Most people who decide upon internet marketing as a business venture love the internet to begin with and want to unleash its evident power to their advantage. Sometimes these web lovers are sorely disappointed because it seems that they work for hours upon hours and dont get anything accomplished. That, my friends, is the nature of the beast! If you intend to do business on the internet, you absolutely have to be disciplined in order to manage your time.

Here are 7 steps to doing a better job of it:

1. Set work hours It is so easy to waste time when you should be working and to end up working unreasonable hours. Internet work can seemly turn into an addiction overnight if you dont set specific work hours and stick with them.

2. Schedule play hours Dont spend your work hours playing - surfing the net, visiting internet forums or participating in chat rooms. Set aside leisure time for such activities if you are prone to them.

3. Schedule communications Set specific times during your work hours to open email. This should usually be the first thing and the last thing you do each work day. If you open your email periodically and respond to it, your work hours can be eaten up in a hurry! Turn off any indicators that tell you youve got new email.

4. Block the SPAM Use a SPAM blocker to isolate or block SPAM email and keep it up to date. Use a separate email address for your business and personal email. Open personal email during your leisure time and business email during your scheduled communication time within your work hours.

5. Make a long-term plan Make a long-term plan of what you wish to accomplish through your internet marketing. Having a vision with milestones and deadlines will keep you focused and working purposefully day after day.

6. Plan your days Plan your days ahead of time with a "to do" list that ensures important things will get accomplished. Always plan a little time for unexpected interruptions or demanding little emergencies.

7. Kill the messenger If you use messenger programs such as MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger, log out during your work hours. If you conduct business communications through the messenger program, open separate accounts or block contacts so that only your business associates that you need to be available to can contact you via the messenger program during your work hours.

Implementing these 7 simple tips will help you to master your time and will skyrocket your productivity! About the author: Jason Tarasi Publishes His "Underground Marketing Articles" Weekly. Who Else Wants To Join One Of The Top Free Marketing Websites In The World And Gain Access To Our Vault Of Free Marketing Information, Webmaster Tools And Software? http://www.freeclassifiedlinks.com

The internet is one of those things in life that borders on the verge of a good versus evil battle. It can be the greatest money making tool in existence, or the most malicious time waster. When people venture into the business of internet marketing, they often think its going to be a piece of cake.

Most people who decide upon internet marketing as a business venture love the internet to begin with and want to unleash its evident power to their advantage. Sometimes these web lovers are sorely disappointed because it seems that they work for hours upon hours and dont get anything accomplished. That, my friends, is the nature of the beast! If you intend to do business on the internet, you absolutely have to be disciplined in order to manage your time.

Here are 7 steps to doing a better job of it:

1. Set work hours It is so easy to waste time when you should be working and to end up working unreasonable hours. Internet work can seemly turn into an addiction overnight if you dont set specific work hours and stick with them.

2. Schedule play hours Dont spend your work hours playing - surfing the net, visiting internet forums or participating in chat rooms. Set aside leisure time for such activities if you are prone to them.

3. Schedule communications Set specific times during your work hours to open email. This should usually be the first thing and the last thing you do each work day. If you open your email periodically and respond to it, your work hours can be eaten up in a hurry! Turn off any indicators that tell you youve got new email.

4. Block the SPAM Use a SPAM blocker to isolate or block SPAM email and keep it up to date. Use a separate email address for your business and personal email. Open personal email during your leisure time and business email during your scheduled communication time within your work hours.

5. Make a long-term plan Make a long-term plan of what you wish to accomplish through your internet marketing. Having a vision with milestones and deadlines will keep you focused and working purposefully day after day.

6. Plan your days Plan your days ahead of time with a "to do" list that ensures important things will get accomplished. Always plan a little time for unexpected interruptions or demanding little emergencies.

7. Kill the messenger If you use messenger programs such as MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger, log out during your work hours. If you conduct business communications through the messenger program, open separate accounts or block contacts so that only your business associates that you need to be available to can contact you via the messenger program during your work hours.

