You have a busy day every day.
Maybe you have a 9 to 5 plus commute time to take into consideration. Maybe you take care of elderly parents, a sick spouse or energetic kids.
There can be all kinds of reasons why you find it hard to find time to do anything at all for your online affiliate marketing business.
Here are three tips you can use.
Most people feel they are productive.
I have thought so myself. I worked eight hours a day in my business. Absolutely focused.
Until I checked and found that I wasted more than 80 percent of that time.
You will not be aware of it until you track everything you do. This will be hard, but also a big eye-opener when you find all that wasted time.
The good news is that you can now put that time into your affiliate marketing business instead.
First, you must decide to do only one thing at a time. You can do more if you are used to multi-tasking. But it is less effective than focusing on one thing.
And it is a lot harder to track what you spend time on.
So at least while you are tracking time, you could do yourself a favor and do only one thing at a time. The only exception is if you save time doing two things.
This will happen if, for example, you need a bathroom break and to make a cup of tea.
You can write down what time you get up from your work, type in “bathroom and tea,” put the kettle on and then visit the bathroom. When you are done, the water is boiling, and you can brew your tea.
But do not combine watching the news with writing an article and chatting with your neighbor.
Every time you stop one activity, write it down and write what time you start the next.
Stick to this for at least a week.
You will likely find that you forgot to note down what you are doing from time to time. For example, if your spouse interrupts you by sharing a link to this funny YouTube video you must see. Or when the phone rings. Do not worry.
Make a mental note of it and you will get better over time.
You may even want to mute your phone and messenger program.
Once you have tracked your time for a week or more, look at what you have been doing. Are there activities who did not lead you towards your goal to make money from a side hustle? How much time did you spend on these things?
It is often the small, innocent looking activities like a quick visit to Facebook. Or just checking your email because you needed to see if there were any important emails for you.
For every one of those periods that you spent doing something that will not bring you closer to your goal, you have time-slots you can use in your business instead.
Is it possible that you do something necessary every hour of your day?
Unlikely, but possible. If it is the case, though, can you get up earlier in the morning and go to bed a little later?
A lot of people choose this solution if they are not ready – or willing – to quit their day job.
At first, it is hard. But like everything else it can become a habit. A healthy habit that will give you more freedom in the end.
As an alternative, are there any of your obligations you can outsource to others?
Can you ask someone to help you with grocery shopping or cooking? Or taking care of the garden and cleaning of the house? It does not have to be paid help, although that certainly will work when you can afford it.
It can be friends, family members or neighbors.
Ask for help. Many are happy to do so, but they may not realize you could use their help if you do not ask.
Or maybe you can combine things?
You may need to think out of the box here. The method will depend on how you have decided to do affiliate marketing. If you plan to write articles or blog posts and share good products, then there are ways to combine that with doing things you are obliged to do.
While you commute or cook, you can speak the text into your phone, using an app like Otter.ai.
Or if you are going through video courses, you can do so on your phone, while you drive a train or bus to work. Or while you are waiting for your son’s violin lessons to end.
You can do some healthy thinking or planning while you are walking your dog or changing the cat’s litterbox.
There are plenty of ways you can combine simple and tedious tasks with something that will help you in your business.
Distractions kill focus.
You have the power to avoid at least some of them. Turn your phone off while you work on a bite-sized time-chunk. Mute your messenger apps.
Learn to say “No” to annoying family members.
This can be hard because who wants to let them down? One way to get around it is by telling them beforehand that you are going to work for the next 15 minutes. After that, you are all theirs for an hour.
Get into the habit of saying, “later,” when your best friend sends you this cute cat video you just must watch.
Sure, people will think you are weird, but they will get used to it. And once you start to make money and they ask questions like, “How can you do it with the busy days you have?” you can smile and tell them how.
If you have the will, you can find the time.