Time management is important for any business but it is also important to know exactly what it is you are trying to achieve when you set out to wisely and effectively manage your time. For example, do you need to interact with more customers per day, write more content, or update your websites in a more timely manner? Someone famous once said something like, “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” While this statement is true for almost any aspect of life, it is certainly true for the Internet marketer as well.
Set Reasonable Goals
The time for time management techniques and strategies isn’t when things are falling apart; the time for time management is every day. But first, before you decide how you will manage, or schedule your time, it is important to know what it is you plan to accomplish and when. If you concern yourself with proper time management techniques before you even start your business, you will be well ahead of the game.
Since there are so many aspects of Internet marketing, you will likely have several important things on your agenda that you need to accomplish. Instead of setting aside the afternoon to update your blog, set aside a specific amount of time to do each task and notice the difference between the time you allotted for the task and the time it actually took to complete it.
What is Stopping You?
Everyone gets interrupted from time to time but it is extremely important to return to your task as soon as possible after the interruption. Also, it is important to make note of what kinds of things are interrupting you. If it is the telephone that is constantly interrupting your work and the calls are not business related, you might want to think about not answering your phone during working hours and making time after hours to return personal calls.
When Work Interrupts Work
Maybe one aspect of your work is taking more time than you thought and is preventing you from completing another aspect of your work. This happens more than you might realize and is perfectly normal. This is when you need to sit back and assess how much time various tasks are taking to complete and adjust your schedule accordingly. Part of effective time management is being able to tell when something isn’t working and being flexible enough to adjust your schedule or even the way you do things.
Perhaps you need to hire some extra help or let something else go altogether. One of the mistakes beginning Internet marketers make is trying to do too many things. Then they wonder why customers stop coming to their website or websites when the answer lies with how they are managing their time and their business.
Be Flexible
Internet marketers that spend all their time creating websites and almost none of their time updating them may be disappointed to find that traffic comes to a grinding halt after a while. Web surfers and customers are looking for relevant, fresh content and marketers who don’t devote the necessary time to update existing websites may be sorely disappointed in their revenue.
Effective time management is a skill that is learned over time. No one gets it right the first time and in order to make the most of your time you will need to be flexible while keeping your original goals in mind.
Individuals who own their own businesses often have a lot of flexibility when it comes to which hours and days to work and how many. Many Internet marketers work out of their homes and some of them choose to work in an office outside of the home. Wherever you choose to work, be aware that it is easy for your personal and professional lives to clash when you are your own boss.
Internet marketers can easily become workaholics, especially those who enjoy what they are doing. Because virtually anyone can become an Internet marketer with little or no startup capital, it often takes many hours of hard work before any profits are realized. This can take a toll on the Internet marketer’s personal life and cause professional burnout as well. Effective time management skills can not only be good for your business, but they are essential for your personal life as well.
That’s why it’s so important to manage your time wisely so that work isn’t spilling over into your home life and vice versa, especially if you have a spouse or partner who is not a part of your business. While you may think you have to work sixteen hours a day to get your business off the ground, it is important to balance both your home and work life, especially if you work from home.
With laptops that can go virtually anywhere, it may be tempting to take your work to the kitchen table, to bed, and to the family room while the family is watching television. Making a practice of this, though, could cause resentment in the family so it might be wise to establish regular working hours and have a part of the home that you can claim as your workspace. If you’re able to have an office in the home, that is best, but many Internet marketers start out in the corner of the kitchen, living room, or bedroom. Wherever your workspace is, try to keep your work in that area so that when you are interacting with other family members, it is clear that you are not working. While you will need a certain amount of flexibility, by practicing strategic time management skills, you will have the time you need for your business and for your family.
It is important for the Internet marketer to have the support of his or her family when possible and you will probably garner much more support if you don’t let your work overtake you. Try to keep regular working hours and let work go during your off hours. If you do find that you have to work extra hours in the beginning, sit down with your family and explain what it is you need to do and ask for their support. Most importantly, make time to be with your family even if you just walk out of one room and into another. Share your goals with your family but be available to them after working hours just as if you had a conventional job. By separating your personal and professional lives, you’ll have more peace in both.
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