Poor time management thinking and action can undermine your best efforts. If you want to manage your time more effectively, start thinking about time management differently. You can begin to change your time management mindset by dispelling these 5 common time management lies.

Time Management Lie One - Time Management

That’s right… time management itself. What a big fantasy. In reality you can’t manage time. Everyday you receive 24 hours. You can’t add more nor do you get any less time. Erase time management from your brain and start thinking outside the clock. You want to organize the clock to fit your needs.

Sometimes the words time management can create mental blocks especially if you tried some type of time management in the past. Look at the meaning of the word manage: handle, deal with, control, cope, get by, make do, survive and direct. Now look at the word organize: put in order, sort out, arrange and systematize.

Which you prefer to do? Organize and arrange your time or deal with and cope with it?

I know I use the word time management, but that’s how people find us on the search engines. They think they have a time management problem. In reality it’s an activity problem. One of the first things I do when working with a client is shift their mindset from time management to "Thinking Outside the Clock" with organizing their time.

Time Management Lie Two - Working Harder

There is a rumor going around that if just work harder you can get more done. This same rumor perpetrates that hard work leads to wealth. The truth of the matter, if working harder supplied the answer, why do so many of us remain constantly busy but get very little done?

Time management operates on the philosophy of trying to cram more and more stuff into your calendar. You end up working harder trying to get everything done.

When my mentor told me to start working less, I thought her brain left her body. Imagine my surprise to discover that I didn’t need to work harder, faster, and put in long hours. I actually got more done working fewer hours.

Learn to use your time wisely. You will become more efficient and accomplish more without working harder.

Time Management Lie Three - Planning Take Too Much Time

Since time management myth two encourages you to work hard, long hours to get things done, it seems logical that planning would waste time. Wouldn’t you save time and get finished sooner if you just dove in and got started?

Studies show you get finish faster when you plan ahead. Planning ahead will allow you to stay on top of the situation! The 20-30 minutes you used to plan will not only save you time but money, worry and aggravation.

When you make planning part of your time management strategy, you begin with a good start. You won’t find it necessary to stop in the middle to get what you need, you get a better sense of how long something will take to complete and you can block your time accordingly.

Time Management Lie Four - Keep a To Do List

A To Do List by itself doesn’t accomplish anything. It simply reminds you of what you still need to do. It never ends. It probably grows longer and longer each day. The To Do List often turns out to be nothing more than a list of random intentional tasks.

The To Do List doesn’t allow flexibility in dealing with interruptions or how long it will take to complete the task.

The To Do List can undermine your self-confidence. You feel guilty when you can’t cross everything off your list at the end of the day. Traditional Time Management provides a solution to that problem; just move everything you didn’t accomplish to the next day’s list. Like that really helps.

When used correctly, the dreaded "To Do" list can turn into a highly effective time management tool.

Time Management Lie Five - You Need a "Time Planner" to Manage Your Time.

I receive this question quite often "What’s the best planner to use to manage my time?" The answer: The one that works best with your personality. What a cop out right?

Let’s go back to Time Management lie One. Remember you can’t manage your time. You get 24 hours and the end of the day it’s gone. And if God decides to give you another day, you will wake up with another 24 hours.

A Time Planner is used to organize what you do with your time. You either waste it or wisely use it. The true purpose of a planner aids you in using your time more wisely by organizing your activities.

It doesn’t matter if you use Outlook®, Palm® Pilot, Day Runner®, Franklin-Covey®, Planner Pad® or any of the other numerous band names out there or a legal pad of paper.

Time organizing begins with altering your mindset about the way you view time in general. Put time to work for you by applying Thinking Outside the Clock™ techniques. A great place to start begins with dispelling these time management myths from your life is with our complimentary eCourse… 10 Time Management Strategies to Gain Control Over Your Day and Profits.

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Who couldn’t use some time management tips in dealing with email. Email can drain your time and productivity. But if you’re an email junkie, you may need more than time management tips to gain control.

• Do you check your email first thing in the morning before doing anything else and make your cup of coffee while it’s downloading?
• It is the last thing you do before going to bed?
• Do you check you email at least a thousand times during the day?
• When you hear the words, "You Got Mail" does your heart flutter and your adrenaline gets going?
• Do you sign-up for every ezine, report, mini-course but rarely read them?
• If you don’t check your email for one day does it send you into a panic?
• Is some of your email growing mold because it’s been in your inbox too long?

