Focusing on Time

If you check this blog with any regularity, you noticed that I never got a post up last week.

Bad, very bad.

One of my goals is  to make regular posts, and I am pleased that I have been getting up 1-2 each week. I even drafted a post to go up early last week, but I never got back to it.

Now, I can blame my schedule, but I knew what was coming, so it wasn’t any surprise; I just never planned for it. Instead of editing the post last weekend, I did client work, got my son ready to go back to school, and took it easy. Taking a break was a very good thing, but I believe I could have done that AND gotten the blog post done, if I had managed my time better.

Time management is one of my issues, or perhaps it is the lack of time management. It is an area I need to focus on to grow my business, and as of last Thursday, I need to focus harder than ever.

Thursday morning I received word that funding for my position was a bit iffy for 2010. This did not surprise me, but having it told to me made it very real. I’ve been looking at taking GS Business Resources full-time, and this might be just the opportunity. I spent the next several hours rolling that around in my head, thinking how I’d spend the next 4 1/2 months growing my business, saving money, etc.

Then, mid-afternoon I got another phone call. The funding that was expected for the rest of this year had been sent in 2008 – and spent then. So, the money isn’t coming, and the organization doesn’t have any extra to cover it.

Wow.

While this is certainly scary, it may actually be the kick that I need to go after my dreams. And in order to do that, I HAVE to get myself organized and manage my time much better.So where do I begin? First, I went to Christine Kane’s Uplevel Your Business blog and watched the video and downloaded the daily schedule worksheet. Just watching the video gave me enthusiasm to start planning each and every day. I’ve started using the worksheet for each day this week, and while I like the structure it gives me, I know I’m going to have to tweak it some.

There is a part of me that resists being told to do something at a certain time; I want to have flexibility in my schedule. But I know that I need more structure as well. The more I hear about time management, the more I believe that giving myself an outline to my day is actually going to free up my creativity. I know when something is going to be worked on, so I don’t have to think or worry about it. And since I am setting my daily schedule, I can adjust it as needed (as I’ve already done several times on my first day – my printer stopped talking to my desktop computer this afternoon, so I’ve spent 3 hours trying to make them work together. Will need to schedule time tomorrow to go buy another printer.)

Next, I am going to order Time Management In An Instant by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey. I was part of the blog tour for the book’s launch, and in reading through various articles and blog posts Karen has written on time management, I know she understands the issues I face, and has practical solutions to meet them.

With each day, I believe I’m going to get a better sense of how to plan my day – what time of day I do some things better than others, where I tend to get off track, and where I need to allow more time. Look for an update in the next week or two to see what is working for me.

I am curious to know what tips and tricks you use to manage your time. Everyone thinks and works differently, but you never know when a method you developed can benefit someone else. Please post a comment and share your secrets!

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