Time Management Toils: Mastering the Art of Doing Everything Except Work
Tony Strattner As an affiliate marketer, I have a lot on my plate. I must juggle tasks like blog writing, ad copywriting, marketing platform selection, SEO optimization, product strategy, and more. To complicate things, I’m aspirationally retired—meaning I’ve got a part-time day job to help fund my AM business until it can fund me.
As you might expect, I’ve had to reacquaint myself with the principles of effective time management. I figure if I use my newsletter to outline these principles, then the necessary habits will surely follow.
Set Clear Goals: This is the cornerstone of productivity. I meticulously review my daily goals every morning, envisioning a day filled with success and prosperity. But as I sit down to tackle my first task—let’s say, writing a captivating blog post—I realize I haven’t sufficiently explored social media. Two hours later, I emerge from the depths of my Facebook feed, full of sappy dog memes, fitness ads for old guys, and pictures of my relatives’ perfect retirement trips.
Prioritize: Everyone knows prioritizing tasks is critical to handling a long to-do list clamoring for attention. I know that, which is why getting organized is always a priority. First, I’ll clean out my inbox, color-code my calendar, and finally alphabetize my bookshelf. After all, why rewrite email copy that actually increases open and click-through rates when I must find the most effective shade of highlighter for my daily planner?
Block Your Time: Segmenting your day’s activities is critical to controlling how your energies are spent. Account for every minute, and productivity reigns supreme. As I stare at my carefully colored calendar, I can’t help but wonder: Is now really the best time to tackle updates to my sales funnels? Perhaps I should hike in the woods with my dog for creative inspiration…. Decisions, decisions.
Eliminate Time Wasters: This is where I already excel. I know the difference between distraction and traction. Like lying, it’s all about intention. When I take a mid-afternoon break to rewatch every episode of The Diplomat, I intend to relax from the stress of all the organizing I’ve done. As the day closes, I know I have a perfectly organized workspace and a renewed appreciation for the behind-the-scenes machinations of the U.S. diplomatic corps.
Set Deadlines: As a former journalist, you don’t have to tell me deadlines are a great motivator. With the deadline for this post hanging over me like the Sword of Damocles, I am a writing machine! Of course, deadlines are, in the end, really entirely arbitrary in the blogosphere. I can always finish this tomorrow. Or the day after. In the grand time-management scheme, deadlines are more like guidelines, right?
Delegate: A wise entrepreneur knows when to delegate. I could undoubtedly outsource some tasks, but then, who would agonize over the perfect way to build my email campaign? Who would scrutinize every last color choice for my ads or spend days choosing the best title for my latest newsletter? Clearly, some sacrifices are just too great to make.
Avoid Overcommitment: Ah, the siren song of overcommitment, where every opportunity is a tantalizing glimpse of future success. When you really think about it, why commit to doing just one thing until it produces the results you need when there’s so much more to learn? I can’t help but wonder: Is it possible to under-commit to over-commitment?
Regularly Review and Adjust: The road to success is paved with self-reflection and continuous improvement. But when I contemplate my goals, tasks, and time-management strategies, a little voice always asks a tough question: Isn’t reviewing past mistakes a waste of time? What’s done cannot be undone. And what’s undone can always be done later.
Maintain Work-Life Balance: I’ll admit that work-life balance is my elusive unicorn of productivity. As I sit here, surrounded by the remnants of yet another marathon work session, the scene begs the question: What if work is the balance in my life?
With fingers resting wearily on keyboard and tongue planted firmly in cheek, I review the list of time-management principles and look for gaps. I could probably find one or two more principles, but alas, my deadline looms (old habits die hard). I’m out of time.