As entrepreneurs we all struggle sometimes with managing our time effectively. I once heard an entrepreneur say that of people he knows, his entrepreneur friends are worst people when it comes to managing their time and priorities. Too often we fall prey to misguided notion that being busy is same as making progress.

There are many areas involved in effective time management: • your attitude • goal setting • setting priorities • planning • scheduling • analyzing your progress • dealing with interruptions • meetings • paperwork • delegation of tasks • taming procrastination • time teamwork

KEY PRINCIPLES

Here are some key principles I have found to help me manage my time more effectively:

1. Good habits are key to good time management. The essence of good time management is creating good habits. A good habit to develop is to focus on results. Setting goals and striving to reach them must become a habit. Before your next meeting, think to yourself-what is my goal in doing this or meeting with this person? What specific results would I like to see come from my time? You must learn to place a high value on your time. There are a million things, advertisements, books, media events and people vying for it. You must distinguish between what and who is important and what or who is not. This might sound a little harsh at first, but focusing on results in developing your habits will help you focus yourself and your time.

2. Good habits start with setting goals.

There are several points to remember when setting good goals.

First is to write your goals down. Studies have shown that you are much more likely to accomplish your goals if they are committed to paper. As someone once said, "A short pencil is better than a long memory."

A second point is to break down your goals into three categories: short, intermediate and long term. I would advocate that you should have a separate list for your personal, professional and life goals. The personal goal list would cover areas like: personal relationships, use of free time, personal growth activities, reading up on a particular topic, taking continuing education classes or seminars, etc. Your professional goal list should be clearly focused on building your business, increasing revenues, cutting costs, strategic planning, marketing, employee management, creating partnerships and meeting beneficial business contacts. Your life goals would cover broader picture of what you want to accomplish in life and what who you want to be remembered for.

3. Pursuing specific goals is key to reaching success.

However, he did mention a few downsides: little to no outside accountability, lack of consistent capital, feelings of loneliness, no steady revenue stream, feeling disconnected from others who don’t understand his drive to succeed, constant struggles to survive and a severe lack of work-life balance. Sound familiar?

I think most entrepreneurs struggle with similar issues, especially balance. There are many reasons they can give for their lack of life balance and low satisfaction: “I have too much work to do. I just need a few more hours to finish this project. I need more money. I have bills to pay. My business depends on my hard work. My family needs more income. I am solely responsible for developing, marketing, selling and servicing my product or service.”

Any or all of these reasons may be true, which might lead entrepreneurs to find great difficulty in managing two sides of entrepreneurship—balance and success. How often do you struggle with working longer hours than you know you should to try and secure next sale? How many times has your family and friends tried to pull you away from your office this last month? Take a moment and count up actual hours you have spent working this last week or month. There is always temptation to do a little more, work a little harder, talk to one more potential customer in hopes of making one more sale.

What specific things are you doing to take care of yourself: physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Many entrepreneurs overlook these vital areas of life in search of professional success, yet these areas are full of potential for sparking creative, outside of box thinking that leads entrepreneurs like yourself to discover life changing products and services and find a new perspective on your business venture.

ASSESS WHERE YOU ARE

Take a moment and write down these 8 life areas:

• friends & family • fun & recreation • physical environment & home • romance & significant other • fitness & health • career • finances • personal & spiritual growth