“Even though time is precious, we sometimes let it slip away. When the going gets tough, the tough need to be more productive.
This article identifies a few of the time bandits that steal our time. Imagine if you had three more months per year to sell. That’s the amount of time that can be restored when you make a commitment to focusing on work for a full eight hours per day.”
Work eight hours a day. That’s it. The rest of the day is yours.
You can get a lot done in eight hours. In fact, eight hours is an eternity. If you don’t believe this, fly coach for eight hours seated next to a crying infant. You’ll get a keen understanding of just how long it is.
Consider the time you devote to productive work as your “Golden Eight.” Golden because time is indeed money especially if you are in sales.
Working a solid, focused eight hours can be difficult. Every day, time bandits knock on your door. Members of this mob include personal phone calls and texting, bull sessions with co-workers, checking personal email, looking for lost things (highly productive people have clean and well-organized desks), personal errands, long breaks and longer lunches…the list goes on.
It all adds up. Research shows that, on average, new business owners waste two hours a day. This works out to be a startling three months a year! How much can you achieve in three months?
By far the biggest time bandit is the Internet. While the Web is an indispensable business, communication, education, and research tool, it is also highly addictive. Like most addictions, it can devour your precious time, energy and productivity and, by extension, your income.
Take it from a recovering Internet addict; if you are serious about increasing your productivity, you will avoid these Internet time bandits:
* Social Networking. Sure it’s fun to share photos and news with friends and family but it also diminishes your productivity. Do it after hours.
* Online Videos. That hilarious video of the cute little kitten playing ping-pong is a must see… but not during the Golden Eight you’ve devoted to work.
* News and Blogs. Offering lively writing, lots of photos and tempting links to other sites and news items, these are powerfully addictive. Stay off them during work.
* Shopping. The Internet is open 24 hours a day. Shop before or after work hours.
* Surfing the Web. There’s a lot out there to see. It’s interesting and entertaining but a pointless drain on your precious time.
* All That Other Stuff. Online games, auctions, adult sites, chat rooms, job sites, dating sites, vacation and travel sites are all major workplace no-no’s.
There are 168 hours in a week. That’s a lot of time to use. And if you sleep for 8 hours a night, that still leaves you with 112 hours left over. If you can’t currently spare any of these for starting your own business, it may be time to look for ways to grab some back.
One great place to look for extra time is in these time stealers. Cut down on activities like watching junk TV and surfing the internet. Stay away from Facebook (unless you’re updating your business page) and all the other social media websites.
Start to notice where your time goes and look for opportunities to utilise it. You have to ask yourself how badly you want to gain financial freedom. Are you willing to make some sacrifices? It’s not always easy to build up a business, and requires a lot of hard work and effort to get results.
And be on guard of the naysayers, who tell you that you are wasting your time in pursuing your goal of starting your own business.
“Do today what others won’t, so tomorrow you can do what others can’t.”
If your heart is in your business, it’s a passion and you think about it a great deal, then you are already half way there. Make a plan and work on it whenever you find the opportunity, and you’ll soon find yourself working towards success.
Carpe Diem! Each morning take a few moments to write down what you want to accomplish that day. This does not have to be an hour-by-hour work plan. It can simply state the work activities that will give you the highest return on your time. Allow yourself a little flexibility, but follow your plan.
And the best way to do this is to start your very own home based recruitment agency.
When you have your own home based recruitment agency, you’ll be on your way to much greater productivity. You’ll enjoy the feeling of knowing you’ve put in an honest and productive eight hours and you will get to keep 100% of the profit for all your hardwork. You’ll look forward with much greater appreciation to the 16 hours left for rest, relaxation, friends, family and maybe a little time on the Internet.
To find out how to be ahead of the game, simply contact us today on 0800 622 6877.
“Time is the coin of your life…
It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”
– Carl Sandburg