Implementing these 7 simple tips will help you to master your time and will skyrocket your productivity! About the author: Jason Tarasi Publishes His "Underground Marketing Articles" Weekly. Who Else Wants To Join One Of The Top Free Marketing Websites In The World And Gain Access To Our Vault Of Free Marketing Information, Webmaster Tools And Software? http://www.freeclassifiedlinks.com

The extra mile in time management starts with actually going out of your way to observe how long it takes for you to complete your regular tasks. This is very important for the reason that it is easy for you to overestimate or underestimate how fast you can go with each. When you overestimate, you could end up wasting precious time. If you underestimate, you could get discouraged so that you actually tend to rush through your tasks and compromise the quality of the outcome, just so you could keep yourself-imposed schedule. This is why you really cannot just depend on guesses. You actually have to time yourself while you do your usual tasks, and that is where you base your time management plan to make it as realistic as possible.

Of course, when you now know how long your tasks will take you to finish them, you can start planning your daily schedule. As you do so, do not forget that no matter how much you need to accomplish within a day, you have to allot time for you to relax and release tension. There are two reasons for this. One is, you'll end up with better quality work, even if this means only five-minute breaks in between tasks. There's really no hard and fast rule on this because everything depends on the type of job you do and whether or not you can insert those short breaks. But in general, the point is for you not to deprive yourself of rest, especially when your mind and body are craving for it. Second, if you don't allow yourself to stop and pause for breaks, you'll end up burning yourself out. For some people, this can mean throwing the career they've built for decades because of a burnout.

When you've finally laid your schedule, there is no other rational thing to do than to follow it. A lot of people have great ideas on how to manage or budget their time, yet they themselves have become slaves of time. This is because they do not really take time management to heart. If you want to be successful as the master of your life, whether at home or at work, managing your time efficiently is one skill you cannot afford not to learn.

Click here to learn more about time management or visit us at http://timemanagementinformation.com.

Time management sounds easy to most people, but it can be very hard to do. Those who have become masters of their schedules and goals will rarely find this to be a problem, if at all. But for those who never seem to run out of things to do, time can be an enemy. However, it doesn't have to be an enemy at all as long one learns to befriend it. If you've been needing time management skills yourself, know that it is not something you can do overnight and succeed in. A lot of people buy planners and start writing down their tasks without getting serious about getting them done. If you are serious about finally setting your schedules straight, you have to go the extra mile.

The extra mile in time management starts with actually going out of your way to observe how long it takes for you to complete your regular tasks. This is very important for the reason that it is easy for you to overestimate or underestimate how fast you can go with each. When you overestimate, you could end up wasting precious time. If you underestimate, you could get discouraged so that you actually tend to rush through your tasks and compromise the quality of the outcome, just so you could keep yourself-imposed schedule. This is why you really cannot just depend on guesses. You actually have to time yourself while you do your usual tasks, and that is where you base your time management plan to make it as realistic as possible.

Of course, when you now know how long your tasks will take you to finish them, you can start planning your daily schedule. As you do so, do not forget that no matter how much you need to accomplish within a day, you have to allot time for you to relax and release tension. There are two reasons for this. One is, you'll end up with better quality work, even if this means only five-minute breaks in between tasks. There's really no hard and fast rule on this because everything depends on the type of job you do and whether or not you can insert those short breaks. But in general, the point is for you not to deprive yourself of rest, especially when your mind and body are craving for it. Second, if you don't allow yourself to stop and pause for breaks, you'll end up burning yourself out. For some people, this can mean throwing the career they've built for decades because of a burnout.

When you've finally laid your schedule, there is no other rational thing to do than to follow it. A lot of people have great ideas on how to manage or budget their time, yet they themselves have become slaves of time. This is because they do not really take time management to heart. If you want to be successful as the master of your life, whether at home or at work, managing your time efficiently is one skill you cannot afford not to learn.

Click here to learn more about time management or visit us at http://timemanagementinformation.com.

No matter whether you are a full time student in school or a part time learner with a full-time job, if you're continuing your education then you likely have had to learn how to effectively manage your time with regard to turning in assignments on time and studying for exams. It simply cannot be stated in enough ways - your time is very valuable, very limited and therefore it must be used effectively and maximized for efficiency. With only so much time at your disposal when you have an exam approaching, it is important to understand some basic concepts with regard to studying that can help you shorten your prep time as well as relieve your stress level surrounding the exam itself.

