News Leadership 3.0

January 13, 2011

Lessons in Entrepreneurship: Tips for Saving Time

By Julia Scott - As a self-funded entrepreneur, the resource I have the most of is time. Here are three tools that cut fluff from my day and open up hours to fulfill my mission on BargainBabe.com - to save readers money - and make money myself. No big secrets here, though I suspect many entrepreneurs under use these resources. I certainly did.

1. Gmail Filters - Today I’ve received 143 emails and it’s only 3:21 p.m. Email is the bane of my existence. Sound familiar? My job requires me to filter tons of information for trends and top deals, so I can’t tune out. When I first started working for myself I foolishly banded all my emails together in one giant folder - a quagmire better known as my inbox. I would go in looking for one thing, only to be distracted by seven others.

Now I use Gmail Filters to do most of my email filtering for me. From my inbox, I select the message(s) I want to filter, then click on “more actions” and “filter messages like these.” I have a folder for email from my top sources, another folder for advertising requests, and a whole slew of distracting emails that go straight to archives. (Incidentally, I’m no longer addicted to Facebook.) I read my email in a targeted fashion instead of flitting through the morass.

2. Cutting my day short - Reducing my hours actually increases my productivity, especially on days when I’m more drawn to those pesky Facebook emails than Wordpress widgets. So I make myself a deal. I get to leave one hour early if I finish everything. And I mean everything.

When I can focus I can finish early, and that creates time for me to exercise, see friends, or cook a fabulous dinner. Time off is important so I can come back recharged tomorrow. It also creates space for new story ideas to come in. As one of my favorite editors used to say, “Finish your work and get out of here. You’re going to find more stories living your life than sitting in this newsroom.”

3. Google Calender - I used to start everyday by writing down all I needed to accomplish. Thing is, about half my tasks were the same everyday and many others needed to be repeated once or twice a week on specific days. Write five blog posts. Check HARO for publicity requests. Respond to advertisers. Write column.

Google Calender allows me to create and repeat tasks on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis. I can modify each task individually or as a series. It’s easy to move one task to another day and set reminders so I don’t miss interviews, radio show call-ins, or deadlines. I can color code items by category, such as work, travel, or fun and share categories with others if I chose.

What tools do you find most useful to create time at work?

(Julia Scott is an entrepreneurial journalist, professional speaker, and blogger at BargainBabe.com, which helps people save money on everyday expenses. Scott was a fellow in Knight Digital Media Center’s News Entrepreneur Boot Camp in 2009.)

By Michele McLellan, 01/13/11 at 5:29 am
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Comments

Thanks for the tips, Julia!

I have a similar type of inbox deluge problem, but when I tried setting up different folders, I found that it just took more time to check 6 different folders each day instead of one crowded inbox.

Wondering if there are other opinions, strategies out there!

thx

By mgrady, 01/14/11 at 9:16 am

@mgrady I see what you mean. Having too many Gmail folders can suck up more time than if you had kept all your email in the Inbox. I have four folders in addition to my Inbox for specific types of emails (advertiser inquiries goes into one folder, while deals I’m going to blog about goes into another). That way I can focus my time on one task and not be distracted by emails from, say, my mom. Play with it and see what works for you!

Julia
aka Bargain Babe

By Julia Scott, 01/19/11 at 3:43 pm

Thanks for the input! Got me thinking about it and I’m experimenting with a new strategy—the inbox for everything I want to know right now and a 2nd box for things I can check just once a day. Hoping this will help tone down some of the distractions from say, what’s playing at the local art cinema and today’s groupon deals!