That’s it… I’m not going to respond to one more offer that comes into my email inbox, gets posted on one of my favorite blogs, or that my Twitter friends recommend. Not even the free ones!

Why?

Because I’m in information and implementation overload. Everyday I get incredible offers for products and projects that are of great interest to me and that I want to participate in. But I have countless numbers of these products and projects that I’ve already downloaded and that are waiting for my attention.

Before I accept another offer I need to digest and implement everything I already have.

Of course I’m already worried that I’m going to miss out on something extremely worthwhile (like this Sweetie Saturday Report Coupon Offer), but in reality, if it is worthwhile it will have staying power, and I can participate after I’ve finished my other projects (not the coupon of course, but the membership will be there when I’m ready). Many things I’ve already downloaded never made it off the back burner anyway, so waiting wouldn’t have made a difference.

Of course learning is always important, but action is critical to success. I need to take action on some of my projects before I plan any more.

I’m taking a six week hiatus from accepting new offers. If I still have too many products and projects waiting for me I’ll extend it. I’m hoping I’m pretty much caught up, so I can start anew!

How about you? Are you on overload and what are you doing about it?

One of the disadvantages of running a business from home for me is that my work is always in the next room and I can sit down to it any time. I tend to be most productive in the morning, and there are certain times during the week when I don’t work, but otherwise, I don’t schedule my work time. When I worked a job outside the home, I had a specific schedule and left work at work.

I definitely don’t want to become a clock watcher, but some days my lack of schedule allows me to procrastinate too much or waste too much time. Today has been one of those days. I’ve really not accomplished much at all, but I’ve been at my desk for quite a few hours.

I’m thinking that if I had more of a set schedule I might end up being more productive during that time. If I only work certain hours I may be less tempted to indulge in time wasting activities. Without a schedule it’s easy to think I’ll finish the work later.

How do you handle work time for your home business? Do you keep a schedule or just totally wing it?

This morning I read a couple of blog posts about time management. TheWahmBlog.com has Tips for the Newbie Entrepreneur about managing time. And at the InternetBasedMoms.com Staff blog Annette mentioned an article about the health hazards of 24/7 online writing and blogging in her post, Too Dependent on Technology and Computers.

One of the challenge of running a home business is that it can be difficult to walk away from the work… it’s always there in the next room. When you work at a job somewhere else, you go home and get away from it every day. Here are a few tips that help me manage my day.

• I use a calendar/daily planner program with pop-up alerts to move me through my daily to-do list.
• I set my email client so it’s not continually checking email and alerting me to new messages, because I can’t resist looking when I hear that notification.
• I try to clear my email inbox first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon.
• Repetitive tasks are automated as much as possible. For example, I use autoresponders to send reminders when memberships and listings expire, I manage spam with a great filter, and I use a program to type repetitive phrases and paragraphs with just a few keystrokes.
• I do the work that requires the most focus in the morning because by the afternoon I’m much less productive.

For more on managing your time, pick up a free iRepNetwork membership and find a time management email series in the members only resources section.

How do you manage your busy schedule?