Studying and preparing for exams is never something most of us look forward to. The exam date looms on the horizon like an approaching thunderstorm, and as the date gets closer and closer your stress level or anxiety will likely increase accordingly. While there is always going to be a certain amount of stress involved in preparing for an exam, one effective way to lessen your pre-exam stress levels is to build, maintain and utilize effective studying methods and techniques. With effective studying techniques you can instill confidence in yourself, you'll feel prepared and you'll be ready to take your exam with a minimum of worry. Confidence breeds success, as the saying goes, and learning to improve your studying techniques will increase your chances of passing, which in turn will boost your confidence and lead to further exams and test success.

Studying and retaining what you've studied are not difficult concepts to grasp. But there is more to successful studying than simply cracking open the books and sitting and reading endlessly for hours on end (that would only serve to give you a blazing headache and poor posture!). The most effective thing you can do to improve studying is to manage your time efficiently and make smart decisions. Much of the anxiety and worry associated with exams is usually because the student does not manage their time wisely, this in turn leads to a scenario where the studying is neglected or crammed into an otherwise already busy schedule. If the studying is not given full priority and attention, the ability to take the test and pass it is compromised.

So, how can you effectively manage your time and how in turn can this result in more effective studying?

The first step is crucial - when you know you've got an exam in the near future, look at your personal schedule and what it entails until the exam date. Find the correct time to study, mark those times on your calendar and stick to them. This seems simple enough, but for most people this step will require some careful planning. However, executing this first step will also eliminate cramming and cramming is one of the most counter effective methods of study you could ever employ, it simply doesn't work. Plan to study when you're going to be alert - avoid evenings and after work whenever possible - and don't schedule yourself for hours and hours, your goal should be to retain information, not to study until your eyes burn. Study for a couple hours at a time and you'll retain the information much easier.

The second thing is to understand the subjects you need to prepare for - you wouldn't read your math textbooks over and over to effectively study for an algebra exam, would you? No, you'd likely take the examples your professor or teacher has provided, any quizzes you've had marked, and some examples from your textbooks and go over them repeatedly. Working out problems and understanding how and when to apply formulas will burn them into your mind and thus, make them easier to solve on an exam. If your exam is going to deal with facts and history or social issues and writing, make sure you're reading everything that will be pertinent to the subject of the test - know what you're going to be talking or writing about.

Make sure that when you're studying that your distractions are limited - no TV's in the background, no loud music, and stay away from your computer or laptop as they are basically gateways to distraction. If you do need your laptop or tablet close by (and you very well might if you've got notes or documents, etc that are part of your study materials), exercise some self restraint and don't open your internet connection. Your Facebook friends don't need updates on your studying! Ensure you've got an uncluttered room, a comfortable place to sit, and adequate lighting (your eyes will strain in dim light). And by all means, take a break from time to time. Get up, stretch, go outside and get some fresh air, etc. "Take five" as the saying goes, and refresh your mind by giving yourself a mental breather.

Good study skills aren't exclusive too being in school or taking tests, the disciplines and methods you establish will be invaluable throughout life and in many other applications. When you learn and apply effective studying techniques and methods you'll end up with more free time - something we can all use more of in our busy lives. Learn to learn efficiently, study your studying, manage you time intelligently and your exams will cease to be the anxiety inducing roadblocks we make them and will instead become stepping stones to self confidence and ultimately, success.

HealthCMI nursing ceu are approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, the WSNA for ANCC and therefore valid in every state.  The Institute supports their curriculum wholly and encourges supplementation with other reputable materials that will benefit the student. Visit their online course catalog.

According to WikiHow, "Exams are a terrible and stressful thing to study for, especially knowing that they can make or break your final mark." That is a wonderful piece of sage advice, one that could be emblazoned on a sign over the door of every classroom in every school. It also serves to create a feeling of the-clock-is-ticking anxiety in anyone who has ever had to prepare for an important test.

No matter whether you are a full time student in school or a part time learner with a full-time job, if you're continuing your education then you likely have had to learn how to effectively manage your time with regard to turning in assignments on time and studying for exams. It simply cannot be stated in enough ways - your time is very valuable, very limited and therefore it must be used effectively and maximized for efficiency. With only so much time at your disposal when you have an exam approaching, it is important to understand some basic concepts with regard to studying that can help you shorten your prep time as well as relieve your stress level surrounding the exam itself.

