Several years ago I read an ebook written by Alice Seba, mentor to many work at home moms. In it she likened the internet to a black hole like the kind we find in space. Have you ever noticed that you sit down to work and suddenly, so it seems, several hours have passed and it’s time for dinner? We all have been there.
It is crucial if you are going to run a Christian home business and align your project with Proverbs 31 standards, that you learn how to manage your online work time and avoid getting lost in the black hole.
Here are a few tips from someone who has gone through the black hole and come out wiser. 
- Avoid constantly checking email. You should set aside small chunks of time on a daily basis where you can go through your email and respond when needed or do all your administrative work (emails) at the end of the work day.
- Use a kitchen timer for forums and social media. Are you addicted to Twitter? Have you seen people who post all day long? Yikes! I am partial to a certain online home based business forum and have spent quite a bit of time there over the years. Over the last few months, I’ve cut back my participation. Social media is important today to market your business. Social networks and forums can put your name and business before new people and , more importantly, give you some quality back links to your website. Set a timer for 15 minutes a few times a day to catch up on social networks and forums.
- Start your most important work first. Have you heard of Parretto’s Principle? It states that 20% of your efforts will yield 80% of your results. Start with the tasks that will directly make you the most money. This can include content creation, joint venture partnering, product creation, and marketing, if you are skilled at it. If you are in direct sales or network marketing 80% of your time must be spent prospecting for customers and reps or actual sales (ie. parties). Which leads me to…
- Outsource your weaknesses or administrative tasks. If you have the budget, I would outsource most of what you are not skilled with and admin work, like linking campaigns. Yes, I learned how do do most things for myself, but that was 8 years ago and there were few people to outsource to. Concentrate on being the rainmaker for your Christian home based business and not the secretary or tech consultant. Even if you have a virtual assistant business, your focus still has to be on marketing and bringing in new clients. You can always outsource some jobs to va’s who are just starting out.
And with that, I need to get off the net and start dinner! Have a great one.
Maureen 
