Is time really money?  It is for many millionaires.

So says Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours:  You Have More Time Than You Think.

In an article she wrote Wednesday in USA Today, Vanderkam shared some interesting findings from a business contest sponsored by a non-profit organization called Count Me In, which provides support to women entrepreneurs.

Many finalists in its “Make Mine a Million $ Business” competition crossed the million dollar mark, so the staff began researching why these women were so successful.  The answer, as Vanderkam says in her article, may surprise you!

One thing they had in common was that they all used grocery delivery services, before they made their millions.

These successful business women made a shift in how they viewed time and money.  They made a conscious decision on how they would spend their time, choosing to focus on areas with the highest payoff.

Vanderkam explains,

Time spent on one thing is time not spent on something else. You’re unlikely to build a million-dollar business spending an hour you could be chasing a $50,000 contract in line at the grocery store in order to save $10.  You grow your assets by being “focused on what you’re best at” – both at the office, where these entrepreneurs had learned to delegate tasks, and at home, where they outsourced grocery shopping, and sometimes cleaning and laundry, too.  Even during the start-up phase when they were watching every penny.  They knew that you can spend time to save money.  Or you can spend small amounts of money to save time, and use that time to earn a lot more.

That’s an idea that we could all stand to consider.  Yes, Americans need to be better about living within our means.  But if we want to boost our household finances, we could spend more time on routine household chores – cutting coupons and making our own laundry detergent, for instance.  Or we could spend those hours learning negotiation techniques to ask for a raise, updating our resumes, or even taking on freelance projects.

The first set of actions may be easier, but the latter can generate a bigger return.  After all, there’s a limit to how much you can cut.  But, at least in theory, there’s no limit to how much your income can grow if you  value your time and use it well. Just ask these million-dollar business owners.

I read this article in USA Today, which I affectionately call “America’s Hotel Newspaper,” from a hotel in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in the midst of a business trip.  I’ve been traveling a lot over the last three weeks for my job.  Which is all the more reason why I need to keep my highest payoff areas in mind, and delegate the rest.

But it also leads me to consider my other life areas, outside of my career, as well, and begs the question, “What’s the best use of my time right now?”

Asking that question an hour ago led me to turn off the TV news in my hotel room and write this post.  What will it lead you to do?

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How do you organize your work day?  Do you focus on certain important tasks or projects first thing in the morning, before other things can get in the way?  Or do you just do things whenever you feel like it?  It’s an interesting question, as I believe how we approach our day can affect our level of stress and sense of work-life balance.

Has this ever happened to you: You get to the office, turn on your computer, and start checking email. Then you respond to a few calls and check more email. Then you surf the web and check the news and latest info on topics that interest you. Then answer another call.

All of a sudden, it is lunchtime. And you have no idea where your morning went? And you’re mad at yourself for not accomplishing the project or task that you had planned to do, but never got down to it?

Yep, it’s happened to me…and I’m pretty sure it’s happened to all of us at one time or another. I’ve noticed that when I fritter away my morning, or day, like this and have nothing to show for it, I start to feel the stress level rising.  I start to feel overwhelmed because I haven’t made progress on the important things on my to-do list.

As a result, I either have to work late to make up for the time I lost (which means my family is now being impacted) or I just put it off until the next day, where the cycle could start all over again.

So, how can we organize our work day in way that reduces workplace stress and maintains our work-life balance?

Unclutterer shared this tip recently:  Do your most important work first, at the beginning of your day. That way, you ensure that you do your best and most important work when you are at your best, and before you get bogged down by other distractions that may come your way later in the day.

I’ve followed this approach for some time, but have modified it slightly.  I plan my most important tasks twice a day:  first thing in the morning, and first thing after lunch.  I do it this way because I know these are my most productive times of the day. By doing this, I guarantee that I’ll be at my best when it comes time to focus on a project.

How do you structure your work day? When are your most productive times?Do you get your most important tasks completed first thing in the morning? Or, do you procrastinate and put off the hard work hoping that maybe it will just go away? Tell me what works best for you in the comments section.

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I’m always on the look-out for time management tips to help me improve my personal productivity. I recently heard about a concept called “time-tagging” from Jack Cheng, and I’ve decided to give it a try this week.

Time-tagging seems like a simple concept. When you make your to-do list for the day or week, put a time-tag next to each item on the list, noting the approximate length of time you think it will take to accomplish the task.

According to Jack, time-tagging will help you . . .