Studying and preparing for exams is never something most of us look forward to. The exam date looms on the horizon like an approaching thunderstorm, and as the date gets closer and closer your stress level or anxiety will likely increase accordingly. While there is always going to be a certain amount of stress involved in preparing for an exam, one effective way to lessen your pre-exam stress levels is to build, maintain and utilize effective studying methods and techniques. With effective studying techniques you can instill confidence in yourself, you'll feel prepared and you'll be ready to take your exam with a minimum of worry. Confidence breeds success, as the saying goes, and learning to improve your studying techniques will increase your chances of passing, which in turn will boost your confidence and lead to further exams and test success.

Studying and retaining what you've studied are not difficult concepts to grasp. But there is more to successful studying than simply cracking open the books and sitting and reading endlessly for hours on end (that would only serve to give you a blazing headache and poor posture!). The most effective thing you can do to improve studying is to manage your time efficiently and make smart decisions. Much of the anxiety and worry associated with exams is usually because the student does not manage their time wisely, this in turn leads to a scenario where the studying is neglected or crammed into an otherwise already busy schedule. If the studying is not given full priority and attention, the ability to take the test and pass it is compromised.

So, how can you effectively manage your time and how in turn can this result in more effective studying?

The first step is crucial - when you know you've got an exam in the near future, look at your personal schedule and what it entails until the exam date. Find the correct time to study, mark those times on your calendar and stick to them. This seems simple enough, but for most people this step will require some careful planning. However, executing this first step will also eliminate cramming and cramming is one of the most counter effective methods of study you could ever employ, it simply doesn't work. Plan to study when you're going to be alert - avoid evenings and after work whenever possible - and don't schedule yourself for hours and hours, your goal should be to retain information, not to study until your eyes burn. Study for a couple hours at a time and you'll retain the information much easier.

The second thing is to understand the subjects you need to prepare for - you wouldn't read your math textbooks over and over to effectively study for an algebra exam, would you? No, you'd likely take the examples your professor or teacher has provided, any quizzes you've had marked, and some examples from your textbooks and go over them repeatedly. Working out problems and understanding how and when to apply formulas will burn them into your mind and thus, make them easier to solve on an exam. If your exam is going to deal with facts and history or social issues and writing, make sure you're reading everything that will be pertinent to the subject of the test - know what you're going to be talking or writing about.

Make sure that when you're studying that your distractions are limited - no TV's in the background, no loud music, and stay away from your computer or laptop as they are basically gateways to distraction. If you do need your laptop or tablet close by (and you very well might if you've got notes or documents, etc that are part of your study materials), exercise some self restraint and don't open your internet connection. Your Facebook friends don't need updates on your studying! Ensure you've got an uncluttered room, a comfortable place to sit, and adequate lighting (your eyes will strain in dim light). And by all means, take a break from time to time. Get up, stretch, go outside and get some fresh air, etc. "Take five" as the saying goes, and refresh your mind by giving yourself a mental breather.

Good study skills aren't exclusive too being in school or taking tests, the disciplines and methods you establish will be invaluable throughout life and in many other applications. When you learn and apply effective studying techniques and methods you'll end up with more free time - something we can all use more of in our busy lives. Learn to learn efficiently, study your studying, manage you time intelligently and your exams will cease to be the anxiety inducing roadblocks we make them and will instead become stepping stones to self confidence and ultimately, success.

HealthCMI nursing ceu are approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, the WSNA for ANCC and therefore valid in every state.  The Institute supports their curriculum wholly and encourges supplementation with other reputable materials that will benefit the student. Visit their online course catalog.

Jane Schulte is really quite remarkable.

She's an entrepreneur, who runs two successful businesses. She grew her company, PRISM Title, from eight to 60 employees in only 18 months. She has published four books, two of which are award winning. She speaks to a variety of audiences about business success. She has been featured in Jeffrey Gitomer's "Sales Caffeine" newsletter and many other media outlets. On top of all this, she's an accomplished artist whose works have been commissioned.

That's certainly an impressive bio. But do you want to know what's most remarkable about Jane Schulte?

