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By having a life plan, you can prepare goals and strategies for spending your time in the most effective ways. Think big – consider what you want to do with your life, and what is important to achieve. Determine who are the important people and relationships. Then commit these goals to paper or your computer. Prepare a one page overview of your life, with a break-down of the particular segments.

This is a simple way to chart a clear direction. Writing your goals in specific, positive terms will reinforce those goals and make them easier for your mind to process. Be as detailed as practical, using as many senses as you can to experience the situation. Visualization is particularly important.

Make certain that each of your goals is in sync with the others, so that there aren’t any conflicts. Assign an amount of time for each. Be flexible and realistic. As activities are completed and goals are met, your particular tasks might require modification in order to remain on track.

Having your plan written down makes it more likely that none of the significant aspects of it will be forgotten or overlooked. Creating daily, weekly, or monthly lists of the most critical activities helps to focus attention on the important tasks and prioritize them, so they get done. Determine what is critical, what can wait, and what can be delegated. Begin with the end in mind, and adjust whenever necessary.

Always make time for yourself. This includes time to review or re-evaluate your overall plan. Additionally, you need ‘down time’ each day to relax and recover from daily activities. Without this, we feel overwhelmed and stressed – and unable to function effectively.

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At one time or another, we all feel the pressure of a time crunch. A project is due, an activity must be completed, there’s a meeting to attend, and the day is just beginning. It’s tempting to simply decide to move forward — ready, fire, aim.

But by spending a few minutes planning what needs to be done, the activities will not only go more smoothly, but more effectively. Spend some time at the end of your day to determine what will need to be done the following day. Visualize the activity and results you’re looking for.

In a recent blog post, Lee Phillips discusses the value of planning. His focus is on planning and being prepared for future events. By thinking in this way, you can accomplish more in a limited amount of time — and can feel comfortable that the work won’t need to be revamped because it wasn’t done correctly the first time.

While it’s important to take action, it’s also important to take the right action. Make a list or chart to track your progress, and stay focused on the end result. Planning is always a good use of time.

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Used to be if you wanted to run a business, you needed a reasonably large staff of employees to handle a wide range of activities, from billing and sending invoices, to dealing with correspondence and communications, and everything in between. There was a lot of overhead and admin to consider. And all of that ate into profits.

The Internet and related software has changed the face of today’s business. Multimillion dollar companies no longer need complex offices to work from, and I know of several that are running very efficiently and quite profitably without a physical office at all — and have staff located around the world. Their secret? Using the Internet effectively.

By this I mean they are taking advantage of communicating using tools such as VoIP, sharing files and information, holding staff meetings in cyberspace, preparing and editing reports, e-mailing, and generally working as a team, even though some of their associates might be on different continents. Their physical location is irrelevant. Getting the job done is all that matters.

Not only can this virtual office work efficiently, in many instances this set-up can also cut costs. Using the right Internet software can save a substantial amount of time — think e-mail — and many of these great tools are free to use or very inexpensive.

A virtual office provides a lot in the way of flexibility. You’ve got a wider range of talent to choose from and are not stuck with an employee or paying their benefits package. They can work from their own location yet interface with the rest of the group.

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Automating your business is the ultimate system for setting yourself free.  By using  products that will save time and effort, you are freed up to take care of other tasks that require a hands on attention.  Particularly if your office is small — or even one person — automating activities, whenever practical, is just plain smart.

Many of the things that need to get done during the daily routine are simply that — routine.  A perfect example of this is sending out e-mail.  This can be a real drudge and eat up a significant amount of time, especially if you’re sending to a large list on a regular basis.  That’s where an autoresponder comes in.  This handy tool will not only send out your e-mail or series of e-mails on demand, but depending upon which product you choose, will offer statistics and a host of related benefits.

Using an autoresponder is not only more cost effective than sending out e-mails manually, but there are fewer chances for mistakes.  And the fewer mistakes (especially with e-mail, where you don’t want to be accused of sending spam), the more effective your e-mail campaigns will be.

This is just one example of how automating your business is a smart way to manage time.  We’ll discuss others in upcoming posts, so stay tuned.