• Filter - If you’ve got 20 minutes until the next meeting, don’t just kill time doing mindless stuff until the meeting starts (because you know you don’t have enough time to do something “big”). So take a quick look at your list and find a couple of tasks that you can easily accomplish during that 20 minute period.
• Clarify – Sometimes we put off doing things because we think they are bigger and more time-consuming than they really are.  By thinking about how much time the task will take, you move one step closer toward achieving it.  And we’re able to break-down large tasks into less daunting steps.  Jack follows the 5-60 rule:  if it takes less than 5 minutes, don’t write it down – do it now.  And if it takes longer than 60 minutes, it probably needs to be broken down into a few smaller, more manageable steps.
• Democratize – By identifying how much time each task or project takes, you see which projects are more important than other ones, based on the weight of time it takes to accomplish them (though this won’t always be the case).  Sometimes we do what we “feel” like doing, not what we know we should work on.  Seeing things in terms of time give our conscious minds some leverage — that extra little boost we need to overcome the mental hurdles that stand in the way of putting creative energy toward something amazing.

Like I said earlier, I’m going to give time-tagging a try this week, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Does anyone else use time-tagging? If so, how is it working for you?  Has it increased your productivity?

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Can email addiction keep you from achieving your goals?

Don't let e-mail addiction ruin your productivity.

Earlier this week, in a mentoring group I belong to, we talked about the power that e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and other such communication tools can have over people.

I think everyone in the group knew someone who was, or admitted that they themselves were, addicted to checking their email, etc. every 5 minutes or so, either on their computer or smartphone.

I just did some quick addition, and was shocked to see how this adds up:

If you check your e-mail every 5 minutes when you’re at work, then you are checking it 12 times an hour. Multiply 12 times an hour by 8 hours per work day, 5 days a week, and 50 weeks a year (uh, that’s assuming you don’t check your e-mail when you’re on vacation). This adds up to 24,000 times per year!

Now, if you work in customer service, then checking your email frequently is an important part of your job.

But for most of us, if we’re checking our e-mail 24,000 times a year, we are probably sacrificing something somewhere, don’t you think?

For me, if I check email, Facebook or Twitter frequently at the office, I lose focus pretty quickly on the task at hand. I end up getting sucked into conversations, start looking at other links and sites that people recommend.  And all of a sudden, the day is done and I haven’t accomplished all that I had planned to.

At home, if I’m not careful, I could spend so much time connecting with others online that I neglect my family sitting in the same room.

What about you, could e-mail addiction keep you from being productive, achieving your goals and living the life you want?

Four Ways to Keep E-mail from Dominating Your Life

Here are four things you can do to maintain balance and keep e-mail from dominating your life:

1. Track Your E-mail Time Usage – If you’re not sure if e-mail addiction is a problem for you, you may be in denial. Just kidding! You can know for sure by tracking how you spend your time for a week using a time tracking tool.  Lifehacker did a review of some of the best time tracking applications, including Klok, Manic Time, SlimTime, Rescue Time, and Project Hamster.
2. Schedule time for e-mail – At the office, try checking email only once an hour and see how that goes for you.  Or maybe just three times a day – first thing in the morning, before or after lunch, and mid-late afternoon.  If you think you might forget to check it (personally, I know I would not forget) you can set an alarm to remind you when it is time.
3. Handle each e-mail only once – We can save time and be more productive if we handle each e-mail only once, instead of letting it sit in our in-box for action or a response at later time.
4. Unsubscribe from lists and e-newsletters that you rarely read anymore or that don’t add value to your life.

Has anyone else struggled with e-mail addiction…and do you have any other tips or suggestions?  Please share them in the Comments below.

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I’ve observed that being disorganized can add undo stress to my life and keep me from work-life balance.  Clutter has been a real problem for me at times – both at home and the office.

Unclutterer recently shared five uncluttering things you can do in your office right now:

Grab all of those post-it notes off your screen, phone, keyboard, and bulletin board and permanently capture that information. Enter phone numbers into your address book, put to-do items on your calendar, and hide your passwords in a place where snoopers can’t find them.

Gather up all of your writing implements, and test your pens and markers. Get rid of those that don’t work, and sharpen all of your pencils. Finally, put all of these items in an organized container that is near where you use them.

Process an inch of paperwork from your desk’s inbox. File, sign, scan, read or return the papers as necessary. Don’t put anything back into your inbox.

Get everything out of your office that doesn’t belong there. Walk that dead printer to the IT department for recycling, and give your co-worker back the scissors you snagged off her desk when you couldn’t find yours.

Check your bulletin board for any out-dated office phone lists, take-out menus, or memos, and drop them into the recycling bin or shredder. Rearrange what is left so that the information you reference most often is in the spot that is easiest to see.

Here are my thoughts on each point:

1. I have a bunch of post-it notes on my desk. I’ve attempted to keep all notes in my computer, but I’ve gotten lazy lately.
2. I don’t really have a problem with pens, pencils, etc.
3. I really have to get rid of paper.  I have aspired to go “paperless” but I still have a habit of writing notes and ideas on paper, and then setting them aside to be entered into my computer later.  Right now, I’m carrying around probably 3-4 inches of paperwork in my computer bag.  During the State of the Union speech last night, I processed about an inch of paperwork.  It felt great!
4. Guilty again.  I moved to a new office a year ago, and am still not totally unpacked and settled.  I’ve got a few things that need to be moved out of my office and into my storage room.
5. I don’t have a bulletin board, but I do have a few things that I need to toss.  I just need to do it!

