Running any business requires discipline, and so, before you determine that you can’t live by a schedule, just take a moment to consider what happens when you don’t…

Chapter 4: Scheduling: making the most of your time

The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule is a common ratio used to determine performance versus resources.

It is based on the general assumption that you use 80% of your resources (time, money, skill) to achieve 20% of your performance. The opposite is also true – you use 20% of your resources to achieve 80% of your results.

Nobody can expect to be 100% productive 100% of the time.

We all have our most productive times of the day, as well as activities and abilities that are the most productive for us, in term of the money that they generate.

Armed with this information, you must now take those most productive times of the day and schedule your top producing activities into those times. Then, make the completion of those tasks a priority.

In this way, you’ve already attained one of the ‘holy grails’ of every internet marketer – that is, working smarter, not harder.

The ‘To-Do’ list

The ‘to-do’ list is not just for list making junkies.

If you find that tasks are not being accomplished on time or even forgotten, then you need a ‘to-do’ list.

Any of these free software programs will help you in this:

http://fp.futuresights.com/~angstrom/todolist.html

http://www.dextronet.com/swift-to-do-list-lite.php

http://www.coolmoonsoftware.com/

How detailed you make your list is up to you, but every task that you need to accomplish should have the following recorded with it:

• When does it need to be completed?

• How long will it take to do?

• How important is it?

• When will I do it?

At the end of every day, sit down and make your list for the following day.

Then, prioritize the tasks on that list according to importance.

Be realistic with your objectives, and give each task at least 50% more time to complete than you originally think it will need.

In this way, you will know that as soon as you start your work day you will know exactly what needs doing and when.

If you have booked some uninterrupted time you should have no problem accomplishing your highest priority tasks.

Tasks that do not get completed will be reassigned for another day, delegated to someone else or removed from your list.

Get in the habit of creating a ‘To-Do’ list each day.

Prioritizing

Not every task can be completed in a day.

Your schedule will just become another ‘task’ in your day, unless you learn to prioritize.

Prioritizing ensures that what NEEDS to be done is done first.

When you find that something needs doing, add it to the list.

Number the tasks on your list so that number ‘1’ is most important and work down from there.

Take your top three priorities and schedule them into your weekly or monthly planner.

Write down your deadline (always a few days earlier than is actually the case) and block off time to get it done.

If your task requires collaboration with others, schedule that too. You may have to make some appointments and it is important to write those down as well so that you don’t overbook your time.

After the top three priorities have been given their spots in your schedule, start adding the others.

Always schedule the most important tasks first.

Make sure that your schedule leaves enough time to manage day-to-day activities like reading email, returning phone calls, moderating blog comments and so on.

Again, allocate 50% more time to finish each task than you think necessary.

Each day will now have a list of scheduled activities that take into account the priority of individual tasks.

Use this to create your daily ‘to-do’ list.

Keep low priority tasks in their place.

As you see your schedule filling up with high priority tasks, you will need to make some decisions about your low-priority tasks.

If you have scheduled low-priority tasks into your day but have had to move them onto the following day’s to-do list they will quickly become bigger and more of a priority, as you continue to put them off.

One way to prevent this is to use the ‘one more task’ philosophy.

Every day, try to do one more task than you planned or scheduled. Just writing one more blog post or creating one more article will keep these tasks from becoming daunting.

You can even decide to outsource the activities that should be delegated.

Dealing with and completing these seemingly minor tasks keeps your work moving along. If, on the other hand, they are ignored, it can cause a huge interference.

Minor issues quickly become major ones if not dealt with in a timely fashion.

You will be negating the positive effects of time management by not dealing with these issues right away.

Conclusion: More than a schedule…some final thoughts

Goals, action plans, to-do lists and schedules will all combine to help you make the most of your time.

But there is something else you need to do, and only YOU can do this.

You must commit.

What does commitment mean?

It means that you must WANT to take charge of your time.

You must understand the value of the hours in a day and you must want them spent in the most productive way possible.

Handled correctly, this means that you will get your work done early and produce better quality. You will spend your time as YOU decide and your personal life will be spent focusing on your family and friends instead of your work.

Some simple ‘success secrets’…

• Don’t waste your time.

• Don’t wait around or pursue time consuming activities that give you little benefit. Don’t let phone calls, e-mails or online ‘chats’ interrupt your work flow.

• Save time by getting and using the tools that are available to you – Statsdash, Timejar, an autoresponder like Aweber, online organizers and to-do list creators, and so on.

• Prepare and Plan.

Nothing wastes time like lack of direction. Plan your goals and activities and prepare others for your expectations. Expect delays and plan to have extra time to accommodate them.

• Know Your Work Habits.

Find out when you work best and work during those hours. What activities affect how productive you are? Watch for and get rid of habits that are unproductive. Delegate or remove tasks whenever possible.

• Be a Problem Solver.

• Complaining wastes time. Find a solution or find help and get it done.

• Get the Hard Work Done First.

• Don’t procrastinate. Start with the difficult work first, so you can relax with the easy tasks. Work that remains undone will drain you of energy and slow your progress.

• Review Your Progress.

Compare what you have done with what you planned to do. What worked? What made you feel good? What could have been done better?

• And lastly, remember that busy does not necessarily equal productive.

You don’t just want to get the work finished, you want it done right.

You don’t need to complete EVERY task, just arrange for someone to deal with the tasks you don’t want to do or decide that they do not need doing.

You will be judged on how well and timely your work was done, not by how many hours you worked.