Okay let’s face it… email is addicting…boy does it pile up fast! If all that email in your inbox was in paper format, you could probably create a stack high enough to climb to the moon.

Email is both and blessing and a curse. So how do deal with email effectively?"

Try These 5 Strategies to Help You Gain Control Over Your Inbox and Increase Your Productivity

Close Your Email.

Don’t have your email open all day. Close it. You won’t be tempted to stop what you are doing when you hear those 3 words, "You Got Mail" or your "new mail" alert. For the Junkie this is hard. But believe me, you’ll survive.

Dedicated Email Time

Set aside designated time slots to open and answer email. I set aside 3 half hour blocks during the day to deal with email. Some days I need the full one and half hours, other days I don’t. I’ll use that extra time to clean out email.

Use Folders

Create individual ones for your ezines, mini courses etc. Configure the filters so these items will automatically download into their folder. Your urgent message are more noticeable since they aren’t mixed in with the your subscriptions.

Going Beyond Folders

I love Gmail and Thunderbird. Thunderbird can manage multiple e-mail and supports multiple identities within the accounts. Using Gmaill, I created email accounts for my coaches, social networking, receipts, membership sites, ezines etc. In Thunderbird, I get the choice to either make an email account part of the default email or individual. By choosing individually, each email account is listed separate in Thunderbird menu. I can configure each email account to my preferences.

Now I don’t need to download all my email to view new messages in the "priority" accounts or reply. The latest edition of Thunderbird automatically configures your Gmail accounts. I found this approach saves me a ton of time.

Use a Spam Filter Software

I like Mailwasher, that gives you control over which email to receive. This software lets you preview the messages while they are still on the server. It also marks potential spam and blacklisted email. Just by looking at email addresses you can determine friend or foe and delete from the server without ever downloading it.

I discovered this was a great way to preview friendly mail before downloading it. Many times I was able to obtain the information needed without downloading and opening it in my email box. This is has been a big time saver and helps keep the email down in the inbox. http://www.mailwasher.net

Good news: You can become a reformed email junkie using these tips.

What time management strategies work for you when it comes to email? Why not share them in the comment box below.

Due to a major problem with event confirmation emails arriving 24 hours after the event… I’m doing this telecall again…but even better… Morgana Rae - "The Money Magnet Coach" is interviewing me for this TeleCall…

Rumor has it she’s really good at pulling out "hidden" secrets… good chance you’ll walk away with even more secrets.

Tired of "Too Much To Do"?

Feel Like You Never Get Caught Up?

Not Getting Big Projects Done?

Juggling Between Family, Friends and Business Time Leaves You Feel Exhausted?

Procrastination Takes Over More Then You Would Like?

Discover 5 Secrets You Can Use Now to Get Yourself Out of Overwhelm

• How to deal with too much to do
• Controlling interruptions and distractions
• A trick to stay focused
• Simple way to prioritize
• Enjoying "Me" time without guilt

EVENT: 5 Secrets to Getting Out of Overwhelm
DATE & TIME: Join me this Monday Sept 15 at 2:30pm Eastern Time
11:30am PT / 12:30pm MT / 1:30pm CT / 2:30pm ET
FORMAT: Simulcast! Attend via Phone or Webcast — It’s your Choice

Most business people believe the philosophy that time = money. How often do you hear time = money?

Let me ask you a question… When did time ever write you a check or give you money?

I don’t know about you but I’m still waiting.

If time no longer = money, what does?

Relationships = Money

Relationships are the Key to Success in Business

The greater the number of relationships you build for your business, the more visibility it gains. Visibility in turn can generate a larger customer base. Don’t start you panicking and wonder how you will handle all those customers.

Just stay with me… no slipping into time management mentality right now.

All the checks I receive in my life come from relationships. It relationships that produce more results and with more results you can buy more time.

The Relationship Formula

When you apply a Thinking Outside the Clock mindset to your business you can use a R=M³ relationship formula.^TM

Relationships = More Clients = More Money = More Time

R=M ³

You can buy more delegation. You can buy new capabilities. You can buy what ever you need to take care of your expanding client base.

