MLM Time Management: What are Your Priorities?

May 07
2009

I had other priorities myself the last few days and as a result you may have noticed there hasn’t been a post for a few days.  While you may have a schedule laid out that says when you will work on your business and when you will spend time with family and when you will work on the house you still need to prioritize your tasks or activities.

For me I have many activities that are necessary for my MLM business but family necessities took priority for the last few days as I took care of my wife.  Nevertheless, because I had assigned each of my tasks for my MLM business a priority all the activities that absolutely had to be done were and other tasks like writing an article here for you to read was not as its priority was low.  This is not to say that it wasn’t important but out of all my activities related to my MLM business it was one of the ones that was of lower importance.

You need to look at all the activities you perform each day in your scheduled business time and prioritize them.  You may have some activities that are for a specific goal to be met in which case you need to break them down into smaller tasks that can be done each day until the overall project is completed.  Even these smaller tasks should be priortitized.  Prioritization of each task should consider several factors:

  • when is the activity that this task is a part of due?
  • is it necessary for this task to be completed by a specific date?
  • is it necessary for this task to be completed so another task can be performed, i.e. is there a dependency on other tasks?
  • how long will this task take to be completed?
  • does this task have a direct effect on your MLM Business’ bottom line?
  • how much does this task directly effect your MLM business?

From this prioritization you can then see what tasks may be good ones to be outsourced when money allows.  For example if you have a low priority task for shredding papers or stuffing envelopes with a newsletter you have written, these are tasks you may be able to outsource.  Remember you can outsource tasks to your children or your spouse, if they are amenable, but as this is a business you still need to pay them for the work done.

Now this means you have to include in your schedule time to create your list of tasks to be performed in the time you have scheduled for your MLM business.  Some people do this once a week on a Sunday night, others at the end of each day so they can be ready for the next day.  When you do it is up to you… just do it.  Once you have your task list, you need to break it down by day.  You may find at the end of each day you have some low priority or even some medium priority tasks left over.  You need to re-prioritize those tasks along with the tasks you have for the next day.  Priorities will change, especially if you are prone to procrastination!

Now this may seem like a lot of effort but it will be well worth it allowing you to have a balance between your MLM business, your job (if you have one), your family, and your relaxation time.  Also it will permit you to accomplish more in the time you have by helping you concentrate on those tasks that give you the greatest beneft.

To ease the effort I’ll let you know about some great time management tools in a future article.

Keeping Balance while at Work From Home

Mar 18
2009

You’ve made the decision to work from home (whether its in network marketing or some other business) and its a great feeling to know that your commute can be measure in tens of feet, or less, instead of tens of miles.  However, there comes a point where you realize you have to create some sort of balance between work and home.

For many its easy to become workaholics neglecting any relationships they have.  Even though there is no one supervising, those of us who choose to work from home often push harder because after all you only get out of business what you put into it. And yes having a laser-sharp focus on your chosen profession is very important its also extremely important to devote time to each of your relationships – husbands/wives, children, friends, and family members.  After all for many of us, spending more time with them was one of the reasons we decided to work at home in the first place.

Even if you’re just getting started building your home business and you’re also working a full- or part-time job you still need to make the time to keep your relationships working as well as your business.  This is not something you can put off till your business is working smoothly or you may find yourself without any relationships when you do achieve your business goals.

Alternatively you may be facing distractions at home.  Your kids figure since you’re home all the time they can come ask you to read them a story, play ball, help them with homework, etc.  Or maybe its your spouse asking you to help out with something around the house or just wanting to talk. These are all things that you definitely should be taking time to do but not when you are working.

Yes, some sacrifices may have to be made but you have to balance work and home even when, or especially when,  you work from home.

Some simple steps that may hep in achieving that balance (and keep it) are:

  • Get and Stay Organized. If you are organized it will increase your productivity which means work gets done faster and that means more time for those important relationships.
  • Stop Procrastinating. Procrastination will not only stress you out as you race to make a deadline but also it will affect the quality of the time you do devote to your relationships because you will be thinking about the deadline and not making the most of your non-work time.
  • Create a Schedule. If you set a schedulea and stick with it you will have the time and energy for both work and your relationships.  When you are working, you’re at work, and when you aren’t working, you’re at home — even if the physical location hasn’t changed.  Its a bit easier if you can allocate a workspace in your home and let friends and family know that when you are in your home office that you’re at work and you’re not to be bothered (except for emergencies of course) but if you can at least share your schedule with them then everyone knows the ground rules
  • Shut Down.  When you leave the office, close your binders, shut the laptop, shut down or log out of the computer, if you have a separate space for work close the door and turn off the lights.  Work will be there the following day when you are ready to work.  Computers especially are a temptation — to check our email, to check an online forum or store front, to check out website traffic, etc.  And don’t kid yourself into thinking “it’ll only take a sec” because a few seconds turns into an hour.  Your relationships deserve your undivided attention and you deserve your relationships.

It is inevitable that there will be work that has to be done and you have to give up that family time just as there will be time that you have to put off working to be with family.  However if you have a schedule (including some vacation days) you will be able to keep work things in their place.  Maintaining our relationships with family and friends will be an asset to your business because they will be more supportive of what you are doing.

It may be difficult to stick with these steps, but when you find that balance you’ll know its well worth it.

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