A Couple Questions . . .

Dear Friends,

I am presently rethinking my daily business action plan. Like many of you, I have limited time, and I find that putting down activities to focus on each day helps me to get things done.

I would like to ask: What do you do to stay focused? How do you avoid those time-wasters that really don't advance your business? How do you determine if an activity really is a time-waster? (I'm thinking about all the emails, ezines, courses, etc. that are available and crying out for attention. How do you determine where to put your energy?)

I always find it helpful to hear ideas and advice from others. Thank you in advance!

Blessings,

Brenda


The $6 Investment You Can't Afford NOT to Make!

Brenda -

> I am presently rethinking my daily business
> action plan. Like many of you, I have
> limited time, and I find that putting down
> activities to focus on each day helps me to
> get things done.

Seems to be a popular theme right about now. *g* I'm going through some of the very same exercises.

> I would like to ask: What do you do to stay
> focused? How do you avoid those time-wasters
> that really don't advance your business? How
> do you determine if an activity really is a
> time-waster? (I'm thinking about all the
> emails, ezines, courses, etc. that are
> available and crying out for attention. How
> do you determine where to put your energy?)

Let me share the definition Dan Kennedy, (and I'm sure others as well), uses. Dan says if an activity, (task, whatever), helps you towards a particular goal, then that activity is a worthwhile one. If not, it's a time waster and you shouldn't be doing it. Do I always do that? Dan's a bit more brutal on time management than I am. (He's got a great audio program on it.) Then again, Dan is one of the top marketers in the world!

So the question then becomes "how do you focus on those worthwhile activities and still check out all the other good stuff?" Well, Dan's right. It really does boil down to priorities. FWIW, I use a PalmPilot to help me keep on track. It works *most* of the time. Beyond that, schedule yourself some time to review the goodies. Then don't go beyond that time.

So easy to say. So hard to do. (Gordon has seen my marketing library in my basement. *g*)

> I always find it helpful to hear ideas and
> advice from others. Thank you in advance!

That's what makes these forums so great.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"




Stay Focused While Developing Guerrilla Products

Hi Brenda and Rick!

Brenda, that's a great question -- almost everyone has this kind of problem.... It's so easy to spend too much time on doing things which aren't worthwhile.

There's something called the "Pareto Principle," also known as the "80/20 Rule" or the "80/20 Principle." You can apply it many places.... For example....

80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts.

80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers.

80% of advertising results come from 20% of your campaign.

80% of the outfits we wear come from 20% of the clothes in our closets and drawers.

80% of our personal telephone calls are to 20% of the people in our address book.

While the real numbers may not be precisely 80% and 20% (they could be higher or lower), the general principle is true.... It's almost always true that a disproportionate amount of your success comes from only a small percentage of your activities.... As Rick pointed out, the key is to identify these activities.

Here's one method I've used.... I'd make up a "To Do" list, of things to do. I'd list next to each item how long I expected this task to take. Then next to that, I'd write down the benefit I'd get from each activity. And lastly, I'd rank how good this benefit is....

For example, I'd put "A" if I got a lot of benefit from this activity, "B" if I only got a medium amount of benefit, and "C" if I only got a little bit of benefit.

Then, once you have a list of things "To Do" and rankings by benefits to you, you can prioritize. Make the "A" items your highest priority, and the "C" items your lowest priority. Often, you will find that you can skip many of the "C" items altogether and it will make little difference in your life.... That's one approach.

If you apply this, you could find that you have MORE free time than before, and you're producing more results as well, because you've eliminated the "time-wasting" activities. :)

However.... I'm human too. I must admit I do this, then after a while I lapse into my bad habits again (and my free time disappears). But thanks for your posts Brenda and Rick -- I'm going to make up my prioritized list again and get back to a more efficient lifestyle (and claim back some of this time!).... :)

One thing about time is that we are only given so much of it, so it's good to use it wisely!

- Dien Rice

Dien, I have heard many techniques for making the best use of "To Do lists". I must admit that yours is excellently stated :-) (stated in a way that anyone can make effective use of it I might add :-)... Josh

> Hi Brenda and Rick!

> Brenda, that's a great question -- almost
> everyone has this kind of problem.... It's
> so easy to spend too much time on doing
> things which aren't worthwhile.

> There's something called the "Pareto
> Principle," also known as the
> "80/20 Rule" or the "80/20
> Principle." You can apply it many
> places.... For example....

> 80% of your results come from 20% of your
> efforts.

> 80% of your income comes from 20% of your
> customers.

> 80% of advertising results come from 20% of
> your campaign.

> 80% of the outfits we wear come from 20% of
> the clothes in our closets and drawers.

> 80% of our personal telephone calls are to
> 20% of the people in our address book.

> While the real numbers may not be precisely
> 80% and 20% (they could be higher or lower),
> the general principle is true.... It's
> almost always true that a disproportionate
> amount of your success comes from only a
> small percentage of your activities.... As
> Rick pointed out, the key is to identify
> these activities.

> Here's one method I've used.... I'd make up
> a "To Do" list, of things to do.
> I'd list next to each item how long I
> expected this task to take. Then next to
> that, I'd write down the benefit I'd get
> from each activity. And lastly, I'd rank how
> good this benefit is....

> For example, I'd put "A" if I got
> a lot of benefit from this activity,
> "B" if I only got a medium amount
> of benefit, and "C" if I only got
> a little bit of benefit.

> Then, once you have a list of things
> "To Do" and rankings by benefits
> to you, you can prioritize. Make the
> "A" items your highest priority,
> and the "C" items your lowest
> priority. Often, you will find that you can
> skip many of the "C" items
> altogether and it will make little
> difference in your life.... That's one
> approach.

> If you apply this, you could find that you
> have MORE free time than before, and you're
> producing more results as well, because
> you've eliminated the
> "time-wasting" activities. :)

> However.... I'm human too. I must admit I do
> this, then after a while I lapse into my bad
> habits again (and my free time disappears).
> But thanks for your posts Brenda and Rick --
> I'm going to make up my prioritized list
> again and get back to a more efficient
> lifestyle (and claim back some of this
> time!).... :)

> One thing about time is that we are only
> given so much of it, so it's good to use it
> wisely!

> - Dien Rice




Personal Development 24/7!

> Dien, I have heard many techniques for
> making the best use of "To Do
> lists". I must admit that yours is
> excellently stated :-) (stated in a way that
> anyone can make effective use of it I might
> add :-)... Josh

Thanks Josh! It's true, you can find similar techniques in various places.... In my experience, they do work! The key is keeping up the discipline to keep doing it....

I guess the best way may be to make it part of your routine.... :)

Dien