Social networking provides an excellent vehicle to make new relationships for your business. Everyday new social networking site open up giving you endless choices on where to network.

Relationships take a major time investment. They don’t happen overnight. It can take months to nurture a relationship that will give your business massive exposure.

Social networking can get overwhelming especially when trying to keep up the other stuff you need to do in your business… not to mention in your life too.

Right now you probably see a flood of information on to use social networking to market your business. Oodles and oodles of tips, strategies and methods you can use rake in social networking cash. If you already feel overwhelmed now, when do you think you will find the time to read and learn how to use them?

Social Network Formula to the Rescue

Social Network Formula puts you back in control of your social networking activities.

Truth… Not all relationships are created equal. Wouldn’t you like a way to identify the relationships that will continually marketing on your behalf?

You want to allocate more of your time to these the relationships. Relationships with a high R.O.T.I.^TM Return on Time Investment

These better relationships produce better results which allow you to buy even more time. When you reach this level you compounded the result of the R=M ³ relationship formula.

The time you invest in social networking to build relationships will eventually pay off with more money and more time.

The Social Network Formula show you how to create simple systematic 90 Day plan to help your identify the social networking sites and individuals worthy of your time investment. You use this timeless plan over and over again.

If want to avoid Social Networking Time Drain and Overwhelm, develop an action plan for your relationship building efforts.

Remember: You are just one relationship away from an incredible opportunity… a marketing buzz… major recognition for your business.

Side Note: Social Network Formula course launches tomorrow… for those who are early action takers, you can take a 60% discount while I finish adding the material to the site.

The other day I made this comment on Twitter: "Why can’t product creation be like microwave popcorn… done in 2 minutes." Apparently many others were feeling the same pain.

How would you respond? Entrepreneurs are rarely lost for product ideas…. no wonder turning all our ideas into products in 2 minutes appealed to many people.

@AmyMiyamoto made this comment: "Yes,yes, I totally concur.. wouldn’t that be just a grand windfall? Just think of how many you could produce in a day?! ;)"

Nothing wrong with Amy’s comment. She responded the way most people do when given the opportunity to reduce the time do something. It’s not her fault. We’re conditioned to think this way when some new technology comes along promising to increase productivity and efficiency and free up our time.

I proposed Amy look at it slightly different… to Think Outside the Clock… Instead of looking at how many products she could produce in a day… but rather how much time it would free up for her to enjoy or do other things in life.

Amy replied " it’s an excellent way to look at it."

Technology originally was suppose free people from the pressure of the clock to perform at breakneck speeds. Increase the leisure time to enjoy time with friends and family, doing things you enjoy and even working fewer hours. Yet some how technology didn’t deliver the promise of more leisure time but instead often keeps you working at frantic pace.

Don’t blame technology… Blame Time Management mentality. It’s the mentality of doing more and more and cramming as much as possible into your day.

There is still nothing wrong with Amy’s response. With a different mindset about time, Amy can consciously choice how to use the "Microwave Product" Technology. She can crank out many products in a day or finish a product in 2 minutes and enjoy the rest of the day.

If you want to discover the "Thinking Outside the Clock" mindset, try our free online class "10 Time Strategies to Gain More Time and Profits at moretimenow.com

PS.
Amy’s a pretty cool tweeter, so if your on twitter, start following her. http://twitter.com/amymiyamoto

The Art of Time Blocking can bring control and balance in your life.

What exactly is time blocking?

You allocate designated 15 minute time blocks for specific activities or tasks throughout your day. During that time block, you stay 100% super focused on the task at hand. No multitasking.

The most I can stay focused is 3 time blocks or 45 minutes. Since this time requires high concentration, I schedule these blocks during my peak energy times. Each day will consist of 2-3 super focused zones of high profit activities. This is one of the best time management strategies my mentor Margaret shared with me.

When one of my clients applied this strategy, he was amazed at what he got accomplished. He increased his productivity by 33% not to mention his income too.

Always set your timer when entering a super focus time block. Using a timer keeps you more focused and deters you from engaging in multitasking. You may find it difficult to stay 100% for 15 minutes, especially if you fancy yourself an expert multitasker.

If you desire to complete a project, try time blocking over the next 5-7 days. Stay 100% focused on the activities for the project. Share how much you actually got completed.

