Time management: The most important lesson I learned in college

When I started my website I was more then excited. I was looking forward to the challenge, and the dreams of instant success (which rarely exists). However, I quickly learned that there are many different aspects of running a business. There are client and customer relations, marketing, financial issues, and a constant monkey on your back. So about a month into the company I had to take a step back and look at everything I had going on. I was the vice president of my fraternity, a full time business student, and now the owner of a business. This led to a lot of worrying, and with that came great anxiety. It was not until I decided to take the advice that my mother and father had been giving me for as long as I can remember. They always told me that life was a balancing act, and if you approach your day with a schedule, balancing out time for everything, then the tasks at hand will come easier, and you will find more success. I began to start putting events into a calendar. I would schedule the time that I would spend working on my website, time to study, social time, and most importantly the time that I would take alone.

After a few weeks of forcing myself to write out what I wanted to do, I began to get the hang of it. I started to see changes in my lifestyle. I noticed everything from more success with my website to having a clean room and working environment (which makes a big difference in productivity). I was not surprised by this; I realized how obvious of a solution this was to managing your time.

Some people look at scheduling as just another thing to do. This is not the case, if anything it puts less on your plate because procrastination starts to filter away from your everyday life. I realized that when I was sitting there watching ESPN every morning, I could be reading my email, and planning my day out. Later on that day, when I just wanted to sit down and relax, I would look at my schedule, and see that it was time to be working out. I would hold myself accountable, and if I worked out, then I wouldn’t feel guilty at 7 pm, when it was time for me to take an hour to relax.

I have maintained a life style built around a schedule, and it only gets easier. My next challenge is learning to budget, but there is a new girl in my life that is forcing me to learn that skill.

The Only Constant should be change itself

An entrepreneur is nothing more than a person who organizes and manages an enterprise. Adjust your life to live as an entrepreneur, if you don’t have a business to run, then make your enterprise your life.

Some people say it is my age that allows me to live life by my own rules. I completely disagree with that statement. Why can’t anyone live their life the way they want to? Whether you are like me; 21 years old, in school, and running a business, or you are a 30 year old that has been in the same job for 5 years, with “real” responsibilities like a family and a mortgage. There is no reason you can’t take everyday experiences and approach them from a new point of view.

Instead of getting up in the morning, showering, brushing your teeth, putting on your black suit and plain tie, going to work, seeing the same people, and doing the same thing, why not change your routine? You cannot do the same thing every day of your life for 40 years and be ok with it. Ten years down the road you will look back and ask yourself what you did with your life. There are millions of simple things you can do everyday to change your life, and every time you do something different you are setting yourself up to have a new experience that just might change your life.

Start with the little things. If you are looking to benefit your personal health get up an hour earlier then normal, go for a run, and then get ready for work, you will see a domino effect on how your everyday routine is changed. By simply waking up at a different time and exercising, before your daily morning shower you will completely disrupt the status quo, increase your energy and improve, the way you approach your day and your job. As you begin this different routine be sure to constantly change how you do things. Run a different route, walk to a coffee shop and get your day started there, read the paper Who knows, maybe you will read something interesting to talk about with the people you work with.

Once you have started to change your everyday life for the better, begin to change your social life. Get involved in the community, instead of spending your Saturday shopping, or watching television, go give a few hours back to the community you call home. Through this you will meet new people with new interests, and they will tell you about things you can do that you may have never heard about. I know last time I went out to do some community service I learned that there is a gallery hop the first weekend of every month in Columbus, Ohio. I now go to this every time it is here because of the cultural experiences I gain…

I realize that some of this advice is repetitive, and you have heard it all before, but I am not just preaching community service and exercise, I am telling you from personal experience that adapting to change, and making the most of it is the key to success in entrepreneurship. I know you will try things that you won’t necessarily enjoy, and some things that you will love. I can guarantee you will have experiences you never quite imagined, and you will see what it is like to adapt to change. Don’t allow your life to slip away because it gets lost in your routine. Make sure you have something to remember, and something to talk about whether it is today, tomorrow or 20 years from now.

Welcome to my life

Welcome to my blog.  This is a look into my life, my experiences, and my view of current events and people.  I would like to start by explaining the name I chose.  Future4Now is my interpretation of the everyday life of someone that is completely motivated by entrepreneurial visions.  Everyday it is necessary to exam your future, what exactly you are doing, how it will affect you at that moment, and what impact it will have on your life tomorrow, next week, and next year.  However, the title has more meaning than that.  As a person driven by my own motivation, I know that it is important to keep an open mind, and my future is my future for NOW, tomorrow it may be different. Through my experience as a college student I have taken the opportunities to reach out to people that have started their own businesses, and have been successful, people that have attempted and failed, and people that have chosen to follow the Intrapreneurship path.

 

Through these meetings, lectures, and readings, I have realized that no matter what area you focus on, whether you want to promote a product, a person, or an idea, you need to adjust your lifestyle so that you are completely comfortable and confident in what you are doing.  The life of an entrepreneur is full of questions and answers, and NOTHING happens over night.  Join me as I post about what I have seen, some of the things I have done (and will be doing), and the uncertain future of a senior in college attempting to find his own way while avoiding any dollar signs that large corporations want to waive.