Time Management...

What emotions do these words evoke? How's that phrase make you feel?

If you're an overwhelmed entrepreneur chances are it doesn't give you the warm fuzzies!

Whatever it is, one thing is for sure; not all of us are born effective time managers!

Most of us wish we had 25 hours, or more, a day to fit our "to do's" in.

However, it is actually very possible to get MORE done in LESS TIME when you focus on being effective or simply prioritizing those "to do's" instead of cramming them in this elusive thing we call "Time."

If you think about it, and dig a little deeper, time management is a mere figment of our imagination!

Effective Time Management EQUALS Effective Goal Setting

In essence, time management for entrepreneurs is all about focusing on developing effective goal setting skills in order to make the most of the time that is available to us (just 24 hours)!

To become more effective at time management an entrepreneur must ask him or herself:

"Do I have the focus, clarity and purposefulness to know what activities I should prioritize in order to help me move forward in reaching my business and time management goals?"

If we were to:

• Prioritize
• Limit
• Focus

We would be effective time managers.

Prioritizing, limiting, and focusing on just a few things helps us feel more accomplished and productive as well as helps us move forward in reaching our business goals.

BUT the million-dollar question then becomes...

HOW do we become effective goal setters?

How do we develop that sense of purposefulness so that we become entrepreneurs who manage our time effectively?

The answer to that is: Find YOUR PASSIONS and know your STRENGTHS!

Before setting goals, we must first ensure that we are truly following our own passions!

If you know what you're passionate about, awesome (just skip to next subheading)!

If you don't know what you're passionate about, ask yourself the following questions.

1) What work/activities get me most excited?
a. Could it be serving others by marketing a particular product or service?
b. Is it a physical task like instructing others?
c. Would I like to work with others locally or globally? (Offline, Online or both!)

2) What am I best at? What skill sets are my strongest?
a. Writing
b. Public Speaking
c. Instructing or Teaching?
d. Coaching?

3) When am I MOST excited about using my talents and time effectively?

Once you know your passions and what your strengths are you can develop clear and effective goals.

Effective Goal Setting Tips

Your next step is to list the action steps it will take for you to feel fulfilled and accomplished with your goal.

Action steps could include:

• Building more business relationships locally (i.e. by attending networking events).
• Networking online and developing connections with others who are where you would like to be (i.e. actively participating in social networking communities).
• Creating Internet Content so that others find you (i.e. articles like this one, video etc).

Next, list how you would go about each of the above.

Once you have those action steps written down, focus on one or two sub-goals for the next 30 days that will help you make progress! So, while you are focusing on that one sub-goal the next 30 days, your activities will be super focused and centered on those few action steps that are going to get you closer to your larger goal - making you effective at goal setting and time management!

Does this make you feel better?!

Fellow entrepreneur, once you have that clear passion, vision, goal and focus, you can begin to concentrate on a few activities every day that will move you forward and make you feel like you are effective at goal setting and time management!

AND, in fact you WILL be!

See, "managing time" is just a figment of your imagination!

Now my entrepreneurial friend, do you feel better about the phrase, "Time Management"?