time-management

Time Management: 3 Steps To Multiply Time And Profits

When you hear the word entrepreneur, your first thought might be Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Daymond John or Susie Ma. These are high level entrepreneurs that saw opportunities to solve problems and make a lot of money. They built capital, created products and services, that are unique and became very wealthy.

The ideas in this article are some of the ways high level entrepreneurs succeed. Have no doubts that if you are a new entrepreneur or even a solo business owner-putting these seven time management ideas to work…will advance your business to new levels.

Some of the ideas can be incorporated immediately, while the others, such as the ones with software or apps…will require a bit of research and decision making.

Set Your Business Goals

Are you 100% clear on what your business goals are? You need to get your new business off to a flying start. Or if you have been in business for awhile and there have been issues, it may be due to not seeing things, crystal clear.

Consider having a self-improvement goal as part of your business goals. Self-improvement will strengthen the other areas of your goal setting. Get a mentor or a coach who has the experience in the areas of self-confidence, self-esteem or creating a new mindset around achieving success in business.

You need to set income goals and keep track of everything. The most basic thing is having monthly, quarterly and annual income goals. If you want to be a high functioning, successful entrepreneur, think about tracking everything daily in a special spreadsheet. You could have a daily income goal and keep track of every dollar that comes in and what you spend on your business daily.

Stop your internal negative dialogue. When you have lofty business goals, sometimes you end up talking yourself out of something that if you stuck to it…would be ultimately successful.

Hannibal saw the mountains and basically said, “we will either find a way or make one. Leading thousands of soldiers and elephants over a mountain range, Hannibal had an extremely positive mental image of himself.

Have a great idea for something that will make you $10K a month? If you start to balk, just take the first few actions and as you see success, put your foot on the accelerator and get up to speed.

Internal negative dialogue or “stinky thinking” as it is also called, destroys dreams and ambition. You can overcome that and build an awesome business.

Define The Tasks That Will Help You Achieve Those Goals

When you have a business idea and want to either start it or add it to your existing business…you need to define your tasks. This is where you put on your strategic thinking hat and write out the who, what, where of what the tasks are. Questions to ask are things like:

Who will help you? Do you have a team already that has the skills to get the new business up and running, then turn it into profit?
What exactly is the business? Make a business plan. Add mind maps.
Where will you conduct this business. Decide if you have enough space. Do you need to upgrade?
How long will it take to get this business off the ground?

When you are a solo venture, the tasks will be slightly different. Let’s look at the example of someone who runs a social media business for a medium size start-up.

Some of the tasks for this person to reach their goals might be:

Getting traffic to their website, to gain new clients.
Getting new testimonials constantly to show they are on top of their game.
Studying and trying new methods to gain followers for their customers.
Learning the best of copywriting to create awesome Twitter/Tumbler/Facebook posts for their customers.
Creating lists for different tasks and tracking everything from sales, expenses, cold calls for new business and new supplies for the home office.

Writing out the tasks and adding time to complete dates will help save time and achieve your goals.

Plan

There should be an action plan with clear time frames, deadlines and who should complete those tasks. Use project management tools as Asana, Basecamp or Trello.

Everyone needs a plan. And the entrepreneur always creates the best plan, while putting together an amazing team. It is a case of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the team members.

With that knowledge, you can decide the best person for a task, set the deadlines, the goals and of course the rewards. With technology today, project management tools help the entrepreneur keep everything on track. Let’s look at three outstanding tools now.

A) Asana allows you to assign projects and then see on the righthand side of the app, who has the project and what stage they are currently in, such as just started or completed. You can chart your course for smooth sailing through the entire project. In Asana, there is a feature called, “Timeline,” where you can see the flow of work and where it is being passed to the next team member for their actions. There are over 100 items you can integrate into Asana, such as emails and all pertinent files.

B) Basecamp works in the same way and has features to remind people when a task is overdue. One thing that bogs any business down, is endless meetings. With Basecamp, it eliminates the need for time wasting meetings as everyone on the team can log-in and see where the project is at.

Basecamp states that 59% of meetings have been cut out by its users. Basecamp is simple to use and there is no steep learning curve, so anyone can jump right in. Basecamp is great for multiple projects, since you can pull them up all onto one screen and see the status.

All conversations on inline and this elimates that annoying re: factor you get in traditional emails. Cut down on the number of apps you normally used in projects, because in Basecamp, all notifications are in one spot.

