Tweet

Time Management Strategy - Stop, Take A Step Back & Reevaluate

Written by: Wendy Hearn

Article Overview: If things are getting on top of you and you feel like there simply aren't enough hours in the day, it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your situation. With the pressures of modern life it is easy to lose focus on the goals that are genuinely important to us. If this sounds like you, it is probably time to stop and take a closer look at how you really want to spend your time.

Time Management Strategy - Stop, Take A Step Back & Reevaluate

If things are getting on top of you and you feel like there simply aren't enough hours in the day, it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your situation. With the pressures of modern life it is easy to lose focus on the goals that are genuinely important to us. If this sounds like you, it is probably time to stop and take a closer look at how you really want to spend your time.

I invite you to start this right away. Commit now to a time, perhaps away from your usual distractions when you can sit down and be alone with yourself and your thoughts. Then with pen and paper in hand, you can look at how you are spending your time now and how ideally you want to spend your time in the future. You need to discover your own motivation and turn it into a compelling reason to act.

Once you are clear about your own motivations, you will use these as a constant reminder in order to even out the ups and downs. These reasons will help you through the tough times or when you feel it is not worth the effort.

When you have gained a clear idea of your goals for the future and how you wish to spend your time you next need to look at how you are actually spending your time now. First of all you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What does my life both personally and professionally look like and feel like today?

• What am I currently spending my time on?

Write down everything that comes to mind. Think about your work, who you spend your time with, your living environment and your income. Also, try to pinpoint the things that are missing from your life as these will hold the key to your using your time more effectively in the future.

The best way to discover where you spend your time is by using a time log. A time log is a record of how you use your time, day in and day out. It is very important that you keep one so that you can see exactly where your time is spent.

If you do this even for just one week you will get a clear idea of how you really spend your time and will probably see some surprising results. Now, that you have a clear idea of how you want to spend your time and how you really pass the hours, it is time to compare the two.

When you do this you will most likely see huge differences between them. I appreciate this may feel daunting and I encourage you to keep going, you are already moving in the right direction.

You will see that change is required, sometimes big and sometimes small. Now you can begin to take steps to spending your time in a way that will make these changes come about. Start with the small things and set yourself realistic short-term goals. Basically, take it step by step. Continue to take small steps towards your goals and later you can move onto some of the bigger changes you may need to make.

Related Articles
  12 Steps Toward Greater Career and Life Fulfillment
  How Often Should You Contact Your Prospects?
  False Dichotomy! (If Anything, Backwards!)
  Let's get strategic
  What If You Stopped Trying So Hard?

Article Tags: closer look, constant reminder, distractions, motivation, motivations, pen and paper, spending my time, time log, tough times, ups, ups and downs



Related Forum Posts
No B.S. Time Management - A great book I read on Time Management is No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy.
Re: Your choice between... - I will take the $100,000 and double it on it becomes millions before I spend it. Though I am crazy about information, yet I would rather take the money and turn it into a million before I spend a dime out of it. I will do it in 4 steps. Step 1 turn $100,000 to $200,000 Step 2 turn $200,000 to $400,000 Step 3 turn $400,000 to $800,000 Step 4 turn $800,000 to $1600,000. After getting the goal of step 4, I will spend the $600,000 on myself then continue to double the millions again. I could then by the book for $1,000,000
Book: Secrets of Six Figure Women - Secrets of Six Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to up your earning and change your life Barbara Stanny, 2002 Jacket: Maybe you've noticed - a subtle trend is gathering steam. Quietly and steadily, the number of women making six figures or more is increasing, and it continues to rise at a rate faster than for men. From entrepreneurs to corporate executives, from white collar executives to free lancers and part timers, women are forging careers with considerable financial success. Through extensive research and hundreds of interviews, including dialogs with more than 150 high earners whose annual incomes range from $100,000 to 7 million, Stanny discovered that ...they all had certain traits in common: 1) a profit motive 2) Audacity 3) REslience 4) Encouragement 5) Self-awareness 6) Non-attachment 7) Financial knowhow She amplifies on these in the book itself. Table of Contents Intro: Welcome to the era of the six-figure woman 1. The Queen in the Countinghouse 2. The Lowdown on low earners 3. Raising the bar 4. Strategy 1: The Declaration of Intention 5. Strategy 2: Letting go of the ledge 6. Strategy 3: Get in the Game 7. Strategy 4: Speak Up 8. Strategy 5: The Stretch 9. Strategy 6: Seek Support 10. Strategy 7: Obey the rules of money 11. Claiming our power Appendces: Resources and websites Tips for getting out of dent Investing Basics: Wealthbuilding 101
Step by step approach - Here's what I would do; Step 1 - Observe Wal-Mart’s target customers, what does Wal-Mart offer them? How long do they stay? Discover what it is that they might want or need that Wal-Mart doesn't offer, and then write those ideas down. Some ideas to get you started are - A cafe or fast food venue, something for the kids to do while the parents shop, etc Step 2 - Take that list, and weigh up the pros and cons of each idea, and then select the best one for you. Don't worry about not using all the space. Step 3 - Start the best business for you, and then release the other ideas to the general market and sublet the rest of the space to those who could fill some of the niches you've come up with, plus any they can come up with. If money isn't a factor then developing the building to suit multiple small leases may be a better option, as it's a diversified income, which is potentially more stable than one big income stream.
Question: What has been your biggest business challenge? - Regardless of the industry they may be in, it seems all small business owners and entrepreneurs face similar key challenges in growing their business and becoming as profitable as they would like. These can be grouped into the categories of "Time", "Team", "Money", and "Exit Strategy". What has been your most significant challenge, the one that seems to be your biggest hurdle to moving forward and achieving the level of business success (however you define that) that you would like to? If you could have one issue solved in your business, what would that be? Your insights are invaluable and I appreciate your honesty. Regards, Gavin


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You Listening?

10 Golden rules to survive the Global Crisis

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.