MLM Expert Advice

I’ve discussed why and how to set up your schedule and the need to breakdown tasks and prioritize but how do we manage all these time management pieces?

Do not buy anything until you understand how you manage things.  Don’t buy a tool for time management because you saw someone else using it, even if that person is your mentor because you need to find the time management tool that works best for you.

Consider first if you work better with paper  — calendar or book planner — or prefer a “high-tech” approach — a PDA or computer.  If you’re like me and have a computer and cell phone with you at all times then you may prefer the latter.  It doesn’t really matter which you prefer just find the right format for you so that you can get your work done the way you like to work.

If you prefer the pen and paper approach like my wife does then the pocket-planner is a great tool.  You can have the planner with you just about anywhere and whenever a new task comes to mind you can add it.  Of course this can also be a bad thing if you tend to be a work-a-holic as its always with you and that means your MLM business is always with you and you do need some down-time each day.

The best of these pocket-planners come from:

• Franklin-Covey – has a complete line of day planners set up to allow you to break down tasks and prioritize them and also offer courses on how to effectively manage your time.
• At a Glance – providing a number of different formats whether you want a monthly, weekly or daily planner.
• Day-timer – another source of different formats for day planning and they have an eLearning site so that you can learn time management skills online for free

But in this economy there may be some of you who want something cheaper that you can use and I found a tool for you that costs nothing other than paper and ink/toner to print a page from your computer and its recyclable too – PocketMod.  Regardless which you use its not the system thats important its just important that it works well for you.

If on the other hand you’re like me and prefer the electronic approach the online there are all sorts of tools some that will email your tasks to you, send you reminders, and can even help you brainstorm ideas.  If you prefer the electronic approach then using an online tool that you can reach from any computer (or cell phone) means that tool is always at your beck and call.

Some  examples of these are:

• Time Jar
• Rescue Time
• Backpack
• Google Calendar

The additional benefit of these online tools is that you can share your calendar/schedule with others so if you have people in your organization who need your time they can see when you are available.  These tools can also allow you to track your time usage.

And if you would prefer an offline approach but still electronic you can look into the following:

• Franklin-Covey
• Effexis Achieve Planner
• My Life Organized
• Microsoft Outlook

Most of these offer a free trial which I would highly recommend before spending any money on a tool that might not be right for you.

Again its not the tool or system that is important, what is important is that you manage your time effectively.

“Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it.” — Eileen Caddy

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.

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