Question: How Much Time Do You Devote To Your Online Business?
“It has often been observed, that those who have the most time at their disposal profit by it the least. A single hour a day, steadily given to the study of some interesting subject, brings unexpected accumulations of knowledge.”
–William Ellery Channing
I love this quote 
. So the question is… how much time do you devote to your online business? I look forward to hearing your answers!
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Ha! This is such a timely topic.
I have just been thinking about how much time I devote to my business. I need to find some balance in my life soon. I am working full time on IM now and I love it! So I tend to work 12-18+ hours a day, every day. But I also have three young children who are growing up really quickly. Spending quality time with them is important to me too.
I am currently researching ways to manage my time, outsource some aspects of my job, and find some balance. I’m interested to hear others’ responses too.
Follow me @PpcMom on Twitter.
Between all of ‘em I clock in for about 40 hours a week.
Good question!
Follow me @danthies on Twitter.
I’m curious about how much time I spend – although lately I’m sure it’s at least between 30 and 40 hours per week. Because of the house and the family, I have a of interruptions. (That isn’t said as a complaint – I’m SO happy to be at home to be interrupted.)
I need to get one of those monitors that will keep track of it for me.
Follow me @goaskmom on Twitter.
I spend just about as much time now as I did when I started my business nearly 20 years ago. So, it’s about 12-14 hours a day. Except Sunday. On the net since 1996. Because of the internet I’ve changed many of the ways I do business.
This is a great blog post and so very true because the amount of time and the frequence and dedication of it will determine your success.
I know im going to keep learning from the information on here.
Mark McCulloch
Follow me @markmcculloch2 on Twitter.
I spend almost all of my waking hours — weekends included. I make a fraction of what I would make were I to work at a regular job. But my goal is clear: “$3000/month without lifting a finger”. I’ve gotten to 1/3 of that target so far and been working at it for a year. The “automated” part is what makes it tough.
I don’t think this quote applies to someone in my case…
Follow me @msafi on Twitter.
This is a huge deal for those who more than full time hours in addition to internet marketing. For the most part I find it fun, so putting in about 40 hours a week between studying and building online business is the norm.
Most of the time I was disstracted by reading incoming e-mails. It is not easy to focus. People say that you have to take action now rather than wait till tomorrow. Anybody has idea to add?
I spent more than 9 hours a day and its worthy. I never got tired to searching new ideas on how to improve my online business.
Lynn, I think it’s really important to distinguish between productive time and total time. Productive time is the time spent devoted to the activities directly related to making money (as opposed to email, watching videos even in the name of learning more, or reading blogs) If I get in 4-6 productive hours a day, I’m happy, and I’ve found that focusing on those hours has brought down my total hours and made made me much more productive.
Follow me @susanfuller on Twitter.
Not enough time every day. I seem to go in spurts.
Lynn,
After I cut through what truly is my work online and my flitting about I’d say I work about fifteen hours on the affiliate/information marketing and ten hours on my online book selling biz (lately due to family crisis it is way less for which I am grateful to be able to step away and still make money!).
This is an excellent question and one I bet you ask with good reason.
I blog often on this very real discipline issue. It sure can be a chore to stay focused when you know so many cool people online. It’s akin to hanging at the water cooler all day chatting – does a person deserve a paycheck hanging out on company time? Hm. Best get a scootin’ back to the desk myself..
Lucille Ball had it right, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.”
I am happy to report that I work on my online business an average of 5 hours per day 5 days per week. Some days less, some days a little more.
I finally have balance in my life. I have found that when I schedule the time to take care of my health and be with my family I become even more productive during my working hours so I actually have to work less.
I’m not the only one that has been experiencing this. It’s been great to see many others gaining more balance in their lives and not spending countless hours in front of the computer screen.
The first 3 years of my online business I was putting in way too many hours. I always thought that the longer I worked at the computer, the more I would get done. That’s definitely not the case.
I find that anything more than 8 hours per day leads to a significant decrease in focus and decrease productivity for me. It leads to more distractions and wasted time.
Knowing that my computer goes off at 3pm when the kids get home from school helps get me focused through out my day.
I took the long Canadian Thanksgiving weekend off and have come back way more productive and already got more done in the past 3 hours than I typically would in 5 hours. I’m refreshed and re-energized.
Focus, focus, focus!
Scott Tousignant
Follow me @FatLossQuickie on Twitter.
