I mentioned in Be Smarter in 30 Days the series of events that lead me to build this website and how, because of the lack of time I had, people thought I was crazy.  I also wrote how I learned so much about how much a person can achieve if they apply certain principles towards a goal.  I was putting in many long hours in the first 5 months of this site’s existence.  I was very proud of the dedication that I put into writing, building, and marketing Potential2success.  However, I knew the amount of time spent was not sustainable.

In March of 2008 I moved into my current residence but decided not to bring my PC along.  I knew that as long as I had a PC in my home, I would continuously spend hours upon hours working on the site.  So I tested, learned, and created ways to save time and become more productive when I get in front of my computer which is currently at my mother’s house who lives about 15 miles away.  I intended to keep the PC out of my home until I got settled in.  But after working remotely from my home, I started to realize how much more productive I could become if I worked towards concentrating my task and applying a few new practices. 

Since applying these techniques, my traffic has grown and I’ve also added new features to the site like the Blog Carnivals that I have started hosting.  All without adding any more hours to the time already spend per week.  As a matter of fact, the time that I spend per week is becoming less and less.  Although I love working on the site, I have an active lifestyle that I cannot neglect.  These techniques can be used to help you spend less time towards anything you do whether it’s your blog, your social life, your job, or any other projects.

We all love working on our blogs.  Some of you love working at your jobs.  But there is more to life than working.  There are so many things to experience, people to meet, places to visit.  Use some of these techniques to get things done so you can continue living life. 

Parkinson’s Law and the 80-20 Rule

Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell with seeming important activities in order to fill the allotted time for that task.  In other words if you give yourself 2 hrs to do a task, it will take you 2 hrs to complete that assignment because you will add unimportant activities within that task.  Have you ever started working on something for your blog and then somehow you end up checking your email, stats, or surfing the net? 

The 80-20 principle states that in order to gain the best results from your time spent; you should spend 20% of your time doing things that produce 80% of your desired results. For me, writing and posting articles produces the best results.  If I write an informative, well written post, my visitors will stay on the site longer and possibly send it to a friend.  My desired result is to have more people visit the site and having good content is the best way to do that.

However, I do a lot of research for my post and that can be time consuming.  That is why I started integrating Parkinson’s Law and the 80-20 rule.  I would first pick a topic and then create a simple outline of what points I would like to include in the article.  Then I estimate how long the article will be and how long it will take to complete.  Once I’ve gotten all of that information down, I cut my allotted time by at least 1/2hr to an hour.  Now that I have less time to do the article, I locate task within that time that I can eliminate.   

Most people tend to do the opposite of what the 80-20 rule suggest.  When in front of their screen they will check email, visit Youtube, visit other blogs, view their Facebook page, or twitter that they are writing an article.  These seem like little distractions but think about how many times you do that in one sitting.  In order to get the most out of these two methods you must first know what task gets you the results you desire.  Commenting on other blogs, article submissions, updating your site?  No matter the task, the one that you consider the most effective should be concentrated to fill 20% of your time.  Here is a quick article on the 80-20 rule.

Imperative vs. Important

One of the major problems that arise for someone who is working independently is discipline.  Being able to manage yourself is more difficult than it appears.  I knew that at times I had the tendency to work on task that may not be as important as they seemed to be.  That is where the imperative and important technique came into play.

With the TOD and STOD, I would pick one important task that must be completed that day.  Then I would pick a secondary task that should be completed that day once the first task is done.  There are two reasons why you should do this.  First, you have a clear goal for the day and you can gauge how successful and productive you were by the task that were completed.  Second, In case you are having a problem with the first task you already have a plan to accomplish the second most important thing you can do with your time. 

With these methods in place I cut about 30 minutes off my time in front of the computer.  Knowing that the day would be wasted if the most important task was not done made me remove unnecessary time fillers that somehow became a part of my routine.

Rules to Live By

There are some rules that I have put into place pertaining to the disablers and distractions that come between me and my work.    

TV- While I’m on the computer the television is never on.  Not even for background noise.  If it’s too quiet, turn on the media player and listen to some music.

Email-Checking email has become a worldwide narcotic addiction. I set a specific time to check email; usually at the end of my day or task.  At work it’s once a day and with everything else it’s three times per week. 

3 text rule-Most of my friends know about this rule. This rule is not always in place but it always applies when I’m working on site or something important.  If I receive a text from someone and I answer that text, I will only exchange 2 more texts before I end the conversation.  You’ve been there.  Going back and forth with somebody and then wondering why they didn’t just pick up the phone and call you.  That’s why this rule is in place.  If someone has something to tell me while I’m busy doing something, they have 3 chances to do it.

Delegate research-There is so much to learn about blogging and the internet in general.  It is always changing and new things are always emerging.  If I come across something new that I know nothing about, I do not research it myself first.  I will ask other people I know or go on a forum and ask them what they think about it.  Once I get feedback, I then go and do my own research.  People usually give you the short version of what you need to know.  They also highlight the most important parts.  When you go out on your own first, you must weed through unimportant information before you get to what you were looking for.

Small reward-Although completing a good post is a great reward, sometimes I’ll reward my hard work with something that I’ve denied myself.  While I was training for a race a few months back, I was on a strict diet.  I used Parkinson’s Law to the task of submitting to blog carnivals and I did it in record time.  As a reward I treated myself to an ice-cream cone from Marble Slab.

The extras-Checking traffic, revenue, links in, or any other statistic should be done no more than once a week.  We can sometimes get obsessed with revenue and traffic details but checking them in batches not only saves time, but it gives you a better perception of how well your site is really doing over a longer period of time.  

So I ended up cutting about 4-5 work hours from my week so far.  I am currently experimenting on some new techniques and methods that I’ve learned and created so I can be more productive while I’m growing my blog.  As Potential2success grows, I may need to have a desktop or notebook closer to me but until then I’ll apply these to my daily habits.