Secrets To Managing Your Time

Actually, there are so few secrets nowadays because of our access to the Internet that you’re probably wondering what amazing revelation I’m about to reveal.

But if we have such ease of access to this “secret”, why is it that so many people complain that they can never finish any task.

And this isn’t restricted to business.

I know people who try and do so many different things in their personal life in one day and, come the evening, they’re wondering where the hours went and why there are still so many things not done!

But let’s focus on business and in particular, building our online business.

I believe that a majority of people don’t recognise the difference between building an online business and passing the time online.

A decision is taken to “make money online” but then this becomes a continuation of emailing your friends, sending tweets, updating everyone on Facebook and nothing is ever achieved.

You need to choose a business model, plan how you will implement the model and then put it into action.

The first two parts of that statement are subjects for another topic but let’s address putting into action what you have planned, because this is when you need to manage your time.

With a clear plan of action it should be simple to move forward.

But because of sociological changes in our lives, our attention span appears to be decreasing. Therefore when we start to take action, we are constantly sidetracked by ideas popping into our heads.

We have thoughts such as, “I’ll just make that phone call to arrange…(whatever)” or “Time for a coffee before I carry on…”

And the result is that a simple task ends up taking two, three or four times longer than it should and often we’ll put it off until “tomorrow“…which never comes.

I’m faced on a day-to-day basis with a number of different tasks, both in my role as a Customer Support Manager and an Internet Marketer in my own right.

For the latter I have my “to do” list with each item prioritized according to my monthly/weekly goals. It’s therefore easy to identify which tasks have to be accomplished on a daily basis.

But as a Customer Support Manager, I have to attend to support tickets and email queries as and when they come in.

It’s important to note here that these are not personal emails (unlike your personal email account). I’m paid to respond to these queries.

So I need a structure to my working day that allows me a level of flexibility.

And for me, The Pomodoro Technique does that.

What is the goal of The Pomodoro Technique? To quote from the report, “The aim of the Pomodoro Technique is to provide a simple tool/process for improving productivity…“.

“The Pomodoro Technique was created with the aim of using time as a valuable ally to accomplish what we want to do the way we want to do it, and to empower us to continually improve our work…”

Although it’s a simple concept, it did take me a little time to put it into practice

There were probably too many distractions when I first started using it 😉

And the great thing is, you don’t need any fancy equipment to use this technique. A pen, a few sheets of paper and a kitchen timer!

If you struggle to manage your time effectively, go take a look at The Pomodoro Technique. (You can download a soft copy here.)

You could find you have time on your hands.

How do you manage your time?

Let me know by leaving a comment below.