One of my favorite books is The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. The first chapter of the book is titled “Time Management Secrets of Billionaires”. As a business owner and mom of 7, managing my time is of supreme importance! The six main points are:
- Touch it once. If you open that email to read it, answer it! If you don’t have time to reply, why open it at all? You will just have to go back and read it again.
- Each day make a list of the top 6 things you can accomplish that day.
- Plan how much time you need to allocate to each of your 6 items never using more than 6 hours in an 8 hour day.
- Schedule your time. Especially if you work from home. The temptation is that you can do it at any time as you set your own schedule. The reality is that if it is not scheduled, it does not get done. (Tip: Schedule your family time also!)
- Prioritize. Do the tough things first. Do the things that take the longest, that require the most effort first. Getting that big project out of the way will make your whole day go by faster. If you leave till the end of the day, it will seem like the day never ends.
- Throw things out. Clutter is not for successful people! Clean your desk. Clean your computer. If you don’t need it, get rid of it!
I heard this once and wish I knew the source… but my final tip is: Unless you need to make money to pay the mortgage, close it up at 5:00pm. Remember your family IS the reason WHY you do what you do! If you wait till tomorrow to enjoy them, it may be too late.