How I Squeeze 26 Hours Out Of Every Day!

Written by Willie Crawford


If you're like me, good time management skills and tools are an absolute necessity. We often have so many "alligators snapping out our heels" that we don't know where to start. Here's my "extreme time management system." Adopt it as your own and you'll feel like you've gained several hours a day. It's how I squeeze 26 hours out of every day.

The system calls for extreme organization and a lot of discipline. It's NECESSARY for me. This isrepparttar system that allows me to run an affiliate program, manage 22 websites, publish a weekly ezine, publish 2 daily niche lists, visit an average of 15 discussion forums a day (3 of which I help moderate), write 2 new ezine articles per week, process over 800 emails a day, do off-line consulting, fit in a daily workout, and still find time to spend with my family and friends.

The system has 2 parts - organization and discipline.

Firstrepparttar 106208 discipline. The discipline is nothing more than following a few simple, self-imposed rules. These rules are:

1) Whenever opening any email (or snail mail) process it right then. That simply means replying torepparttar 106209 email or adding it to your "to-do" list (in a specific place) if it will fit into your schedule better later. Make notes in your organizer of any correspondence that may need tracking. Add any new contact to your contact database if appropriate. Ifrepparttar 106210 email contains a gem for an article or post, make a note in your organizer or even make an online post. Ifrepparttar 106211 email contains any data you will need to refer to later such as website urls or passwords, enter them into your cross-referenced database.

Every time that you read an email, you have to decide what needs to be done withrepparttar 106212 information. Making and acting on that decision once is an amazing time-saver! If you don't do this, then you have to go throughrepparttar 106213 exact same decision processrepparttar 106214 next time that you examinerepparttar 106215 email.

2) Whenever presented with any task, ask if it makes sense for you to do it or if you're better off hiring someone else to do it. We have to recognize our skills and get others to do those things that would cost us too much time and energy. Some things are better done by professionals we can hire or even family members we can get to pitch in. Learning to delegate and "farm out" chores is essential to getting any significant job done.

3) Identify what arerepparttar 106216 most important tasks you need to get done FIRST and then do first things first. Balance is also necessary here because things like exercise and maintaining personal relationships must be priorities. I schedule these right into my day. I print out my to-do list and refer to it often to avoid getting sidetracked.

4) Learn to say no when appropriate. Realize that with this system you can do much more inrepparttar 106217 same time but, there is a limit to what you should obligate yourself to do. Don't get intorepparttar 106218 habit of taking on more obligations than you can possibly accomplish. As you get known online you will soon discover yourself being asked to review numerous websites, ebooks, and pieces of software. Politely decline when you have all you can currently handle. This allows you to focus and get more tasks actually completed!

After masteringrepparttar 106219 discipline required, organization is a MUST. I have one primary tool that keeps me extremely organized. It's a piece of software calledrepparttar 106220 Internet Information Manager. If you have ever spent half an hour sifting through emails looking for a url or password you'll find this tool an answer to your prayer. If you have ever searched frantically for an email so that you could intelligently respond to another email, you will appreciate this tool. If you have ever tried to rememberrepparttar 106221 name of an individual, website, or ezine associated with a particular project, you'll absolutely love this tool.

Time Management

Written by Richard Lowe


Wondering whererepparttar day has gone? Still not finished with work even though it's nine at night and you were supposed to go home at six? Here are some tips to help you manage your time better.

Take brief walks - I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but one ofrepparttar 106207 big secrets to effective time management is simply talking walks. You see, little emergencies and crisis's can suck up your attention, focusing you on unimportant (yet seemingly real and significant) details. By talking a brief, five to ten minute, walk now and then, you can give yourself time to clear your thinking, drive outrepparttar 106208 cobwebs, and refocus your attention on what is important.

I always make sure to schedule meetings for one hour, then finish ten minutes early. I use those ten minutes to walk outside, stroll aroundrepparttar 106209 parking lot, just breathing deep and looking atrepparttar 106210 clouds and nearby mountains. Believe it or not, this adds hours to my productivity every day, because it clears my thinking.

Delegate - If you are a manager or supervisor, you must, must, must delegate. This cannot be stressed enough. As you move uprepparttar 106211 management ladder your job becomes more and more getting others to do, and less and less to doing it yourself. Managers who do things are NOT managing their time effectively.

Delegate authority - Allow people to make decisions. This is a great way to get more done with less effort. For example, is it really necessary for you to have to personally approve every single purchase? Perhaps you can just set guidelines (likerepparttar 106212 office manager can spend a certain amount per month on supplies) and not worry aboutrepparttar 106213 details of what's ordered, who it's ordered from and so on.

Do NOT bypass people and do not allow yourself to be bypassed - You've got a job and you've got some authority. Do not ever allow someone to go around you to get something done, and don't, unless you have no choice, go around another. Why not? Let's say you are a supervisor, and your boss hasrepparttar 106214 habit of giving orders to your people. Guess what? You are not doing your job, and your boss is not allowing you to do your job. Insist (gently) that your boss allow you to do what you are being paid to do - supervise. If you allowrepparttar 106215 office manager to decide what to purchase, then don't tell her what to purchase.

For example, If you have vendors selling to you (and you have authority to purchase), do not ever allow them to go to your boss to override your decision. If they do makerepparttar 106216 attempt, warn them ONCE. Onrepparttar 106217 second time, fire them and find either a new salesperson or new vendor. IF YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, THE SALESPERSON WILL KNOW YOU HAVE, IN REALITY, NO AUTHORITY.

Prioritize - Sometimes it's too easy to get fixated on small, unimportant details and projects which don't matter to anyone. Other times someone will claim something is critical, yet in truth it is not. For example, in my business we get told some computer problems are critical and must be fixed immediately. After all, a program is broken and causing problems, so it must be fixed now. On examination, I'll often find thatrepparttar 106218 bug has been inrepparttar 106219 system for years, and my attitude is if something exists for years, it's not a crisis to change it.

Prevent frequent interruptions - Probablyrepparttar 106220 biggest time waster of all arerepparttar 106221 people who insist on approaching you and starting a discussion. Here's what happens. You are working on a project, brilliantly puttingrepparttar 106222 finishing touches on that proposal. Someone walks over to your desk, interrupting you, and asks for your advice. Before long, you've been distracted from your proposal for over thirty minutes. Your "friend" leaves, satisfied and happy, and you forget all about your proposal. The next day, you get chewed out by your boss because it's not done. Sigh.

The solution? Keep interruptions short and to-the-point. You cannot always just tell them to go away (that's considered rude) but you can direct them elsewhere. You can also tell them to send you an email with their comments or questions so you can get to it later, or you can ask them to schedule a meeting. Nine times out of ten, they will just go away and not do either - and if they do, perhaps it was important after all.

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