By Dali Burgado
Time Management…
What emotions do these words evoke? How’s that phrase make you feel?
If you’re an overwhelmed entrepreneur chances are it doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies!
Whatever it is, one thing is for sure; not all of us are born effective time managers!
Most of us wish we had 25 hours, or more, a day to fit our “to do’s” in.
However, it is actually very possible to get MORE done in LESS TIME when you focus on being effective or simply prioritizing those “to do’s” instead of cramming them in this elusive thing we call “Time.”
If you think about it, and dig a little deeper, time management is a mere figment of our imagination!
Effective Time Management EQUALS Effective Goal Setting
In essence, time management for entrepreneurs is all about focusing on developing effective goal setting skills in order to make the most of the time that is available to us (just 24 hours)!
To become more effective at time management an entrepreneur must ask him or herself:
“Do I have the focus, clarity and purposefulness to know what activities I should prioritize in order to help me move forward in reaching my business and time management goals?”
If we were to:
- Prioritize
Prioritizing, limiting, and focusing on just a few things helps us feel more accomplished and productive as well as helps us move forward in reaching our business goals.
BUT the million-dollar question then becomes…
HOW do we become effective goal setters?
How do we develop that sense of purposefulness so that we become entrepreneurs who manage our time effectively?
The answer to that is: Find YOUR PASSIONS and know your STRENGTHS!
Before setting goals, we must first ensure that we are truly following our own passions!
If you know what you’re passionate about, awesome (just skip to next subheading)!
If you don’t know what you’re passionate about, ask yourself the following questions.
1) What work/activities get me most excited?
a. Could it be serving others by marketing a particular product or service?
b. Is it a physical task like instructing others?
c. Would I like to work with others locally or globally? (Offline, Online or both!)
2) What am I best at? What skill sets are my strongest?
a. Writing
b. Public Speaking
c. Instructing or Teaching?
d. Coaching?
3) When am I MOST excited about using my talents and time effectively?
Once you know your passions and what your strengths are you can develop clear and effective goals.
Effective Goal Setting Tips
Your next step is to list the action steps it will take for you to feel fulfilled and accomplished with your goal.
Action steps could include:
- Building more business relationships locally (i.e. by attending networking events).
Once you have those action steps written down, focus on one or two sub-goals for the next 30 days that will help you make progress! So, while you are focusing on that one sub-goal the next 30 days, your activities will be super focused and centered on those few action steps that are going to get you closer to your larger goal – making you effective at goal setting and time management!
Does this make you feel better?!
Fellow entrepreneur, once you have that clear passion, vision, goal and focus, you can begin to concentrate on a few activities every day that will move you forward and make you feel like you are effective at goal setting and time management!
AND, in fact you WILL be!
See, “managing time” is just a figment of your imagination!
Now my entrepreneurial friend, do you feel better about the phrase, “Time Management”?
Ready to Fine Tune Your Time Mangement skills? Go to http://www.squidoo.com/timemanagementforentrepreneurs for more valuable information on becoming an effective time manager.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dali_Burgado
http://EzineArticles.com/?Effective-Time-Management-and-Goal-Setting-For-the-Overwhelmed-Entrepreneur&id=1405514
I especially like your suggestions on finding your passion – that is important.
I used and taught Covey and Daytimer for many years before reading David Allen’s GTD book and switching to GTD. Its made a significant impact for the good on my business and personal productivity.
And I found an application that allows me to view my entire GTD at work on my Win machine, at home on my Macs and even on my cell phone. And another app lets me call in tasks to my GTD without any writing or typing, great for those thoughts that hit me while driving.
I’ve written about my experiences with GTD at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com/how-to-gtd/ John
Comment by John Kendrick — November 15, 2008 @ 3:23 am
[...] Effective Time Management and Goal Setting For the Overwhelmed … In essence, time management for entrepreneurs is all about focusing on developing effective goal setting skills in order to make the most of the time that is available to us (just 24 hours)! To become more effective at time management … [...]
Pingback by Time Management - Trying to Manage Time When You Should Manage Yourself - Best of the Time Management Blogs - Movember 25, 2008 — November 25, 2008 @ 6:47 pm