How do you divide your time as a webmaster (and still have time to sleep at night?)

So how do you all divide up your time? Being a webmaster means you are suppose to be an expert in everything and keep a business running. I've found that my business takes up so much of my time that I don't have anything left for promoting my site. I don't even have time to look for someone else to promote my site.

How do you all do this and sleep at night?

 

Sleep? Whazzat? With an online business and two small children, there's not much time for sleep.

Seriously, it takes a lot of planning and understanding what I can and cannot do. I have a list of the various things I need to get done regularly, and keep track of things such as when I last submitted an article for a given site and so forth.

 

I've got a new baby and 3 kids (one is a toddler). I love my time online doing this stuff so it comes out of my sleep time. I guess I prefer doing this to sleeping.

I think the thing I find important when trying to keep my business priorities straight is that the internet is so huge and I will NEVER get done what I'd ultimately like to get done. There is just too much. Even with 10 of me I wouldn't get it done. With that in mind I can feel a little better about the little I did do. I'm one step further than I was yesterday, right?

Good to see there are other mommies like me out there.

 

I don't think I have lept in years. Online businesses take up all your time 24/7 anyone that tells you any different or that is easy money has no idea what they are talking about.

Pete

 

Well the great thing about online business is that you can earn when i do nothing. When i sleep i actually earn the most as in America it will be daytime.

Note: i live in Europe.

Priorities. Online earning is not my number 1 priority. Studies, social live and sailing come first. In my free time i promote and manage my online business.

 

Cool. That's part of my drive. I believe a lifestyle like yours is possible with this online business stuff but it sure takes work getting there.

I'd probably be making the same amount of money if I waited tables but waiting tables does not offer opportunity. Online biz has potential so it is worth the late nights. It's also fun to make your own CEO decisions and the flexible hours are good for family

 

uhm, i stay late night only if the server crashes lol.

 

Most of the time I'm forgetting completely about sleeping, and believe me it's not nice to fall asleep on my keyboard. So now I'm setting my alarm to the time I want before I start working with the computer. And even if I fall asleep in front of the computer, clock makes me wake up, so I can move my bed and continue to sleep

 

From the time I wake up to the time I head up to bed I stay in front of my PC and I have no time for almost anything

No enough time for promoting, editing, etc. etc., even when I just sleep 4-6 hours a night.

Of course I'm not in charge of household stuff and food is served here, on-PC

 

Use programs that increase you efficiency at doing common tasks.

Off the top of my head, one that saves me an incalculable amount of time is Navicat - http://www.navicat.com. Well worth the hundred dollars. I create, manage, design, and backup all of my databases through the same program.

Also, budgeting your time, and sticking as best you can to a certain schedule can help a lot.

The biggest problem that I have run into as far as time in concerned, is jumping from project to project. This kills your efficiency and makes each individual task take much longer. If you can, group your common tasks together so that you can more easily move from task to task, and then from group to group.

 

Workrave is your answer

 

I am a college student and here is my average weekday.

10am wakeup
10-11 homework
11 lunch
12-5 class
5-6 rec
6-7 eat / shower
7-9 webmaster
9-11 or sometimes 1 homework
1-3 webmaster

However, there is probably another 5 hours of random time to webmaster that I squeeze in to my day.

 

This is my schedule right now...

wake: 7:30am
kids to school by: 8:20
toddler & baby time & chores: 8:30 -12:30
nap for toddler & baby, webmaster for me: 12:30 - 3:15
kids to sports/after school stuff, dinner, bedtime routine: 3:15 - 9:30
webmaster: 9:30pm - 2:00am

I need to start quitting by midnight if I want to make it to my next birthday. Seven hours of sleep would be soooo nice.

 

Keep a list of everything you do while you are working and write down how long you did each thing. Try to be as accurate as you can. Then at the end of the day, look through the list to see where things took longer than they should have. Think about ways you can automate or eliminate common tasks.

I found myself spending too much time reading email and writing reports for clients. I cut back on a bunch of email newsletters and found some faster methods of pulling data for reports that saves me 3-4 hours every week. I try to use that extra time to research new ideas and find new ways to save more time.

 

Yesterday i saw a great piechart for how to at least structure your seo time which i thought was very good. It was in a blog, but i cant seem to find the blog article, would be great if anybody knows which one i'm talking about.

Anyhow I currently get up at about 7, go to work by 8:30, work there till 7, go home and work till 2. All seo/website development/e-commerce work

 

Even if I run 9 forums as we speak I try to find some time outside my web development life too. it's not too easy, but I do have a BF and I also practice karate. not to mention I have a "normal" job too

 

i dont like to sleep at all. I work whole night and sleep during day as webmaster .

 

it is addictive... i made one small site, put adsense on it and was like ohhh imagine if i had like 100 sites, all the money to be made per day! I get so absorded in it, the last thing i do before bed is check my emails and adsense stats, and the first thing i do in the morning is check my emails and adsense stats! I dont spend that much time, but once i get more sites up and running i will be on the comp alot longer!

 

I bought a laptop in April and the letter on the keys are already faded....If you don't know exactly where each key is you can't us emy laptop....Thats how much time I spend on my laptop and on the internet.

 

What is sleep i only sleep 5- max 6 hours per day
I mainly do freelancing jobs and webmastering my own sites and i'm olso a student

My usual dayly program

Wake up : 12: Am
If i have time to go to the university i go if not i work 12:40 AM- 3-4 AM Working (with pauzes for eating someking so i not work all that time) and let's be fair is not like working in a factory or others ....
In the weekends and night i go out at a beer with my friends
Mention : I don't have a GF right now when i had 4 hours a day time spent with her at least now i'm free of this
Anyway i'm not soo busy