I’ll bet you’ll astonish yourself.

Time management really is a problem for a lot of entrepreneurs. They have so much they do themselves — everything from the mundane to the important and it can simply overwhelm you.

Make the most of your business hours, using these 7 fast time management tips to help you manage your business day.

1. Create an action list that goes one step further.

Whether the night before or first thing in the morning, make a list of what you want to accomplish that day. But make the list useful by prioritizing it according to what has to be done and what can wait. Rank your actions by priority… when needs to completing first, second etc.

2. Bundle your tasks.

You can bundle certain chores together. for example set aside a time block to return and make all your calls That will help you avoid task jumping

3. Don’t forget the children.

If your children are home during the day, plan around them. With thoughtful planning, you can juggle children and a business in the same day.

4. Just do it.

Don’t procrastinate over something you need to do and stress out about it, just do it. Usually the time spent stewing and brewing is often longer and more stressful than just digging in and getting the job done.

5. Plan around you peak time.

Are you a morning person? Use that time for more creative duties, such as writing or business planning, product creation. Save your sluggish time for stuffing envelopes, emptying your email box, filing and other less brain-taxing tasks.

6. Carry work with you to take advantage of time gaps.

Bring materials with you. If you need to wait 10 minutes before an appointment, you can punch out a quick thank-you note to a customer on your laptop, or even just update the status of all your current projects.

7. Include relaxation or activity break.

Forget the superman syndrome of trying to function on all cylinders from daybreak to dusk. Make down time part of your overall time management strategy. Even a few minutes spent staring out the window can recharge your batteries.

Time management in reality is activity management. How you manage your activities makes all the difference.

Only 20% of what you do will produce 80% of your results. I’m talking about Pareto’s 80-20 Rule… which goes against traditional time management methods.

The 80-20 Rule or Pareto’s Principle was discover by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. He noticed a natural imbalance that greatly effect everything in this world… your life… your business… everyday.

He noted that 20% of the worlds population enjoyed 80% of the wealth but soon discovered this law of nature appears everywhere.

Just think…. only 20% of what you do produces your desired results… the other 80%… may not count for much… waste of your time and efforts.

A Simple Time Management Strategy

Time management is simply the process of identifying and concentrating on activities that are important to you, and identifying and eliminating activities that can be dropped.

Traditional Time Management focuses on cramming and adding stuff into your day. It feeds the employee mentality need to always appear busy working hard at one’s ‘real’ job. Not a good idea for the solopreneur.

When a business experiences success, the owner starting drowning in the Multiplicity of Stuff Syndrome. The solopreneur really feels the effects of this syndrome. Not only are they the CEO (chief executive officer) of their business… they are also Chief Everything Officer.

They spend more and more of their time on that 80% that isn’t producing results or profits.

Adding the Blonde Factor to This Simple Time Management Strategy

Divide All Your Activities Into Four

1. high-profit activities
2. high-reward activities
3. low/no profit activities
4. low/no reward activities

20% of your time devote to the high profit/high reward activities - Working ON your business

80% of your time devote to the low-no profit/low-no reward activities - Working in your business

Following this strategy enables you to continue growing your business profits while dealing with day to day stuff of running your business.

	Ann Rusnak - The Time Diva Entrepreneur Time Strategist
Ann Rusnak, guides frazzles, frustrated solopreneurs to gain more control and confidence. Discover how you too can get control over the clock with her free tips and strategies at http://www.Just15Minutes.com Connect with me at: Twitter Facebook

All your time management efforts will come to a screaming halt if don’t control interruptions. You need to get tough about your office space especially with summer around the corner. If you lay the ground rules now, maintaining them throughout the year will be easier.

First, you need to respect your time. Treat it like your most valuable asset. Until you respect your time, nobody else will either.

Establish set business hours. Those business hours create an "invisible" boundary between home space and office space.

Try to choose a room with a door for your office. Put your office hours on the door. Close the door when you work on your identified high profit actions. Not all homes offer the luxury of an extra room for the office.

When I first started my business, the office was in an open area that naturally invited interruptions. I printed a sign with my business hours and another with "Mom at Work." When the Mom at Work sign showed up on the desk, it meant "don’t even think about coming into the office space, talk to me etc". In other words, "Don’t Disturb" me.

