How Organizing Your Time Can Save You Money
© 1999, by Harmony Major

Applying these ten proven time-saving tips can mean the difference between your Internet marketing and home business success, or a life-time of struggle to make ends meet! If applied effectively, these little gems can be some of your most effective money-makers.

(10) Do your least favorite daily activities first!

Don't put off those dreaded daily duties until last. Did you ever notice how fast you complete a dreaded task just to get to your favorite activities? Do hated activities FIRST so that you get them out of the way faster.

(9) Organize your work space.

How much time do you waste each day looking for a file, a disk, or an ORDER that you misplaced? My guess is, TOO much. Keep your work area organized to save time. When you get a few extra dollars, invest in a nice filing cabinet for your home office. You'll save more time, and you'll be eager to use your "new toy."

(8) Write out a daily "To-Do" list.

When you map out your day's activities, you'll get side-tracked less often by knowing exactly what you need to do. For example, if you run across a great promotion site while searching for ezines to swap ads with, bookmark it in a "Great Promotion Sites" folder that you can refer to AFTER you've finished your daily duties. Stay focused!

(7) Create a monthly or weekly "To-Do" list.

There are a lot of activities that can't be accomplished in a day, no matter how much we'd like for them to. Put these activities on a weekly or monthly "To-Do" list so that you won't forget about them, and so that you can gradually map out a plan to work toward those goals. Depending on the task, you may even be able to break your weekly or monthly duties down into a daily, step-by-step plan for easier, more efficient completion.

(6) Get an efficient, feature-packed email program.

If you're a half-way successful online marketer or business owner, you probably get more e-mail each day than you can keep up with. Use an e-mail program that will auto-filter your mail into user-specified folders. Not only will this allow you to quickly weed through your mail to find out what's most important and what's trash, it will save you LOADS of time in reading, responding to, and sending e-mail.

An excellent free e-mail program to try is Eudora, at http://www.eudora.com/products/eudora/download/

(5) Let friends and family know exactly when you're working.

Not only will this make for much less time-wasting interruptions, it will also improve your creativity and productivity. You think much clearer when you're not pre-occupied with worrying about when your roommate is going to come interrupt you to use the phone, or when your husband will start bugging you about dinner!

If you can't come up with a set working schedule each day, a simple "Working Do NOT Disturb" sign on the outside of your door will do. Believe me, I've tried it.

(4) Keep HEALTHY snacks, drinks, and other tidbits in your work area.

There's nothing worse than having to abandon a killer idea due to a persistent bout of hunger pangs. If you keep a few snacks like fruits, juices, and granola bars within arm's reach, you'll lose less time (and ideas) to those "natural disasters." However, don't keep too many snacks in your office or you'll run the risk of becoming a junk-food junkie.

Which leads us to our next time-saver ...

(3) Pencil yourself in ... to YOUR schedule!

Typical dedicated entrepreneurs can spend 12 hours straight at their computers, which is unhealthy both mentally AND physically. You're much more productive and fresh when you've rested a while. There's no milking a pooped brain for great ideas! And, if you spend that much time without taking a break, you'll become grumpy, tired, and in poor health (from all your meal-less days).

Don't skip meal breaks, bathroom breaks (God forbid), or "quiet time". Take some time out for yourself.

(2) If you're too busy to read ezines ... subscribe to a few.

"What? Is she crazy??"

Maybe. ;-) But seriously, don't become so "business-minded" that you forget how to have fun in your business. I thought the purpose of starting your business was to have more flexibility and free time for yourself? Never forget that.

So, subscribe to a "Joke-a-Day" or motivational ezine. Joke and quote ezines are usually short and sweet, and give you something to get into a more light-hearted mood. You'll be surprised at how much the quotes can relate to your personal experiences each day.

(1) Find a few dedicated, trustworthy, and reliable joint venture partners.

Don't take the long, slow, lonely road. Find someone with the same goals, dreams, and business themes, and find a way to co-op with them. You can cross-promote each others websites or ezines, exchange signature files, or anything else you can think of. Be creative. When you have help, the sky's the limit.

Good luck, have an excellent day, and much success to you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Harmony Major is the author of Yahoo! Secrets, where she reveals how YOU can drive HUNDREDS more visitors to your site each day, by getting a #1 listing on Yahoo. Don't just settle for "getting listed." Use her instantly-effective tactics to boost your site traffic with a TOP Yahoo listing! Visit: http://YahooSecrets.com

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