Hey You! Get Off Facebook!
If you're like most people working in a small shop, you're strapped for time. There's always more to do than time in the day. Successful fundraisers know how to manage their priorities and protect their time so they can focus on the things that need to get done.
Know your purpose
First, know why you want to manage your time better. It's not so you can do everything on your plate. (You never will.) It's so you can get the most important things done. Too many people put important fundraising activities on the back burner because they think other things are more important or they don't like doing them. This is procrastination, plain and simple. Stop doing the easy things first regardless of how important they are. You can fill a whole day with inconsequential tasks that don't get you any closer to your fundraising goals.
Protect your time
Time leaks are nonessential tasks that take just a few minutes here and there but add up over the course of a day. Look for and eliminate these and other time leaks: playing computer games, long personal phone calls, browsing the news on Facebook, chatting with co-workers about last night's episode of "American Idol."
You might think this is harsh, but successful fundraisers don't do these things — and neither should you.
The most important thing you can do is keep your eye on the goal and make sure everything you do moves you toward that goal. If not, you need to ask yourself why you're doing it.
Take a hard look at all the places where you spend your time that might not be the best use of your time. You might need to hit the "pause" or "stop" button on these until you get your fundraising program where you want it. These are things like:
