Archive for time management
Are You Suffering From Information Overload?
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On the internet, books, self help learning courses and tutorials are abundant. You can find all types of different topics, related to home based business to learn about from time management and networking to having the right mindset and technical techniques.
I am one who loves to learn. I ooh and aah when the latest courses and books come out that interest me and you might do the same. As someone who works from home I know that there is a lot of competition out there and I try to expand my knowledge by learning all that I can.
However there should be boundries, even when it comes to learning. Too much of a good thing can be bad.
You might ask yourself how can learning ever be bad?
Learning can be bad when:
It causes you to suffer from information overload. Which simply means there is so much for you to learn that you wind up feeling frustrated, more confused than when you started and overwhelmed. Because of this you accomplish nothing.
You don’t know whether you are coming or going because you are involved in so many different courses that you really aren’t learning anything. You’re not applying what you learn because each course is telling you to do something different and you don’t know who to listen to or where to start.
When you have so many self help books on your bookcase and harddrive that it would take you years to read them all.
When it causes you to be unproductive in your business because you don’t have time for anything but courses and ebooks on various topics and strategies.
When it hurts you financially because you are addicted to buying the latest book, video set or membership.
In this industry it is all too easy to get caught up financially and overloaded with information, especially when you are new.
Learning is a good thing because it expands the mind, storing the information to help you to apply what you learn at a later date. But, you’re only learning if you have time to take in and process the information. You can’t take out (apply) what you never put in.
Now I don’t want to deter you from learning because I am huge on learning and bettering oneself but I do want you to think before you get involved. Don’t just buy because you think it’s the hottest thing or everyone else is doing it. It doesn’t help you one bit if you never take the time to absorb the information.
Investigate: Figure out what the course, book or video tutorial system is about. Can it help you to get further in your business? Does it apply to you? Is it something you are really interested in learning? If you can’t answer yes to these questions, then move on to something else.
Take the time to investigate to see if the system or course is a scam. Are there many satisfied or disgruntled customers? If the course is brand new, take a look at some of their past products. Do their customers feel that it is worth the money, do they rave about the product overdelivering or do they feel that it is shoddy and not worth paying for? You can save yourself time and money by doing a little investigating.
You will also want to factor in if applying the information is within your budget. For example, it’s pointless to buy a book on PPC if you know that you can’t afford to pay for pay per click advertising. It would be more to your advantage to wait until you can to purchase a pay per click advertising informational product to learn about it in depth and instead buy something that you can immediately put to use, which is the whole point of learning something.
Why buy it if you can’t apply it? If you are just curious, find articles written by reputable authors instead of wasting money on something that can’t help you.
Everything isn’t for everybody and that doesn’t mean that the information is bad. It just means that it’s not for you or not for you right now. Your situation could change and what you might not be ready to learn or may not have time for could easily fit into your schedule later, so don’t feel bad if you don’t have the time right now.
Use moderation: You may find that there are numerous ebooks and courses that can help with the niche you are in. If you buy an ebook or two or three actually read them before going on to buy number four, five, ten and twenty.
I am big on reading and I love to learn and improve myself. I now take time to think before I invest in a tutorial system, ebook or online course because I have been guilty of purchasing too many books or courses without having enough time to implement them all.
Now I ask myself the before mentioned questions before purchasing. I give myself a day or so to think about it after I decide that the information it contains can help me, sometimes I take longer than that because I want to be sure.
If I still feel strongly about purchasing I do but if I feel like it isn’t so important to me after all, I don’t. If I decide at a later date that I have the time I can always get it later.
I don’t have a problem learning more than one thing at a time but I have always been that way. I can read several books at the same time without losing track or getting mixed up but everyone isn’t that way. Some can only concentrate on one thing at a time and that’s perfectly okay.
Know yourself and figure out how much you can handle. Even though I can handle more than one thing at a time it doesn’t mean that I can handle 10 or 20 things at once.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Take bite sized chunks that you can handle and move on to more once you have completed when you were learning.
No Is A Good Thing So Whip It Out.
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Many times the word no is viewed in a negative light. Many don’t want to hear the word no because it usually means that they cannot do something that they want to do or have something that they want.
When raising our children we teach them the word no so they will know when something isn’t ok for them to do, have or say. In fact it is usually one of the first words they learn because they frequently hear it.
When it comes to running a business, the word no can become your best friend. How can that ever be since no has such a negative connotation attached to it?
The word no can help you to be more productive in your business and personal life. You may feel that you are being pulled in more directions than you can handle, leaving you stressed and confused. Whip out the word no and the confusion or stress ceases.
You realistically may not be able to get involved with every project, joint venture or opportunity that piques your interest. When you are being pulled into so many different directions you can’t really follow any of the paths to the end. You won’t be as effective in whatever it is you are doing when you take on too much.
All of us vary with different amounts of what we can handle. If you are feeling frazzled and burned out, chances are you are taking on too much. You need to whip out your no and slow down some. Concentrate on what is most important and branch out from there once you are on the right track. This is true in life and in business.
We can’t do it all. We can do some things some of the time but we can’t do it all, all of the time. If we want our business to grow successfully, we need to take the time necessary to nurture it. In order to do that we must have goals and stay focused on them.
Sometimes we have to say no to joining a new business, buying every new learning course that comes out, hanging out with friends frequently during work hours and any other distractions that will keep us from our main goal. There is a time and place for everything. Figuring that out will help keep you on the right track and headed towards success.
You may have friends and family who want to talk on the phone all day or just pop over unannounced for a visit, and you might not be able to concentrate on the work you need to do. A successful business requires work.
You have to whip out your no and let people know that while you want to be there for them, it can’t be during your working hours unless it’s an emergency. No work equals no money, so think before you abandon it.
You also may have to whip out your no when it comes to being fair to your homelife. You can’t expect to be able to work 24 – 7 if you have a family to help take care of. You might not be able to take on every project you would like to and maybe sometimes you have to turn things down and pick and choose your opportunities. That is perfectly okay.
You have to strike up the right balance between your life and your business so neither is neglected. The word no can help you to do that. No is a good thing when it helps you to become more productive.
Are Time Eaters Munching Away At You?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have ever played Pacman the video game then you know that Pacman goes around the board eating the dots until the screen is clear and then goes on to the next level.
Visualize Pacman as all the things you do in a single day and the dots as your time in a twenty-four hour day. The next level will represent a new day.
Pacman goes around gobbling all the dots over and over as long as the ghosts do not reach him. So the more he eats the more the dots disapear.
Imagine if there were three, five or even twenty Pacmans on the screen at once. How fast would the dots disapear.
Now think about your day. How many Pacmans or time eaters do you have eating at your time, gobbling until there is none left and it is time for a new day.
Many times people say there are not enough hours in the day to do all they want to do. How many of the things you in a day are really necessary?
Do you waste time doing the same mundane task over and over instead of scheduling a time to do so and then moving on to the next task?
Make a list of the things you do. How many of those things need to be done daily or hourly. Figuring out the answer to this question could save you much time.
Many times we create our own anxiety over an issue and feel we have to do a task more than we really need to.
For example if you blog, do you really need to create a new blogpost daily or could you write a few in advance and schedule them to show at an appointed time?
Sometimes we waste time because we did not do what we should have already done. Hence the statement, the lazy man or woman works twice as hard.
If you work a nine to five and cook dinner daily, how much time do you think you would save if you had keep your kitchen clean and orderly alleviating the need to clean before you can cook and having to hunt for ingredients?
Other times the problem could be too much of something we enjoy.
Do we really need to talk to our friends every hour on the hour?
Do we have to watch every show in a series marathon?
Evaluating what we do against what we need to do can banish some of the time eaters in our lives.
“PAC-MAN” is a video game that was released by Namco Bandai Games (then called Namco) in 1980. http://pacman.com/en/about
To Your Success,
Alice Coaxum
Make The Best Of Your Time With A Schedule.
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Manage your time effectively.
Time is one thing that we cannot save for later. We simply cannot go back and use leftover time. Once it passes it is gone so it is best to use it wisely while it is here.
If you find that you are having trouble trying to fit everything you need to do in a day, week or even a month then a schedule may be just what you need.
To best maximize the time you have you need to first figure out everything you need to get done.
Start by creating a monthly schedule that covers Sunday through Saturday and has the days broken down by hours.
Then you will want to block out times for sleeping, bathing and dressing, hair styling and make up and fill in daily meal times. These are set times that you will not be available to do anything else so by filling these in first you help ensure that you do not make a mistake with scheduling your time.
Next you will want to write everything down that you need to get done in a month. Include Dr. appointments, work, exercise, meal preparing, studying or reading and any other activities you participate in.
If you work from home you may want to even break down a list of all the activities you need to do to work from home and place this on the schedule as well. This list will vary from person to person.
Having a schedule can keep you from scrambling to get things done and getting overwhelmed.
Now you need to give each item a number from one to ten, prioritizing each activity. Those labeled from numbers one through five are the items you want to put on your schedule first, things that must be done on a daily or weekly basis.
Finally place the items from six to ten on your schedule. Some of these activities may be things you only do every two weeks or even once a month so schedule accordingly.
Be sure to schedule time for relaxing and spending time with your spouse, children or family.
Do not feel bad if you accidentally go off schedule from time to time. Life happens and sometimes the day does not go exactly as planned and you may even have to go back and revise your schedule, but if you are having trouble getting things done a schedule can be a great tool to help you stay on track.
To Your Success,
Alice Coaxum