Even though my office now has a door, sharing the space with hubby presents a new set of "interrupting" challenges. We came up with non-verbal ways of letting each other know not to disturb while working. I use the "brain" stress reliever toy. If my "brain" is sitting on the desk corner, it means don’t talk or ask questions etc.

You may need to hire a babysitter for a few hours to watch the children so you can devote a few "concentrated" hours on high profit activities. For older children, look into some type of day camp. Allyce plays cello and loved going to the Cleveland Music School Settlements’ summer music camp.

If you know another home office person with children, you can do a "swap" watch. Once a week, agree to watch each other’s children for a couple hours. This will give both of you at least a couple hours of total uninterrupted time each week.

Treat your business seriously. If you treat your business like a hobby, so will your family. Your family will take clues from you on how to react and behave about your home office business. It will take some training, but let your family know the consequence of the lost money they cause every time they interrupt you. And don’t forget to also let them know when they experience the benefits that resulted from the uninterrupted time.

	Ann Rusnak - The Time Diva Entrepreneur Time Strategist
Ann Rusnak, guides frazzles, frustrated solopreneurs to gain more control and confidence. Discover how you too can get control over the clock with her free tips and strategies at http://www.Just15Minutes.com Connect with me at: Twitter Facebook

What is Your Time Worth?

This important time management strategy will prompt you to start thinking about the value of your time in a different way.

When you know what your time is worth, you can quickly determine whether or not something is worth doing yourself, pay someone else to do it, or simply not do it at all. Once you calculate your real dollar value, you can better understanding how much interruptions cost you in business.

Once you know your true value of your time, you can move towards better time management.

Let’s calculate your worth using a familiar formula. Flip Your Time System makes taking days off a priority so we included those in our example calculation.

First Time Worth Formula:

1. You want to earn $100,000.00 this year.
2. You decide to make Saturday and Sundays your Rest and Relaxation days.
3. You decide to take a 2 week vacation
4. You will take off 118 days for the year
5. This leaves 247 days to work your business.
6. You decide you will work only 8 hours a day
7. You multiply 247 x 8 hours giving you 1976 hours a year to work.
8. Divide $100,000.00 by 1976 = $50.61

You need to do $50.61 an hour to make your target figure. Sounds doable…

But there is a major flaw using this formula in determining your worth.This formula is based on eight hour workdays.

Reality… no one works eight productive hours every work day. Productive means doing “high profit/ revenue generating activities. Don’t confuse money fulfillment activities with money making activities. A common mistake many entrepreneurs make.

How much of your 8 hours consists of doing stuff activities? How time do you spend doing paperwork, answering email, talking on the phone, surfing the internet and other assorted stuff activities. Stuff activities fall into the low-no profit zone. These activities don’t earn you income.

Second Time Worth Formula: More Realistic Number:

This time formula starts out the same.

You want to earn $100,000.00 this year.
You decide to make Saturday and Sundays your Rest and Relaxation days.
You decide to take a 2 week vacation
You will take off 118 days for the year
This leaves 247 days to work your business.
You decide you will work only 8 hours a day

Let’s add the reality component

2 hours a day for productive activities (money making/high income activities)
6 hours a day to non-productive activities (stuff/low-no income activities)

Productive hours = 494 a year

Divide $100,000.00 by 494 = $202.43

Your time is worth $202.43 per hour

Write this on a card: My time is worth_________ per hour and post this in front of you… put it on post it notes… keep this number in front of you at all times.

Applying this time management strategy will effect how you spend every hour of your day.

Use it help you eliminate or delegate tasks or activities that do not match up to the value of your time. Use this number to make decisions and determine pricing a project, product or service Apply this number toward assessing your return on investment on marketing activities.

Answer these questions to determine if the way you spend your time is worth $202.43 or what ever figure you calculated

• What is the cost of when you let other people and interruptions to take up your time?
• Are you wasting time with clients that drain your time?
• Can you think of some ways that you are wasting time?
• How much time are you spending on low paying tasks that keep you from doing you high paid activities?
• More importantly, what value do your bring to the marketplace in exchange for your time worth?

This time management strategy will increase your profits if you use it effectively. Share your thoughts.