She doesn't work evenings and weekends.

"I might log in on my laptop for a minute right when I get home," Schulte said, "but I don't work in the evening unless it's a crisis or some client needs my help and absolutely can't wait."

Imagine that! How can a person accomplish so much, yet do it so efficiently, that she doesn't take work home with her each night?

The answer is time management.

When asked how she can accomplish so much, Schulte gave a lot of reasons - a talented and loyal staff, energy, drive - but she focused mostly on time management.

It wouldn't be fair to say Schulte is obsessed with time management, but she has definitely mastered it in a way very few others have. That discipline has allowed her to excel in many wide-ranging things simultaneously.

Schulte's path to success is kind of old fashioned in that she worked her way through the proverbial "school of hard knocks." She grew up - and still lives - in the northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. She started working as a legal secretary in 1981. She was promoted to a real estate paralegal two years later and landed her first management job in 1985. A few short years later, she was an executive. Just recently, she started an additional company, PRISM Business Advisors. She and her husband Greg together have three sons, one of whom works at NASA. The other two are enrolled at the University of Kentucky.

Certainly tenacity and drive mixed with competence and business acumen are important, but more than any other skill, time management is number one.

In fact, when asked what advice she would give a young entrepreneur, Schulte quickly said they should get a handle on their time.

"If you don't control your time, all things are not possible," she said. "I can't stress that enough. I've seen so many people, who could be so much more successful if they weren't so scattered, and they didn't get overwhelmed and bogged down. They become immobilized. There are so many things hitting them, and they don't have any systems in place to take care of that or keep their stress at a manageable level."

The sad thing is that many of these overwhelmed and ultimately burned-out people are full of talent.

"Get a handle on your time, because we only have so much," Schulte said. "In order to be really successful, you have to be able to do more than just one thing. You have to be diversified, flexible and agile enough to go where there are opportunities."

Schulte is so committed to good time management that she authored a how-to book, Work Smart Not Hard: Organizational Tips and Tools That Will Change Your Life. In the book, she describes both strategies and tactics for getting a grip on life's most precious resource.

She preaches the importance of de-cluttering our desks and email in-boxes. She describes her PEND system, which stands for "Put an End to Needless Distraction™. PEND consists of a folder for each day of the month where paper items are strategically filed. She also has an electronic PEND system for emails. She uses Microsoft Outlook's task feature, dual monitors on her desk PC, and takes full advantage of the power offered by smart phones and remote access to office computer databases.

Ultimately, the effective time manager uses all the tools available.

"The idea is ‘don't remember anything,'" Schulte said. "Use your tools and system, so you are free to take care of the task at hand whatever that might be."

There's another tool that is incredibly important: delegation. Accomplishing things through other people is fundamental if you want to succeed and enjoy a fulfilling life. By leveraging the work of others, you multiply your own abilities. In fact, Schulte said delegation is one of best strengths as a leader.

"I've taught a lot of people what I know and what I do," she said. "That way, I can send a lot of projects or parts of projects to other people."

By the way, if you would like to learn more about Jane Schulte, go to PrismSuccess.com or find her books on Amazon.com.

Jeff Beals is an award-winning author, who helps professionals do more business and have a greater impact on the world through effective sales, marketing and personal branding techniques. As a professional speaker, he delivers energetic and humorous keynote speeches and workshops to audiences worldwide. You can learn more and follow his "Business Motivation Blog" at http://www.JeffBeals.com.

Jeff Beals is an award-winning author, who helps professionals do more business and have a greater impact on the world through effective sales, marketing and personal branding techniques. As a professional speaker, he delivers energetic and humorous keynote speeches and workshops to audiences worldwide. You can learn more and follow his "Business Motivation Blog" at http://www.JeffBeals.com.

Every man has 24 hours in a day but still out of them few come up as successful personalities while other live a meaningless life. The trick lies not in time but in its effective management which determines the success of souls. With the improvement in technology, things like online scheduling software can create wonders in organizing time to its best.Here are a few techniques to organize your schedule and manage time smartly.

1. Goal Setting

At the start of a day we look at list of things we need to complete among which include both the compulsory and non-compulsory things. The best solution to this dilemma is to keep the goal crystal clean. Once you are sure about your goal, things will automatically fall in its place. The best way to yield maximum out of this goal setting is through timeline. Once a timeline is added to the goal, priorities will automatically come up.

