The Problem of Time Management

If you already manage a home based business, then you are also probably aware of how it can consume most of your time. Most likely, this happens against your will. After all, there are probably many things that you want to do with your time, such as spending time with your spouse and your children, going out with your friends, listening to music, reading some books, or what not. And yet, the task of managing your home based business seems to take up all of your time. What can you possibly do?

What was described in the first paragraph is a classic example of a time management dilemma. Millions of people, not just home based business owners, feel that they are not in complete control of their time. This tends to make people miserable, since most people want to feel in control of their lives. After all, what is your life but a measurement of your time? As long as you are unable to spend your time in a manner that you wish, you will never be truly happy, no matter how much money you earn or how many accolades you receive.

Managing Your Time Properly

Set your priorities. The cardinal rule of time management is this: Set your priorities. In life, there is probably nothing more important than setting your priorities, since they will set the stage for just how much time you will spend on each area of your life. You must clarify in your mind exactly what you want in life, and determine to spend more time on those things that you feel are most important.

In the immortal words of Goethe, “Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.” If your home based business is the most important to you, then it is only right that you use most of your time on it. But if it isn’t, you should begin to scale back on the time you spend on it. You can either 1) get someone else to do the job for you; or 2) scale back on the amount of work you are already doing. Remember: You own your home based business; it doesn’t own you.

When you work, work. Time management gurus tell us that most people don’t really work all the time that they work. This means that they may be putting in 8 hours at work, but they’re not really working for all of those 8 hours. They may spend an hour here chatting with officemates, another hour there for lunch, and another utterly distracted. This causes work to pile up and problems to surface at a later time.

To avoid this, work all the time you work. While you should definitely take creaks whenever you need them, make sure you are not kidding yourself and taking more time than you need to. By focusing on the task at hand, you will get it done quicker and with less effort, freeing up more time for the other things you want to do.

posted by Chris Simpson