The system calls for extreme organization and a lot of discipline. It's NECESSARY for me. This is 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.

First 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 to 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. If email contains a gem for an article or post, make a note in your organizer or even make an online post. If 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 with information. Making and acting on that decision once is an amazing time-saver! If you don't do this, then you have to go through exact same decision process next time that you examine 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 are 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 in same time but, there is a limit to what you should obligate yourself to do. Don't get into 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!

Take brief walks - I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but one of 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 out 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 around parking lot, just breathing deep and looking at 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 up 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 (like office manager can spend a certain amount per month on supplies) and not worry about 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 has 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 allow 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 make attempt, warn them ONCE. On 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 that bug has been in system for years, and my attitude is if something exists for years, it's not a crisis to change it.

Prevent frequent interruptions - Probably biggest time waster of all are people who insist on approaching you and starting a discussion. Here's what happens. You are working on a project, brilliantly putting 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.