Management, Balance & Time - 10 Tips for Managing Overwhelm in your Business

How many of us have been in a position where we have more to do than can realistically fit into one day, or week. So we spend all of our time feeling rushed, being rushed, and wondering how on earth we are going to manage. If you are having that feeling of overwhelm in your business, it’s time to take stock of what’s going on.

How well you manage yourself and the time you have, is crucial to your success. Wasted time equals lost opportunities. Lost opportunities equal lost business and profits.

Time can’t be “saved” – it’s an impossibility. You can’t find more of it – it’s a fixed commodity. You can only manage your activities as time passes. So how are you spending the 60 seconds in each minute - the 60 minutes in each hour - the 1,440 minutes in each day?

What you need is to achieve is working on your top priorities in the most effective way. Here are 10 great strategies for doing just that.

What One Thing

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the most important issue was in their business. Hundreds responded with a variety of answers, but one of the most common was, "How do I get everything that needs doing done?"

Happily, I have an answer for this question, but like many things in life, it carries both good news and bad news. The good news is, if you are one of those fortunate few with access to unlimited resources, you can get everything done.

But that's really the bad news, isn't it.

Because among all the people I know - not a single one of them - not one - has access to unlimited resources. Even executives I work with whose budgets run into the hundreds of millions - even they do not have unlimited resources. Even they have to make choices and trade-offs.

Earl Nightingale once asked the question, "What one thing would you do if you knew you could not fail?" And Jack Palance's Curly in City Slickers, asked a similar question: "What is the one thing?"

Their questions contains seeds of the answer to this quandary.

Working Hard at Smart Things

"Don't work harder, work smarter."

If someone tells you that, watch your pocket-book-they are likely about to ask you for a lot of money for the magic "smarts" that will earn you millions.

Here's the reality: Success comes occasionally to those who don't work hard but work "smart," but almost everyone who succeeds takes a different tack.

They work hard at smart things.

Accept that as your "work ethic" and you will likely be successful. Work hard as well as smart.

We love to hear stories about people like Brad Fallon, who is now well on his way to earning $1 million his first year online. We fantasize about what that must be like.

But here's the part we often forget: Brad and his wife Jennifer worked very hard as well as very smart to get there. Just the shear number of orders they had to process was a huge chore.

The Top 10 Ways to Overcome Procrastination

When a person is bored or uninterested, certain tasks and projects can seem like torture! This feeling usually leads to procrastination, and procrastination often leads to guilt. Here are some practical ways to avoid these situations and overcome procrastination:

1. Recharge Daily Be sure to get enough sleep and rest each day so that you have the necessary energy you need to accomplish your tasks.

2. Get a Friend Involved It's harder to procrastinate when another person is involved. If you have a task you aren't looking forward to, invite a friend over to help you out. If you have errands to run, find a buddy who you can run errands with.

3. Reward Yourself You're much more likely to complete that boring task if there is a dinner out or a new CD waiting for you when (and only when) the task is complete.

4. Do Things in Pieces Procrastination often comes from feelings of overwhelm. Break tasks, even small ones, into steps so that they are manageable and provide you with a sense of direction.

What One Thing

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the most important issue was in their business. Hundreds responded with a variety of answers, but one of the most common was, "How do I get everything that needs doing done?"

Happily, I have an answer for this question, but like many things in life, it carries both good news and bad news. The good news is, if you are one of those fortunate few with access to unlimited resources, you can get everything done.

But that's really the bad news, isn't it.

Because among all the people I know - not a single one of them - not one - has access to unlimited resources. Even executives I work with whose budgets run into the hundreds of millions - even they do not have unlimited resources. Even they have to make choices and trade-offs.

Earl Nightingale once asked the question, "What one thing would you do if you knew you could not fail?" And Jack Palance's Curly in City Slickers, asked a similar question: "What is the one thing?"

Their questions contains seeds of the answer to this quandary.

Because all things on your plate are not created equal. They are not all important. They do not all have the same impact, the same dependencies, the same possibility of reward.

And even if you think they do, upon close examination you'll find they do not.

The trick of course, is to figure out the one thing that matters most...

How to Maximize the Value of Your Time

How is your business doing? Is it growing, stagnating or losing ground? If your business is not growing, it could be the result of a poor business idea or plan, a lack of advertising, or the mismanagement of your business' resources.

Let's face it. Running a successful business enterprise is not the easiest thing to accomplish.

Your struggles could be the result of factors beyond your own control or factors within your control --- your own actions and decisions.

FACTORS OUTSIDE YOUR OWN CURRENT CONTROL

If your business is stagnating or dying, there are several factors that could be the cause of your current financial discomfort:

· Your local economy could be suffering stagnation or negative growth.

· Your competition might be fiercely competing for your customer base.

· Local residents might see the building, into which you have signed a lease, as the home of businesses that fail, so they will not support you until you have proven your long-term viability.

· You could be in a terrible location and trapped by your lease.

