Welcome back!

When you decide to start a direct sales business you committed to create a business out of your home. But, managing all the “home” stuff and the “work” stuff can get difficult if we do not practice good time management.

The truth is that managing your time can be the biggest obstacle to working from home and being successful in your direct sales business. Learning to overcome these challenges can be the solution to running and being successful at your direct sales business.

Many people all the idea that they are “perfectionist” as an excuse; a way to look and feel busy doing things over and over and never letting it go. For example, you are building a website but because the color is half a shade off from what you envisioned in your mind you spend hours upon hours trying to fix it, and you never can, so you never release the site. Get a site up, even if it is not perfect, it is better to be out there, than hidden.

Others put off doing things because they fear failure. They do not make phone calls because they know the other party will say no. They don’t join a local business group because they fear they will be rejected.  You might be too tired and feel like avoiding anything related to your business. If you find yourself procrastinating, ask yourself why, and do at least one thing on the list that you do not want to do.

Some people cannot say no to anyone. They do not say no to their friends, or family, or co workers. Then they get overwhelmed and feel resentful. You are not super woman. I’m sorry but super mom does not exist. Learn to say no and feel fine about saying no.  You have a right to do things for yourself and your business without being made to feel guilty. Only you can control this issue.  Say no, mean it, and move on.

Lack of organization is a big problem with time management. We have all been caught up doing all of the following way too long.

• Social networking (Facebook, Twitter)
• Email (no you don’t need to spend hours reading it)
• Phone calls (if you’re chatting and messing around get off the phone)
• Checking stats and website analytics (This is important but you don’t need to obsessively watch the numbers)
• Surfing the net, reading blogs and industry information (pick a day and a time, and stick to that)

One quick email check can turn into hours of time down the drain. Learn to be more organized about how much time you spend on these items. Make a plan and stick to it. Use a timer if you need to.

Sometimes poor time management skills have  a deeper meaning. Ask yourself the following questions:

What’s stopping you? What are you afraid of? What do you need to fix the issue?

Setting goals and priorities are important components of time and business management. Set attainable goals with reasonable time limits. Do not set yourself up for failure by setting impossible standards. But do set some goals, and do move forward daily to reach those goals.

Make lists and make them off. There is a great way to organize yourself using a program that is free called Many Moon. It is a google App. Just go to http://www.manymoon.com. You can upgrade to a paid version but the free version is perfect for a single person running a direct sales business to keep track of what they need to do.

Use your calendar, or google calendar, to schedule in not only working times, but also free times. Yes, write down that you’re going to take little Jonny to the park at 2pm on Thursday. Then when someone asks you to do something at that time you can honestly say, “No thank you, I have an appointment.”

Make sure you  set realistic times to get something accomplished, take into consideration all factors so that you can get a good estimate of how long a task takes. Schedule in planning time too. Each night before you finish your day, take a look at your calendar to remind yourself of the priorities you have set for yourself for the next day, week, and month.

You can use a PDA or a pocket calendar, do not make this too hard on yourself. Just do it, low tech, high tech, it does not matter.

If you really feel overworked , it may be time to hire an assistant. Remember that a CEO has an executive assistant so why shouldn’t a successful direct sales consultant with a large team have an assistant? There are many places you can hire someone. A really good place to find a Virtual Assistant is at VaInsiders. You can submit a request for proposal (RFP) there. Hire people to do the tasks you do not enjoy doing. Most of the time these are the administrative tasks. You can also hire a housekeeper if daily chores are a distraction from your business. And don’t forget about automation. Many tasks can be automated to free up your time.

Time management issues can quickly be a thing of the past with proper planning, organization and the right mindset.  You can be hugely successful in your direct sales business if you just pick one new idea and try it for a month. You never know, you might become the most organized person you know.