Question of the week - 11/16/2008
Read More: My biggest challenge is always time-management. Even though I'm considered to be very productive and efficient, I am always searching for more ways of "getting more done in less time."
What is your favorite productivity booster? How do you apply it to your business? How has it made you more successful?
I appreciate all of you.
Melinda
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Comments: 2 
About the Author: Melinda White
Member Since: 06/20/2008
Company: On My Own Terms, Inc.
I'm a Distributor For:: Strong Force International / SFI
Industry: Other
Primary Web Site: http://www.onmyownterms.com
Company: On My Own Terms, Inc.
I'm a Distributor For:: Strong Force International / SFI
Industry: Other
Primary Web Site: http://www.onmyownterms.com
Time Management
I am annoyingly organized and extremely efficient. But since I have gotten into the network marketing business, I haven't been as successful with manging my time. Mostly due to not knowing what I should be doing on a daily basis.
After doing a lot of searching regarding how I can better organize my time, I have found that by logging in a notebook what I do every hour on the hour, I can see what I'm doing during the day that is not benefiting me. Such as, because I work at home my friends call me and want to just chat. The next thing you know I've been on the phone for an hour. That's an hour wasted. Or I decide to just check my personal emails and lose track of time. Things I should not be doing during the hours I should be working. I start by writing down a time like 8:00 - 9:00 am and then I write down everything I do within that time period. Because I am in the network marketing industry, I write down 3 to 5 areas of marketing that I enjoy and like and make sure I accomplish those 3 to 5 things every single day. I have been doing this now for over 60 days and I have gotten so much more accomplished then I ever had before. My business has taken off and I now have people calling me. It can get tedious and a lot of people don't really like it, but you can really see what you are really accomplishing during that time. It's just repetition that is going to get you where you need to be.
So that is how I am able to manage my time and grow my business. I hope those tips will help.
To your success.
Adrienne Smith
time management
The time management system I have enjoyed most is one that is promoted in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. He suggests that you differentiate between items that are urgent and those that are important. It turns out that we tend to burn out doing urgent things and neglect important things. What's an example of something important but not urgent? Exercise. If you're exercising regularly just to keep fit and trim or perhaps manage stress, then you may choose to forego it when something urgent arises, say your child needs you to drop off something at school. On the other hand, if you've recovering from surgery and the doctor has prescribed that you must undergo physical therapy (exercise), then this item switches from important to urgent. Another illustration is planning. Would it help my business if I took time to plan? Yes. However, the emails piling up seem important and so I spend time reading and answering them rather than investing in long-term results. Covey's suggestion is that you incorporate important activities throughout the week, actually schedule them rather than leave them to chance. Urgent items will always come up. However, by making time to do important tasks, my business (and personal health) benefit. By the way, by looking at the whole week rather than one day at a time, Covey anticipates that unexpected things do come up and so you can rescedule that important task, if necessary, by looking at the whole week and not just the single day.