C) Trello works on a board system, where all aspects on your projects are listed on individual cards that you can glance at. You can view a card like, “research,” and jump in with a comment or attach a file that will assist in the research end of the project. If your team is already using apps, you can incorporate those right into the Trello card to maximize productivity.

Check out the apps that you feel will power your business by clicking the link below:

https://asana.com/

https://basecamp.com/

https://trello.com/

OK, there are 3 steps you can use to multiply time and profits. However, there are 4 more and if you want to get all 7 in a handy report, then click on the featured resource below to download a free report that you can read at your leisure 🙂

5 Ways To A More Balanced Life

We all know that it can be difficult to have a good work-life balance. It isn’t always easy to strike a balance between a happy boss and a happy family, but there are some simple things that you can do both at home and work to enable you to find that balance.

Because this is so important, it has been covered by groups like Mental Health America, Web M.D., Forbes, and Business News Daily. Now you could Google all this information yourself but this article will condense all this information into 5 quick and simple tips that will enable you to create a more balanced life.

1. The Power Of Routine

One of the first things you should do every day is produce a to-do list and order things in priority. Doing this allows you to focus more of your energy on the most important tasks for the day and by using a simple checklist that you can refer to, you can quickly see what you have managed to accomplish druing that particular day. Having a daily routine can ne a quick way to reduce work-based stress and you will accomplish more so your boss will be happy too; a win-win situation.

You can also use the power of routines at home as they are a quick way to let everyone know what’s going on and when. But don’t forget that you need time to unwind and relax, so don’t be afraid to give yourself and your family some valuable downtime just to chill out and unwind from the stresses of the day. And this downtime is the perfect time to come together as a family and bond, so you will all feel even closer, so pleasae don’t neglect adding this to your routine; it is critical for your family relationships and will bring you all closer together.

2. Make Use Of Technology

Technology is so smart these days, so if you are sick, your children are sick, or the commute will be extra-long due to weather or outside circumstances, then make use of it to work remotely from home. Use Skype for conference and video calls, and this way you can still provide your employer with what they need while giving you some breathing room.

3. Learn to Say No

Most people are just downright uncomfortable with saying no at work but the problem with this is that it results in you taking on too many tasks, working overtime, and becoming increasingly stressed about not being able to get it all done. If there’s a job you know that you won’t be able to get done on time or that you are not suited for, be prepared to say no. You may be surprised at how well this is received by your employer.

You also need to be able to say no to social and home life events that could end up being too taxing as well. Do you have social obligations that are just too draining? Perhaps they don’t allow you to spend enough time with your family in the evenings. Cutting back on these social engagements will help you to have more family time and restore balance.

4. Learn Your Employer’s Policies And Know Your Rights

Learning leave, vacation, sick, and disability policies are paramount. Also, learn what telecommunication systems your company has in place. If there aren’t any, you may need to ask. This will alleviate any stress if you need to use vacation or sick days or if you need to telecommute.

If you have children, it may be beneficial to learn their school’s policies too. Knowing the procedure for turning in sick notes, calling out for the day, or showing up late can save a lot of headache for all of you!

5. Communicate

Let your employer know what’s going on. Let them know where you’re at on individual projects, if you’re going to be on time, ahead of deadline or behind on schedule. Communicating these vital elements to your employer will help you both as they know where you are and can allocate assistance if required and this can reduce stress for you too; just be honest.

Communication at home is probably even more critical than at work, especially if you are married with kids! Make sure you that everyone knows what is going on with you. And conversely, it is good to know what is going on with everyone else.

Why not have a family meeting once a week to discuss upcoming events, anything that is causing stress or friction, things that may need planning and other elements of life that could cause stress if not well planned? This simple act alone may help you to find that balance between work and home.

OK, so there you have it;these five simple steps can really help you find some balance in your busy life. Do you have your own ways that you use to strike work-life balance that weren’t on the list? If so, good for you and keep to them if they are working for you and your family.

Is Your Time Management Is Out Of Control?

“Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.” – Michael LeBoeuf

Do you usually feel overwhelmed with all the tasks included in your to-do list?

Are you struggling every single day to meet your deadlines despite putting in a lot of hard work? Do you end up double booking or forgetting appointments because you never had the time to go through your schedule first?

Were there important projects that were overlapped by the smaller “fires” that need your attention? These, my dear friend, are symptoms that your time management is going out of control.

At one glance, it might seem like all tasks listed on your list have equal importance and urgency. But with just several minutes of your time, their differences will quickly become clearer once you learned how to determine your priorities then start organizing and executing around them.

