Control Your Time

Time to kick back in a coffee shop here in Toronto, surrounded by beautiful people, listening to my favorite music, and getting a ton of work done.

Just kidding.

That’s now how it works in the real world.

If I tried that, I’d get about 1/3 of my regular work done.

That’s why I always shake my head with a little sadness when I hear Internet beginners saying they are going down to Starbucks to work on their online business.

The truth is that every single successful online business person I know works “holed up” at home or in an office without distractions.

In fact, I work at home, alone, in silence.

I do not listen to music because I write faster without it.

I do not answer the phone because I cannot afford the distraction.

I answer all email at the end of the day so I stay focused all day.

I have my day strictly scripted in 30 minute blocks so I know what I should be doing every hour.

And that’s how I’m able to write 6-7 articles and blog posts (and sometimes more) per day for the various projects I have on the go.

Now as I work on the “How to Make $100K in Your First 12 Months Online” series that I’ll be posting on the blog for free (starting Jan 24th), I continue to return to the importance of time and energy control.

Most of my day is blocked off for writing, and there is only one hour – 3pm – when I will do any phone calls.

Personally, I’ve just found that 3pm is not a good time of day for me to write. Your schedule will be different.

However, I strongly recommend the “early to bed, early to rise” approach. It even works for people who claim to be night owls.

You’ll find that you’ll get “2 hours of afternoon work” done in 30 minutes of morning productivity.

And yes, I know what you’re thinking: “Craig, it’s easy for you to do because you don’t have another full time job.”

True, but I was once just like you…working 8, 10, 12 hours per day, and my attitude was no different then.

I woke up early to get extra work done. I took full advantage of any breaks in the day to make progress towards my goals and dream. I was always prepared. I found a way to get work done. No excuses.

Again, no other internet marketer is going to tell you to lock yourself away in silence to create your products and emails. They all want you to imagine a “3 hour frolic down to Starbucks where you’ll just print money”.

But that’s just not going to happen.

Do you really think the big time Internet Marketers work at Starbucks?

Is that where Eben Pagan runs his 20 million dollar info empire?

Of course not.

Now I know guys that are heavily FUELED by Starbucks…but no Internet success that I know actually works on their business in a Starbucks.

Instead, they control their day, barricade themselves into their best working environment, and get stuff done.

So start planning your day, scripting it out the night before. Set up your work area to minimize distractions. Brew your Starbucks beans at home – and you’ll finally start to make some progress.

Your Internet Independence does not begin at Starbucks.

Take control today,

Craig Ballantyne

“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
Bruce Lee