Scott – Thanks for this detailed comment. Your thoughts here have helped me a lot. I am working towards a personal/work blend that I’m happy with. I’m sure I will get there. This is very helpful. – Jen
Follow me @PpcMom on Twitter.
To tell ya the honest truth Lynn – I spend way more time than I like working my online business. I say this, but I also know that I am finally entering the momentum stage and at the same time learning more ways to earn passive income from my business.
I am laying out the plan now in order to cut back later. By the end of 2009, I will be working less for the same or greater outcome.
If it kills me I will! *L*
Thank you for all you do,
Frank
Follow me @frankdickinson on Twitter.
LOL! Way, WAY too much! But I’m doing my best to get that under control and create real balance.
At least the main reason I devote way WAY too much is because I totally love my job!
Follow me @Marya_Miller on Twitter.
Wow – I’m loving the answers here!
I really liked the quote I started this discussion with, as it reminded me of harder phases when I had a lot less free time and a lot less money. The hours I DID work, I busted my butt at it. It seems it can be very easy to be A LOT less productive in 40 hours (if you have it to spare) than in 4 hours (if you don’t). Interesting.
I also like the second part of the quote, about consistently spending a single hour a day towards something specific. For some that may be automating, or outsourcing, or whatever it takes to improve/automate/grow your unique online business. It’s a good discipline!
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Spot on, Lynn! With the amount of time I spend in front of the computer, you’d think I’d have a very productive online business. However, it’s the focus that makes the difference. Sure I get some things done, but if I had more focus and actually treat it like a business, I’d be a lot farther along.
About 10-20 per week. Half of it is getting training on myself. I also have a full-time assistance that does 40-hrs /week.
The question is how much is enough.
Follow me @almangones on Twitter.
I work 2-3 hours five days a week on my online business. I started with working 60-70 hours a week. After I’ve read the 4HWW from Tim Ferriss, I started to outsource and systemize a big chunk of my business. I’ve now found the balance between work and free time.
not enough productive only time…to produce consistent results. Guilty as charged to spending more time than what is necessary to ID & plan what the monetizing MIT’s (most important tasks) are for my online business. Now that I realize that I’ve spent WAY too much time planning, it’s time to DO IT, ONE HOUR at a time! This is a challenging call to action, Lynn, great quote. Best for now, Mary
Good Question Lynn, I have about 1-2 hours a day to work on my business if that. When I do have the time it is all about focus and doing things in time intervals.
Follow me @elizaashe on Twitter.
One in a half focus hours working with the essentials will certainly boost my online business.
Follow me @BizMind on Twitter.
I think after learning the ropes and getting the basics under control that being online 14 hours per day has dropped back significantly. I seem to work best late at night. No phone calls, a lot less emails and my creative side comes to life after 11pm and always has.
How many hours now? About 5 good honest productive hours. I still read a lot and devour about 20 sites per day tutoring myself. Too bad everyone on the planet can’t love what they do the way that I do.
I am loving all the opportunities that I have online. I love having the time to be home and care for it and my family. I enjoy being able to have a garden and eat fresh veggies all made possible by being my own boss.
I also find that having breaks, starts and stops on posts and doing something completely different refreshes me and I focus better the next time I sit down at the keyboard.
Thanks for a great question!
Ginger
Follow me @adlibcorner on Twitter.
A very timely quote. I’m going to borrow it for an upcoming e-mail to my list (if you don’t mind).
I used a modified version of your tip about the egg timer from a few weeks ago. Because I tend to get distracted easily, I began setting a timer for 15 minutes. When it rings it reminds me to make sure I’m still on task. It also keeps me from getting too deeply involved. Works great.
Thanks for the advice.
-Bob
By all means – and… I love my egg timer
LOL
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
I probably spend 30 to 40 hours a week working my business. My goal, however, is to get things more automated so I can spend less time working it and more time with family. I do love what I do, so it’s easy to get caught up in spending lots of time working it. 40 hours never seems like 40 hours working my online business.
I devote about 60-80 per week working on my online campaigns. I get so involved in my work that I never seem to get a good stopping point. My head is always filled with ideas on how to better my online business work. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete all the work I have to do.
I’m spending more than half of my day in front of my computer. However, I’m pretty sure that I don’t spend all of these hours wisely.
That’s precisely my problem. I lack focus on what I’m doing that resulted to wasted time.
I don’t have enough time for my online business. I’m pretty busy with other stuffs. Hopefully, I could arrange my schedule by next month. As far as I know, I really need to concentrate on my goals this year.