There are many cases when people are all too excited in managing their time in the hopes of allotting enough for everything that they end up neglecting the more vital things and putting more effort and time on those that are not of great importance.

Identifying and deciding what is the most essential is one skill that you can develop with a mindful practice. Every person in this world has his or her own unique set of goals, responsibilities, and duties and no single formula is working for everybody.

To have an effective setting of priorities, you need to understand first your personal dreams and roles. What are the duties of your job? What kind of commitments do you have to the community and your family? What are your long term professional and personal aspirations? How do you plan to move toward them? Once all these things have been clear to you, it will also become easier for you to define your life’s priorities and set your time to make the most out of it.

Because of all this I’ve been on a time management and prioritization drive lately. Poor time management and a lack prioritizing tasks costs money yet I think it’s also one of the easiest things to fix in your business. You just have to open your mind!

Why make running your business or life any harder than it needs to be, right?

So, what you really don’t have the time for these days is NOT GUARDING your precious time. Each minute you waste is a minute you’ll never get back. As a small business owner, I don’t always know where to go to get the best resources or to find the best answers; does any of this sound familiar? Because if it does, you really need to listen to the team at NAMS. They are some serious time hawks. They get more done in an hour than most people do all week long.

How do they do it? Well, luckily for us, they have recorded a video presentation explaining exactly that and right now we can get access for free. This was a special presentation given to their membership group so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go away very soon so take the time to have a look before they take it down and let’s make 2018 our most productive year ever.

To watch the presentation, click here: http://warr.us/4TTAff and let’s become more productive this year 😀

Managing Time

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” ― William Penn

Time Management can be a rather misleading phrase. While science fiction has been rather fixated on the subject of managing time via numerous ways, like the idea of time travel, not one person on this earth can really manage time. As a human, the only thing that you can hope to attain is to successfully manage your life’s events in the most efficient way possible for you to have adequate time left for other things that you need to accomplish. Time is the one that manages itself, in every sense of the word.

Was there ever a time in your life when you wished for more time? Did you ever want time to pass even more quickly? There are instances when time seems to fly while on other times, it seems to be dragging. You often hear people complaining how their time at school or work is dragging, while the holidays just pass by all too quickly.

These illusions are merely the effect of how a person reacts to different emotions and environments because whether you like it or not, nothing will change the fact that one day is always composed of 24 hours, no more, no less.

According to research, once the human brain is engaged in numerous activities, it experiences a reduction in the ability to notice how time passes. Conversely, when your brain has less stimulation, it tends to focus on keeping tab on time passing.

Time management is almost as good as safeguarding your money. You protect your money, aiming to use this in the wisest way possible and avoiding any waste. You budget. You balance the money you earn with the money you spend. And just like money, your time is also a limited but valuable resource. This means that the skills that you will need for managing your time is the same with those required for money management to be successful – planning, management, as well as self-control.

By learning good skills in time management, you will have better chances of controlling your time, with the primary goal of improving your life. Furthermore, this improvement must reduce the levels of stress in your system and heighten your energy levels. Through proper time management, you can maintain or come up with the perfect balance between your family, personal and work life while still possessing the flexibility of responding to new opportunities or surprises.

Clearing Your Internal Clutter AKA Lets’s Get More Productive!

Do you ever find yourself frozen in time, having spent hours in front of your computer and not being able to account for anything that you have actually done! C’mon be honest

If you have found yourself spinning your wheels, it could be for numerous reasons. Either you were trying to do too many things at once, or you were concentrating on insignificant tasks and putting off the work you really need to do. Often, as entrepreneurs, we take on too many things, and since we are only accountable to ourselves in the short-term, many times we don’t finish any of them.

What’s your routine? When you get to your computer, what you do first? Do you check your e-mail, Skype, log into messenger, or answer calls? Unless there’s something urgent that you know is pending, this is probably a waste of your best time. The problem is first, these all seem like natural things to do. You want to know what’s going on. Second, these have
probably become habits, and they feel comfortable and even make you think that you’re accomplishing something.

But to quote Dr. Phil, “How’s that been working for you”?

If you’re like most people, you might not be as successful and productive as you’d like to be. The first step to changing that is to admit it, but unfortunately it can also be the hardest.

But be brutally honest with yourself; are you where you want to be? If the answer is no, why not? You need to take the actions daily that move you towards your goals and one way to gain (and keep momentum) is to be productive when you are working on your goals and not wasting time.