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MobyPicture Post

Image by eristoddle via Flickr

When you do a lot of things, you have to have a system of priorities. I say that and yet I can also say that I get sidetracked about 50% of the time. There are those days when everything comes together. But I am driven like a MoFo, so even on those days, the to do list is never empty at the end of the day.

And if these things you do are spread apart, you must create your own system. No one will show you how. Being a blogger means wearing more hats than you ever thought you would. Throw anything else in that mix and add even more hats.

One thing you must cultivate is the ability to walk away from something that is not quite finished. Another skill you must have is knowing when to walk away and move onto another project to get it closer to the finish line. Focus is great. Too much focus will have you spending too much time chasing details better left until after every piece of the puzzle is semi-functional.

Every now and then, these half finished things don’t turn out the way I planned. An example: I decided to update WordPress a while back. I knew just about how long it would take, but I didn’t figure in that a buttload of plugins wouldn’t work the instant I update. This results in a setback, which will happen more often than you think.

So now the projects:

  • My Day Job at All About Doors and Windows – Switch from a Filemaker database that is 4 GB to something that will handle inventory changes a bit more effectively. Update every picture on the site to a newer, cleaner version – 3000 in all. Restructure all the categories and sort order on the site to make it easier to find parts and have the side effect of better SEO. Build or find a bulk discount module for the sites.
  • Green Chili Farm – Teach someone new to the internet how to run a WordPress blog and ecommerce. The first two sales came
  • Bloghology – Keep the articles coming for a online, print, and electronic version of the magazine.
  • Highlight Midwest 1 – Prepare a presentation on ecommerce for small business.
  • A Niche Blog System
  • Digital Products Review – Document the niche blog system and write enough posts to keep content fresh during the gaps.
  • Study – Landing page design. I figured I have taken things from a broad view down to the narrow view. Landing pages are the end of the purchase route.
  • Here – The posts here are basically a side effect of the projects above. And I am still going through notes and flyers from Blog World Expo.
  • Of course, there is promotion, link building, commenting and exploring social media also.

And there were a few projects that were put on the back burner for a bit. They were months away from producing income or getting my name out there.

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5 Responses to “Priorities in Traffic, Time and Money”

  1. Time Tracker

    Hi Stephan! How about using a time tracking program for a week or two? Analyze where and on what you’re spending the most amount of time, and then using this data to streamline your process?

  2. Stephan Miller

    @Dennis

    Hence, the long explanation on my contact form. :)

    @Time Tracker

    Habits are hard to build. I tried it once and once I find a simple solution, I will again. I found too many tools complex and they actually robbed time when a lot of the things on my to do list took less than a half an hour. But I will be looking.

  3. Thanksgiving Vacation in Mexico

    Even though I’d retired I want to remain productive.

    My challenge especially in this computer and information age is knowing what to filter out.
    As an example I have subscribed to way too many email lists. It’s become a distraction and I can’t possibly read them all.

    Happily Retired in Ajijic, Mexico,

    Joel Smith
    Casa Preciosa, Ajijic, Mexico
    http://www.CasaPreciosaAjijic.com

  4. Stephan Miller

    Productivity comes and goes for me. Sometimes I am and then I put too much on my plate and have to start trimming. Live and learn, I guess.

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