How to Maximize the Value of Your Time

How is your business doing? Is it growing, stagnating or losing ground? If your business is not growing, it could be the result of a poor business idea or plan, a lack of advertising, or the mismanagement of your business' resources.

Let's face it. Running a successful business enterprise is not the easiest thing to accomplish.

Your struggles could be the result of factors beyond your own control or factors within your control --- your own actions and decisions.

FACTORS OUTSIDE YOUR OWN CURRENT CONTROL

If your business is stagnating or dying, there are several factors that could be the cause of your current financial discomfort:

╥ Your local economy could be suffering stagnation or negative growth.

╥ Your competition might be fiercely competing for your customer base.

╥ Local residents might see the building, into which you have signed a lease, as the home of businesses that fail, so they will not support you until you have proven your long-term viability.

╥ You could be in a terrible location and trapped by your lease.

Working at Home and Time Management

Time management and organisation is so important in life and when it comes to working at home it is doubly important. As a matter of fact Time management, oganistaion, schedules are all prominent in any successful organisation.

Time is the one thing that we do not have enough of it is the one thing in life that is constant. Time will wait for no one so we have to utilise it the best way we can.

It makes no sense to try and cram everthing in to a short space of time because it will become counter productive. can you imagine a plumber trying to make a deadline of finishing 3 days work in one day. His work would become sloppy he would make mistakes then he would have to go over the job again.

So really the answer to the question of not having enough time is organisation, writing schedules and keeping a diary. This is vital for a home based entrepeneur!

Organize Your Time

Most people want to start a home-based business to make more money to supplement their income. The issue though, is finding the time to make this happen.

Most people are busy, with family, an existing job, and the general feeling that there are not enough hours in a day. However, extra time to start a home-based business project can almost always be found. It may mean giving up or changing a few of your favorite pastimes, like watching TV but if you become successful with your home-based business project, you will have all the time you want for doing whatever you want to do.

The first thing you need to do is take inventory of your daily schedule. What time do you wake up? Then step-by-step, list everything you do each day. Most people will find that they have about three hours each day that can be utilized in a more constructive or efficient manner. As noted above, you may have to give up a few television programs you watch, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Organization Tips That Add More Hours To Your Day

One of the most common complaints that small business owners have is lack of time. What most don't realize, however is that their lack of time stems from a lack of organization. But with a few simple tips - that you can implement immediately - you can literally add hours to your day.

--- Putting Things In Their Place

A Day in the Life

This article is all about you.

But it's going to tell you a lot about me. Let me explain:

On a daily basis I am asked to contribute to the latest "How to Make Money Online" book. Sometimes the requests are a little odd.

The other day I was asked to write a couple pages about what my "typical day" looks like. I thought the request was interesting-but I never realized how much it would say about why you MUST have an internet business of your own.

So, I began looking at how I spend my days. (Stick with me here, you'll see my point in just a second.)

I get up between 4:30 and 5am. I don't use an alarm (haven't for 20 years), It's just when I get up.

Accessing Your Own Wisdom

"Let nothing come between you and the light." -Henry David Thoreau

Sometimes I spend quite a bit of time working with my clients on personal productivity issues like time management, prioritization, and effective systems. We do this because it is much easier to achieve work-life balance when we are productive! Having a sense of accomplishment helps us to more easily shift from our work to our personal lives when we feel the need to do so.

One piece of personal productivity strategy that often gets overlooked is that sometimes to do more, we need to do less. Much less. As in nothing. Some call it down time, others call it recharge time and others call it meditation. It doesn't matter what you call it or what form it takes for you. The key is to quiet your mind and be open to the surprising breakthroughs that can happen. I do some of my best strategic thinking when I am doing non-mind engaging activities -- running, yoga, cooking, walking, cleaning my house, doing dishes, journaling. Basically, anything that is routine enough to be done almost automatically. I have noticed that if I can manage to take my brain out of the fast lane for a minute or two my creativity and my ability to creatively solve problems become reinvigorated.

Stay In Charge of your Time

Are you in charge of your own time?

Think about what you did last week at work. Were you in control of your time? Or did it seem that your time was being controlled by those around you? Are you pleased with what you achieved, or do you think you could have done more if only you hadn't been constantly distracted from your main task?

Did you decide what you did and when?

If not, then it is time to get a grip on your timetable.

A New Day-A New Look at Time Management

You can maximize your potential by changing how you manage your time and setting new goals each day.

"Carpe Diem" a latin word which means "Seize the Day". In other terms you can either waste a day or use it for good.

We who are in this race for FREEDOM should be encouraged to know that in an ever changing world that demands new ideas, new ways of doing things, new leaders, new methods of teaching, new inventions, new methods of marketing, new books etc. but behind all this demands for better things there is one quality we must possess and that is...

....the knowledge of what one wants.

How much time out of 24 hours do you devote to:

(a) Your Profession
(b) Sleep
(c) Play and Relaxation
(d) Acquiring useful knowledge
(e) Waste?