I know that if I can conquer clutter in my office, I’ll free up valuable time and reduce stress.  What about you?

Would you add anything else to this list?  Do you keep things pretty neat and clean, or do you struggle with clutter too like me?  Please share your thoughts and comments below.

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What would you do if you could shave ten hours off your work week?  Would you spend more time at your with the family?  Pursue that degree you’ve put off?  Or start that business you’ve always wanted?

Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, offers seven suggestions on how you can shave ten hours off your work week:

Limit the time you spend online. In my experience, the Web is most people’s #1 time suck. Yes, I know it is a wonderful tool for research, blah, blah, blah. But I often catch myself and my family members mindlessly surfing from one page to another with no clear objective in mind. Before you know it, you can eat up several hours a day. The key is to put a fence around this activity and limit your time online. Set a timer for yourself if you have to.This is true for Web surfing and it is also true for email. Unless you are in a customer service position where you have to be “always-on,” you should check email no more than two to three times a day.

Touch email messages once and only once. Okay, let’s be honest. How many times do you read the same email message over and over again? Guess what? The information hasn’t changed. That’s right. You are procrastinating.I have a personal rule: I will only read each message once then take the appropriate action: do, delegate, defer, file or delete it.

Follow the two-minute rule. My to-do list is very short. It never gets longer than about thirty items. This is because I do everything I can immediately. If I need to make a phone call, rather than entering it on my to-do list, I just make the call.If I can complete the action in less than two minutes, I just go ahead and do it. Why wait? You will be amazed at how much this “bias toward action” will reduce your workload.Conversely, when you don’t do it promptly, you end up generating even more work for yourself and others. The longer a project sits, the longer it takes to overcome inertia and get it moving again. The key is to define the very next action and do it. You don’t have to complete the whole project, just the next action.

Stop attending low-impact meetings. If there’s one thing we can probably all agree on, it’s that we go to too many meetings. Either the meeting organizer isn’t prepared, the meeting objective isn’t defined, or you can’t really affect the outcome one way or the other.Every meeting should have a written objective and a written agenda. If you don’t have these two minimal items, how do you know when the meeting is over? Could this also explain why meetings seem to drag on and on until everyone is worn out?  If the content of the meeting is irrelevant to you and your job or if you don’t feel that you really add that much to the discussion, ask to be excused.

Schedule time to get your work done. This is crucial. As the saying goes, “nature abhors a vacuum.” If you don’t take control of your calendar, someone else will. You can’t spend all your time in meetings and still get your work done.Instead, you need to make appointments with yourself. Yes, go ahead and actually put them on your calendar. Then, when someone asks for a meeting, you can legitimately say, “No, I’m sorry, that won’t work. I already have a commitment.” And you do—to yourself!

Cultivate the habit of non-finishing. Not every project you start is worth finishing. Sometimes we get into it and realize, “This is a waste of time.” Fine, then give yourself permission to quit.I do this all the time with reading. It’s why I am able to read so many articles and books. Here’s publishing’s dirty little secret: most books are not worth finishing. Most books could be cut in half and you wouldn’t miss a thing. The key is to read as long as you are interested and then stop. There are too many great books to read without getting bogged down in the merely good ones.

Engage in a weekly review and preview. Part of the reason our lives get out of control is because we don’t plan. Once a week, you have to come up for air. Or—to change the metaphor—you have to take the plane up to 30,000 feet, so you can see the big picture.I generally do this on Sunday evening. I review my notes from the previous week and look ahead to my calendar.

Here’s my take on his time-shaving, and time saving, suggestions:

1. I think he’s totally right about the web being a huge time suck.  Setting a timer is a great idea and I’m going to give it a try. Should be easy since there’s an app for that on my iPhone.
2. I admit that I really struggle here at times, and I believe I would save a lot of time if I took his advice and only handled email once.
3. I followed this suggestion yesterday and it worked well for me.  I felt like I accomplished a lot of work in a short time.
4. I don’t have any daily or weekly meetings to worry about, so I’m not wasting any time here.  Whew!
5. I do schedule time to do certain tasks or projects, but sometimes I don’t give myself enough time to get it done, or leave any margin for the extra stuff that comes my way.  I’ve got to remember to schedule margin time!
6. Now I don’t feel so bad about all the books I’ve started to read and never finished!
7. I’ve been doing a weekly review for a long time now (I do it on Fridays) and have found it to be very valuable personally.

Are any of these suggestions part of your regular routine?  If so, how are they working for you?  If not, which ones would you want to try?  Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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