Only having 24 hours in a day makes it very difficult to accomplish everything we want to do with our time. For example, I have to balance my time being a mother and a wife along with trying to build an online income.

Without balance we may find ourselves wasting time on unimportant things and not being as productive as we could be. Time management takes a lot of focus to work properly.

According to the Pareto Principle, only 20% of what you do per day really matters. This is why it is important to understand what is important and what isn’t.

Having a set plan for the day allows me to wake up and get straight to work on what needs to be accomplished. I can set a prioritized to-do list so I can make sure nothing gets left out.

Time management is more than just a simple to do list. It is also a great way to track your goals and break them down into smaller daily steps in order to make sure they are accomplished.

For example, in my FranklinCovey day planner I keep track of my daily earnings from each program I am involved in. This helps me to see where I am doing well and what areas need improvement.

I also keep a daily list of all the articles I have written and where I have submitted them. There is also a place for me to keep notes on anything special I have discovered that day that I want to remember for later.

I have a special section in my day planner where I listed all my goals and broke them down into smaller deadlines. My major goal of course is my goal to pay off $72,900 worth of debt by the end of April 2009.

I really enjoy the Values and Mission section that FranklinCovey has in their day planners. From their instructions I was able to formulate my own mission statement, which keeps me focused.

Due to the fact that I am working online, I am a member of a bunch of different online programs and websites. I always had a hard time remembering what my user id and password was for each one.

Thankfully there is a section in my day planner designed for me to write down each website along with my log-in information.

I also have numbered sections in my day planner, which I was able to decide for myself what they would be used for. One of them I use to write down notes from really important things I have learned about working online.

The other sections I am still a bit undecided on, but I am really glad they are there when I need them.

To be effective, everything you do needs to be well organized. It is not necessary to stay busy all day long, you just need to make sure you get results from the time you put in.

Also, it is important to make sure that you aren’t just focusing on one area of your life and ignoring the others.

Schedule time for yourself to relax and to be with your family. There is no point in having a business if you don’t have a life to go with it.

Keeping a to-do list helps keep procrastination away. I had a huge problem with this in the past. I would always want to put everything off until tomorrow.

Now that I write down what I need to do each day, I no longer have that option.

Keep your day planner accessible at all times. I keep mine right here next to me on my desk open to the page for the day. That way it is always visible to me what I need to do next.

Make sure to stay positive. Working on time management is not the easiest thing to do.

You will find over time that you will start to love time management and realize that you can do more with your day than you ever though possible.