Time management: one of the critical steps to starting a small business
I’m a busy guy. I happen to know that this is absolutely typical for entrepreneurs & owners of small business today. I mean, when I say busy I’m talking every single moment in my day has a purpose. There is not a lot of wiggle room. I’m not saying that I am engaged in my business activity all day long, but when I’m at the gym working out or on my 10 minute commute to & from the office, those minutes are all a part of my daily & weekly & monthly & annual & life plan strategy.
Hey, I have a spreadsheet where I log my time into 10 categories & I keep track of what percentage of my time I spent on each category. (17% year to date on direct communication with the StartupNation community. Ever received an email from me? You’re a part of that 17%)
Here’s my problem … I want to keep up with the news & current events that impact my business life. I just can’t find the time. My teammates will send me articles that they’ve read on the internet or forward email newsletters that they’ve subscribed to because they feel that some piece of information contained in that article will be helpful for me to know.
My reaction? Where do you guys find the time to read all this stuff??
Yesterday, it was a blogger’s perspective on podcasting as a viable part of a business model that landed in my inbox sent by a well-meaning teammate. I’m into podcasting. I listen to the Podfather Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code podcast mostly because he talks about breaking events in the world of podcasting. (listening to this podcast is typically how I spend my commute & workout time – I’m a mean multi-tasker)
Today’s article, sent by another motivated & “on-the-lookout-for-impactful-articles” teammate is a Newsweek piece talking about online communities “The New Wisdom of the Web”. (decent article – lots of fluff & not a ton of insight, but worth skimming)
Look, I’m all for growing in knowledge & being on top of the latest & being smarter than the other guy. I’m just not sure how these people are fitting it into their day.
I’m gonna have to create another time category on my spreadsheet for figuring this out.
March 30th, 2006 at 9:39 am
I guess you would have to organize all of this information into categories: imipactful, inspiring, thought-starters and junk.
One of the perks of having become a business owner is that after a period of time, I have acquired some confidence in myself and my sense of where I want my business to go, meaning…that I don’t need to inhale as much information as I did when I began. I don’t feel as worried as I did in the past that I’ve missed something or that I don’t know something.
I must say, I felt embarrassed because during the recent SUN posts about which books are important reading for entrepreneurs, I happened to have been reading yet ANOTHER biography about Alexander Hamilton. Old Al is sometimes a more invigorating figure for me than the authors of many blog that have more direct influence on my business.
March 30th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Having said all of that…I have just been invited to take over someone’s blog…possibly giving me more time management issues and asking you guys to read more suff!
March 30th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
10 minute commute. Now I’m jealous.
March 30th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Ever wonder if you’re, like, losing it?
Two weeks ago I made plans to fly to Chicago tomorrow to pick up some equipment. I go online to print my boarding pass and I don’t have a reservation.
Cost me $300 more to book it today.