2. Analyze

In order to maintain a perfect time management, one needs to find out things which are of real importance. In day-today life we come across list of work which looks important but reality is not the same. These are the work which leads to what we call as a ‘waste of time' as they will never lead to goals we have set for ourselves. The best way to come out of this big problem is to analyze things perfectly and question, if it is of actual importance at this time or not.

3. Set Priorities

As we all know, there are unlimited wants but limited resources, same goes with time. We all possess a limited time and sometimes the list of things to be done outrun the time limit. The best way to handle this complex situation is to determine the priorities of work. Setting up of priorities can solve big confusions which arise in our brain from time to time thus leading to clearer picture of goals. One can make use of web scheduling software to arrange work as per priority. This software avails a simplified platform for arranging the list of work.

4. Setting a Time Table

This is something our schools have taught us well but seldom have we used it in practical life. Time management can be done perfectly through a time table. It helps in setting up a fix time for a particular work thus planning available time smartly and effectively. One can make use of online scheduling software to accomplish the task effectively. Such software provides a strong base for time management and the easy use of it makes them even more popular.

5. No Ignorance

After the goal is clear and time table is set, one needs to stand on it like a wall and no deviations from the set standards should be allowed. The person should be proactive in executing the planned table without any ignorance. The strict execution from web scheduling software canmake this task easy. If a thing is done on time, it will leave no stress but will assure success.

These are some of the tips to manage time effectively but after all this we should not forget that we are all human beings and we all need time for ourselves. So always keep your health and family in the priority list and spare justified time for it.

Rama Banerjee is passionate about making small businesses more efficient by harnessing web and mobile technologies, writes about SimplifyThis.com applications while improving them and adding new features. Learn new features about online scheduling and web scheduling software today.

So what's the problem here? Is it that you are an individual who procrastinates or is lazy? It's unlikely that's the real problem. Most people are a little bit lazy. If one aspect of being lazy is the tendency to want to get things done efficiently with the least amount of effort, that's really not such a bad thing. Ok, so what is the actual problem here?

Did you know that often the biggest problem is that your "to-do list" is not really a to-do list? Get your list and scan it over right now. Are you immediately aware of the next action step that you can begin right away? If this is not readily apparent to you, then you probably have a "to-do list" that isn't really a to-do list. The reality is, most "to-do lists" (so-called) that people make are actually a combination of different items, which are:

To-dos (action steps) - these are the items which you look at and understand clearly just what it is you need to do to accomplish them. Here are some examples: "Call Frank and discuss how to improve the accounting system.", "brainstorm 10 ideas about how increase revenue. ", "compose an email to my top client to thank them for their business and loyalty", "mow the lawn".

Projects - these are items that by necessity need multiple specific action steps to complete and these need to be listed as separate distinct tasks. Sometimes you will know all the steps necessary to finish the project but other times you don't. An example of a project would be, "hire a new assistant". It's a project since completing it involves multiple steps, such as "place a wanted ad in the paper", "review resumes" and more.

Other stuff - this is everything else on your list, things you have written down you might need to do something about, but you just don't have a clear understanding what the action is you should take.

It's a really big problem if there are things on your list that aren't actually "to-dos". When you look at the list and you're not sure what to do about some of the items, you will actually start to fear looking at it, because you'll think it will be too hard sorting through all the issues. Or you might read through the list and just pick out the easy stuff to do, skipping over those items that you're not quite sure about. As this happens, the usefulness of the list will be reduced as you start avoiding items that are important. You do this mainly because you have not defined "first action steps" to take in order to accomplish the less simple tasks.

Now, in theory, you could figure out the specifics of what to do about each item as you get to it. However this is a dangerous approach because likely you will then end up procrastinating about out what to do for each item and this will lead to more procrastination in taking the action itself.

Therefore, you have to make sure that you only put items on your to-do list that you are crystal clear about what the action required is in order to complete them. So, you have to look at everything on your list and ask the following questions:

1. Do I know immediately exactly what I need to do next this with item, without having to think about it?

2. Do I know what the end result or outcome is that I want from this item?

3. Will this "to-do" take me less than eight hours (or a full day's work) to accomplish it? If the task will take longer than eight hours, then you should consider breaking it down into smaller, more manageable parts. The 8 hour figure is not exact or specific but something to consider in order discovering what works for you.

