If you are at all like I was, you probably have a huge list of tasks that you need to get done at the start of your new online business. There were a lot of times when that looming list actually kept me from taking action on anything. I would simply look at the list and worry about what I should do next. I would often add five more things to the list before I would actually make any effort to accomplish any of them. I would have gotten as much done if I had read a chapter in a favorite book.
Now, I could lie to you and tell you that I have completely overcome that inertia. What I can say is that I have at least gotten the list under control. I have become far more productive in my scheduling by instituting a rather easy to implement plan as far as my ever present list. You might want to try this approach.
First, call your overgrown list a master list.
Rearrange all of the items in your list so that they are grouped as categories of similar tasks. Give each category a name. A category might contain jobs related to you web site, itself. A different one might deal with changes you want to make to your website design. Another might pertain to creating an integrated marketing campaign
Carefully go through your list, evaluating each item based upon its likelihood of positively impacting your short term cash flow. Mark any item that meets that standard with a plus sign or a star (an asterisk) so that the item stands out from the other items in the category. I do not mean to imply that you should not be worrying about long term goals. In a new business, though, most small business owners need to establish a positive cash flow as soon as possible.
Now, take one starred item each from different categories and copy that item to a new list (maybe called the Do Now List) until you reach your magic number. That magic number will vary from person to person depending upon your temperament. For me, five total items seems to work well. A larger number can make me feel overwhelmed; a smaller number makes me feel unproductive.
Get to work on your Do Now List. If something important occurs to you while you’re working, do not add it to the short list. Instead, immediately put it into the master list, in the appropriate category, with a star if that is appropriate. Now get back to work.
Only after you have completed all of the five (or four, or six, or whatever number you have chosen) are you allowed to return to the big list to choose five more. However, before you start to work on your new Do Now List, reward yourself with something that you truly enjoy for a short while (say, ten minutes). Make yourself a cup of herbal tea or entertain your cat. Maybe you can find something fun on YouTube, but I think it would be a better idea to be a bit more active and move away from your computer.
Tags: begin ecommerce, internet marketing, start online business, time management, time managing
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