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Let Time Stop Managing You - Time Management in Your Small Home Business or in Your Freelancing Career
by Eva Gregory
Do
you often wonder where your day has gone? Does your "To
Do" list frequently have as many or MORE items on it
at the end of the day than it did at the start? Do you feel
overwhelmed and stress is becoming a familiar companion? If
this sounds like you recently, putting some time management
techniques to use should help alleviate the load.
Where to begin?
Examine Your Life And Determine How Important the Task at Hand is To Complete.
First, start by examining all of the components
of your life and determine how important it is to you that
each task or project be completed. This question alone can
be very empowering and definitely very enlightening.
What
would be the impact on your small business or your customers if the task were not done at all?
Is the
task something that really needs to be done, or is it something
that you feel should be done? Shoulds are a big No-No; they
just get in the way of important things. If you decide that
it is not very important that you get it done, I guarantee
that you have uncovered a personal "Ah-Ha" and probably
stumbled over a main road block. If it's something that you
can let go of, by all means do that. If per chance you feel
that you can't just eliminate the "should task" from your list all together, what if you set it aside to check
in on at a later date? Shelving it for a while may be just
what you need to take the step to eliminate it totally.
Next,
determine how inspired you are to do the tasks on your list
that remain.
Let's face it, there are many things in life
that are necessary and important but don't even end up as
a tiny 'bleep' on our Richter scale for inspiring. My bathroom
comes to mind. It being clean is both necessary and important,
but am I ever "inspired" to do so? Come on! So for
all of the things that fall into the uninspiring category
because you don't want to do it, it doesn't satisfy your spirit,
it's too time-consuming, etc., determine how it can still
get done without compromising YOU. Yes, I'm talking about
delegating! I love that word. When you delegate a task you
teach someone else how to do it to your satisfaction, are
willing to hand it off to them wholeheartedly, check-in with
them to see how things are/have progressed, and finally assess
the entire process. In short, hand it off and do not micromanage.
Micromanagement just makes double the work and double the
anxiety. Learning to time manage is about creating more time
and reducing anxiety.
Can You Find One Thing to Make Your Tasks at Hand Easier
Lastly,
really look at your list. What if, by examining all of the
things that you are trying to manage, you uncovered one thing
that could make many things fall into place? Let me elaborate.
I know that home organization is a nemesis for many. What
if, by taking the time to organize a house, I told you that
it could truly simplify many of the typical household / personal
management tasks? Okay, I can hear the comments of disbelief,
so let me show you how this works.
Deciding
to eliminate the clutter from her garage, Pam took an entire
Saturday to complete her task. Once she was finished outside,
she looked around and realized that she had enough room to
store some of the things that were taking up too much room
inside. So she continued to work on the entire house over
a period of two weeks, a little each evening after work. She
had a dining room, living room, kitchen, family room, office,
and three bedrooms. Working steadily, she organized the house,
eliminated as much clutter as she could, and threw out or
gave away the things that she knew she would never use. When
she was done, she felt wonderful and coming home was a pleasure.
However,
she discovered some incredible side benefits of her "house
overhaul." She spent less time doing just about everything
at home because everything was where she expected it to be.
She knew where her phone book was when she went to address
her birthday cards. Her spices and pantry were so organized
that she was able to quickly make a grocery list when it was
time to replenish items. Her bedroom dressers and closet were
so neat that she spent less time getting dressed because she
no longer had to iron each piece of clothing before she could
wear them.
This
is just one example of how organizing just one item on your
time management task list could literally free up hundreds
of valuable minutes each day and your small home business or freelance career.
When was the last time you looked
carefully at the list of things that are on your daily, weekly,
monthly, and annual to-do list? Are you creating or allowing
more stress than necessary in your schedule? I challenge you
to look at your list for this week and eliminate all of the "shoulds." I can't wait to hear the sighs of relief
that I know are forthcoming by week's end. Once you get a
taste of freedom, I can assure you that you will begin to
carefully monitor the things that will require you to spend
your precious time. You only have 86,400 seconds per day;
use them wisely.
Eva Gregory
Successful author, entrepreneur, speaker and inspirational
coach, Eva Gregory teaches new ways of being that leads to
taking action only from inspiration for a more fulfilled,
balanced and effective life. To learn more and find out how
Eva can help you, visit her websites now at http://www.FeelGoodGuide.com
and http://www.AbundanceAbounds.com
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All Freelance Work is a Community for Freelance Workers Including Free Portfolios, Job Search, Job Posting, Helpful Articles, Forums, & More for the Self Employed.
