Sometimes one of the biggest challenges I find when sitting at my computer is actually getting things done.

Well I get things done, but not necessarily anything productive or things that are income generating

(Checks and ‘likes’ 17th Facebook status update)

You may have a plan to build a website, promote it with adwords, do some split testing and all those good things. Then you sit down at your computer and start to read your e-mails and before you know it you start looking at the special offers, start buying stuff, start  going through the training… you know what I’m talking about ?

We’ve all been there…

And now with the advent of instant messaging and Skype things have only got worse.

I have wonderful clients all around the world and I’d love to chat for longer but you have to be ruthless with your time sometimes.

I find the best thing to do is write a To Do List.

On paper.

I tried trello, I tried my phone To do lists. I tried all other types of organizational/ time management software.

But nothing seems to beat a note pad and some pen and paper.

At the start of each month I decide upon a monthly plan, A weekly plan, and a daily plan.

It helps to have a kind of target to work towards and that makes life easier.

I know that my monthly plan is to build say 10 affiliate websites or to get 10 signups and that is what I can work towards. Then when I sit down on a Monday morning I will write a to-do list for the day, that way I will not waste my day on forums, reading sales pages of products I probably won’t buy, and chatting on Skype!

When you have a to-do list for the day it’s amazing how much work you can get done. I can usually get twice the amount of work completed when I have a clearly laid out to-do list for the day.

And don’t overwhelm yourself with your to do list! 3 – 7 tasks is more than enough! A day.

I would rather feel good about achieving 5 good tasks completely than having 10 tasks in my head before I get to bed.

Your monthly to-do list can be sort of a target, things you would like to get done this month but I find that the daily to-do list of things that I’m definitely going to do that day is the real driver.

The weekly and monthly To Do List I use mainly to keep focussed on what my objective is for this month, I find it really easy to get sidetracked by the hundred of other things that come in during the week and demand my attention, you know the little “dramas” that take place, fixing things that have gone wrong and that shouldn’t have……

The little things that creep up on you and steal your time away…..

Time Management Made Simple

The most important part of Time Management is how you use that scarcest resource you have, scarcer even than money, to achieve your own objectives.

And that’s Time.

Managing Time and those annoying interruptions that seem to take all day is fine, but you need to keep focussed on the Big Picture.

Time management isn’t really about Time if you really think about it.

Time management is really energy management.

You want to feel good about what you are spending your time on. You want to finish each day feeling like you’ve done the most of each given day. And you can’t do that if you’re always in reacting mode or even worse have no idea what you’re doing.

I think the best analogy of time is to see it not as an hourglass but as a compass.

Antique Compass

If you view time as a compass you will think of the direction your life is heading and where you want to go and then naturally try and decrease the gap.

If you do the right things you will get to your destination.

If you do the wrong things you will be running in circles. (Great for cardio but not much else)

Some important questions to consider

  • Where are you going with your life ?
  • What do you really want to achieve ?
  • Is money all you really want ? Once you’ve got it what then ?
  • Once you’ve got past the house, the fast car, the yacht, the holidays and got your golf handicap down – what then ?
  • Who are or could be or should be the really important people in your life ?

So the first step in Time Management is writing down what your goals and objectives are – yes write them down – and then stick them on the wall.

Next break them down into sub goals and easy steps – your route map to achieving your big goals.

Again write them down – stick them on the wall.

And now comes the really cunning part – whenever you feel bored, lacking enthusiasm, overloaded with minutiae and plain old cr*p – just look at the wall and ask yourself

“So what is the best use of my time right now ?”

and get on with it !!

It has worked just fine for me and it will work just fine for you….