4. Is this to-do really a specific action? As an example, "contact Denise about the sales report" is not as specific as "telephone Denise at 304-987-2984 for 15 minutes to complete the sales report." It may seem like a small thing, however saying "telephone" rather than "contact" means that you've thought about how to specifically complete the task. Then it will be psychologically much easier when it's time to get the task done. Also, as for putting the phone number in the to-do, when it's time to call Denise, it allows you to take the action faster, although this may not be necessary if Denise's number is easily accessible on your contacts list.

An additional example about actions being specific is that sometimes the next action is to think about an item or brainstorm about what to do. So, instead of writing, "Think about what do about such and such…", you need to write down a specific action another person could observe to confirm you have completed it, for example, "Think about and write down 5 ideas about what to do regarding such and such…" Now this is still essentially the same thing, but the added specificity is a powerful motivator since your mind will know clearly when the task is done. Any time you are able, try to make a to-do more specific; this will make it that much harder for you to resist it.

5. Is this to-do the very next thing I need to do? Sometimes you can't follow through on a certain to-do item because there is a particular action you need to do first. What you need to do is consider and write down the specific first thing that should be done.

As an example, one task on your list is to "call Bill re: the new proposal", however you don't have Bill's phone number. First, you have to call another person, Susan, in order to get Bill's number. So what is your very next action step then? "Call Susan to get Bill's phone number."

Now this may all seem simple and in theory you could figure out any "first action steps" for each item without specifically noting or writing them down. In practice though, it becomes really easy to procrastinate regarding your action items if you do not specify the "first action step" to take in order to actually achieve the goal.

6. Can I break the task down into smaller components? If the task on your to-do list appears too difficult, then you need to think, "What is the very first action that I need to do for this?" and then mark that down on your list. So, for example, say you wrote down as a to-do: "Write my new book."

Now here is the problem: Every time you see the item on your list you want to ignore it and not take any action; you're intimidated by how much is involved in doing it. This particular task is actually a project and in order to complete it, will require multiple, distinct, sequential to-dos. You have to look at the task, break it down and consider what would be the very "first action step" that can be done towards the goal of completing the overall project.

In this case, it might be "brainstorm a chapter list for the book" or perhaps, "go to the library to research reference material needed for the book." Whatever it is, this very "first action step" needs to be something small that can be done in less than 8 hours, or even better, less than 30 minutes.

7. Is this task really a to-do or is it something I am waiting on? Another reason why tasks don't seem to go away from your to-do list is that you're waiting for something you need that you don't currently have. Now, it is not a good idea to leave those types of items on your to-do list. Why? Once again, your mind will freeze up because of a list that is mixed with to-do items you can do now and those which don't have an immediate action that can be taken. Items like this need to be moved to a different list, which we will talk about more below.

8. Do I really want to do this task? On your to-do list, sometimes there may be an item on it you just never seem to get around to doing or even starting. The reason for this could simply be that the task is something you just don't really want to do.

You might get to it later, but it is not a high enough priority to properly take care of at the present moment. Now instead of just leaving it on your to-do list to bug you, the task should be moved to an "on hold" or "to do later" list, which includes items that you may do someday but you aren't committed to doing at the present moment.

Your to-do list needs to only have things that you can do NOW, not tasks that have components that you are waiting on in order to complete them or tasks you may want to do in the future. You need to keep a separate list for those particular items. Keep one list for things of which you are waiting for something. Put the other to-dos that you are not able to do now but may eventually want to get to on a separate list called "To do later" or "On hold".

Finally, once you have gone through the process of dividing the items on your main to-do list into other lists as described and reduced it down to only items you can actually do now, you'll then be able to determine clear "first action steps" and you'll feel much better! You will be much less intimidated by your list because you can look at each task and say, "yes, I can do that!" It just won't feel hard anymore.

Use the outlined method to clarify your to-do list and reduce it to only REAL "to-dos". You will feel decreased stress as you begin to get much more done.
 

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