As we all know, time is rushing faster than ever. Some days it feels like we jump out of bed and our feet barely have enough time to hit the ground before the day is over.
For anyone looking to live a flexible and happy life, time management is crucial. You need to specify time that is designated to work and time that is designated to “play” and stick to it.
For some this may be the 9-5 for others this may be the schedule they make.
For me, I enjoy working hard on a project a few weeks a time, then taking some time off to reflect on what I learned and what I would do differently. In a typical month I try and tackle a very big task by breaking it down into manageable bites.
If I was launching a new site, I would strategize a game plan. Gather the necessary resources, even if that includes outsourcing some work. Then execute. For me action is ALWAYS more valuable than going over the fine details before hand.
Often times there are too many unknowns on the web and many of the bridges you think you may need to cross will have changed by the time you get to them. I like to fly be the seat of my pants often when it comes to the nitty gritty details. Often you can find an elegant solution that you may not have planned to find beforehand.
In my life I prefer to be managing 2-3 large projects and focus most of my energy on one exclusively for a couple weeks. Many projects have cyclical life spans. By that I mean that they often go through times of growth and at other times they are stable.
When I work on a project I really like to see it jump during the time I am working on it, it helps keep me focused. So managing 2-3 projects allows me to watch the projects plateau until I decide to pick them up next. This is great, because I like riding the “wave” of success then when it tapers off I jump on another one. That is key to my success with time management.
I’m not a huge fan work for work’s sake, I like to work when it is fun and riding project waves allows me to do that.
Sure sometimes it isn’t easy to get up and crank out some busy work, but I always remember there is more fun around the corner. When you hit those days try waking up and tackling the one project you don’t want to for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds if you still don’t want to do it, move on to the 2nd most important. Often times for me if I just crank for 30 seconds I am in the mood to complete the project.
This post was brought about by Avi D‘s suggestion on twitter. He wanted to know how I manage my time as an affiliate marketer. Hopefully it has given you some perspective on how I work online.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I find myself very much like you Nick, project based lumps lead to a happier me. You can get a lot done this way, its also important though to not over segment stuff otherwise stuff can get fragmented. I suppose each person has to break it down into lumps that suit their skillset etc.
It’s all about planning broadly x, y, z then getting stuck into x. The plateau thing is especially true I think with web work, for example age (time) can help sites a lot – so just getting a base up then leaving it to be finished later can make the end result more profitable. Also if somethings up and earning money thats money you potentially wouldn’t have had if you spent too long on refining another.
We often do just what you are alluding to. We build a large base then will let it cook for a few months. By base, we are talking about a high value site that has no affiliate links on it. We let it cook, gain trust and keep pushing social media juice to it.
After a few months and the buzz has worn off we then toss in our affiliate links and sometimes even modify the content if need be.
At any given time I would say we have 3-4 bases marinating at a time.
Yeah well said. I tend to go with 2 – 5 at a time depending what else is going on in my life and the competition, it works though