It’s Michael Rasmussen with some advice based on the most important lesson I’ve ever learned.

When I first started my Internet business, I wanted to make a living for myself rather than “working for the man”. It seemed like a perfect thing to do.

I didn’t know what I was doing, and I definitely did NOT know how to make consistent profits.

That meant I spent all kinds of time searching for stuff that might make me successful, trying experiments, building my business, and more.

But here’s the lesson I had to learn the hard way…

I was essentially WASTING TIME!

What I’m about to tell you could have saved me years of frustration and cash worries, without question. And if you pay attention, you’ll learn how to start seeing success faster than you probably think is possible.

*************************************************
WHY IT’S HARD TO MANAGE YOUR TIME
*************************************************

It seems like it should be easy, but it’s harder than you think.

When most people start their own Internet business, they do it after they get home from their day job. That means they’re working a sort of wacky schedule…basically working all the time.

Most people quit that day job when they start making enough income to pay the bills.

That’s when the trouble can really start, because lots of people have never spent any time not working for somebody else.

If you’re used to working for somebody else, they set your schedule. When you’re the boss, you set your own schedule. Most people actually end up NOT setting one.

I used to work almost literally all the time. I’d start early in the morning, and before I knew it, it was night time.

There was so much to learn, and there was so much excitement as I started to see some things pay off. I just dove in and worked like crazy.

Then I realized that the rest of my life was suffering. I was watching everything else go by, and it was unhealthy. I wasn’t seeing my wife or my girls, and honestly, I felt awful.

So I had to learn some hard lessons about time management.

*************************************************
TIME MANAGEMENT LESSONS THAT SAVED MY LIFE
*************************************************

This isn’t rocket science, but it’s also not something you learn in school. But these time management lessons kept me from watching my life go by without me.

What I figured out was that I was spending a ton of time “working” on my business, but it wasn’t as productive as it should have been.

These lessons helped me balance things out and start seeing fantastic results.

Lesson #1: Schedule Your Day
—————————-

I know you probably hate your boss making you stick to a schedule, but it’s actually kind of smart.

You need to schedule your time so you make the most of it.

Find when you do your best work (I’m best in the morning) and schedule your most profitable activities then.

For example, let’s say you get most of your visitors from articles, and you do your best work at night. You should block out a couple hours at night to do nothing but write and publish articles. That’s using your time wisely.

Now, I know lots of people aren’t yet at the point where they control pretty much all of their time. I understand, but you still need to schedule your Internet business time wisely.

Let’s say you work a normal job from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you want to get to bed by midnight so you aren’t completely wiped out the next day, you have from 5 p.m. to midnight to fit your work in.

You could schedule 3 hours of work in there, and still live your life.

Remember, you can’t rush success. It’s pretty rare that somebody can even speed it up much without burning out. It’s smarter to work on your business a little bit every day.

And the second lesson makes that easy…

Lesson #2: Set A Quitting Time
——————————

Listen, when you work for yourself, you learn fast that you can work too much. There’s nobody to tell you to stop!

And when stuff really starts clicking, you’ll LIKE it. That means it’s hard to pull yourself away.

But you absolutely MUST stop working every day.

One of the guys I’ve hired to do some writing for me has a simple rule: “No work after 7:00 p.m., and none on weekends.”

He just doesn’t break the rule.

Now, you might be best at night, so your rule might be different, but you get the point. You need to decide when you’re going to stop, then stop.

There will obviously be exceptions to this. There might be an emergency, or a special case, or whatever. Those things are unavoidable, but don’t make them a habit. Set your quitting time and stick to it.

Even if you don’t work entirely for yourself, you STILL control the time you spend on your business. When you get home from your job, stick to your Internet business work hours.

And here’s a way to help you do that…

Lesson #3: Schedule Family Time
——————————-

Schedule time to be with your family and do your best not to miss the appointment, ever.

I strongly recommend that you schedule family time after your workday is completely over. That lets you be fully engaged when you’re spending time with people you love.

If you work a sort of normal schedule, where you work during the day and knock off in the late afternoon, this is easier.

But it’s also pretty easy if you do your best work at night.

For example, you can schedule your workday from about 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. That means you’ll be available for family time pretty much all morning and early afternoon.

You have the flexibility to do whatever you want. Do what fits you and your family best.

Now, what if you work a killer day job that demands most of your time? This is where you have to use your head.

You might have to make some big compromises at the beginning. You might have to tell your family that you’re starting this project, and it’s going to take LOTS of your time at outset.

That’s fine! It’s realistic. But don’t let it go too long.

Sprint at the beginning and work hard, but then back off. That’s healthy, it keeps you from getting burned out, and it keeps your family happy.

Lesson #4: Have A Personal Life
——————————-

Your family isn’t all there is. You need some time for yourself.

I realize that there’s only so much time in a day. It’s easy to fill it up and not have room to breathe.

And I definitely know that it’s hard to fit in a day job, your Internet business work, your family AND time for yourself.

But I also know that you have to find some room, or your life will go downhill.

You can skimp on time for yourself every now and then, but it shouldn’t get to be a habit.

I can remember a time just a few years ago when I was working so much that I had zero time for myself. When I look back on it, I can see just how unhealthy it was.

I barely slept. The time I spent with my family wasn’t really “quality” time, because I was so darn tired. My relationships suffered.

And the crazy part is that my business actually did worse!

When I got things back into balance, everything felt right, and my results skyrocketed.

Lesson #5: Spend Work Time On Profits
————————————-

It’s easy to get distracted during your Internet business time. Believe me, I’ve done my share of bouncing around from one fad to another.

The trick is to focus your time on the most profitable activities.

When you first start, you don’t know what’s going to make you profits, so you have to focus on things that MIGHT.

Once you find things that do make you consistent returns, though, it’s time to focus on those like a laser beam.

Focus on doing what makes you the most, then start to outsource literally everything else as your profits grow.

Your goal should be to work less and make more.

One great way to do this is to segment your work time.

I like to spend the very first part of my workday on the activities that make me the most profit. Then I take a short break. Then I spend some time working on an ongoing project to grow my business.

It’s sort of a rhythm to my work time.

That lets me spend about 2-3 hours every day working on my current income generation. Then I can also spend about that much time working on something that’s going to grow my business.

For example, you could spend 2-3 hours working on your website, and writing some articles to get visitors. Then you could spend 2-3 hours working on an e-book you’re writing to add to your product library.

*************************************************
FINAL THOUGHTS
*************************************************

If you’ll focus your work time on activities like that, and you’ll balance your work time with the rest of your life, your Internet business can succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Mine definitely has, but I had to learn the hard way.

Take my advice and start managing your time so you don’t get run over!

I hope this helps.