum of 10 minutes every morning and reprioritize items that did not get finished from yesterday's list. This planning session can be the very first task you do when you have your daily cup of coffee. The bottom line is you need to get into the habit to review your daily plans and then stick to the plan throughout the day.
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Kennerly Clay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Sales and Negotiation, Home Improvement and Family. After multiple layoffs Kennerly launched her first business in 2001, determined to decide for herself when she would go to work each day, how much vacation she would get and how much money she would make. She now helps others recognize the entrepreneur wi. Kennerly Clay's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.
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