You run a small business and it’s thriving. Your offline division is cranking out the steam and your online business is picking it up as well. But you have little time for your family. What do you do?

Well, first, you have to keep some balance in your life. And I mean real balance. You’re not just managing a business. You’re managing a life. So let’s break it down.

As far as time management goes, there are two times that you need to manage: Now and Future. That’s not what you though I was going to say, is it? But it’s true. You have commitments today, right now, but you also have deadlines that may be a week away, two weeks away, or a month away. And you know that you’ll get more business that will cut into the time that you have to manage those. So you need to organize your time management tasks into Now and Future.

In areas of life and business, you have your family, you have your offline business, your online business, your community, friends, your church, other civic activities, and you may even have political commitments. Whatever the case, you need to break it down and organize your channels. All of them have Now and Future aspects, don’t they?

Consider your offline business and online business separate entities because they do have different needs and concerns. They require different approaches.

When you organize your time, figure out what needs to get done right now. Assign a priority to each task. Immediate, Important, Somewhat Important, and If I Can Get To It works. You may create your own categories, but I highly recommend this.

What you do is you create a list. In your list, code your tasks with your priority rating for that task. Also, try to imagine how long that task will take you - 5 mins., 2 hours, etc. Next, note which box, or channel, it fits into. Is it related to your offline business, online business, charity work, family? Make sure you note this.

You can create your list of tasks the first thing in the morning, but I’d recommend doing it the night before, either just before you go to bed or just before you leave the office. It should be the last thing you do for the day. That way, when you start the next day, the first thing you do is consult your list and see what needs to get done. Try to finish one important task in each channel category of your life each day. In other words, do the most important and immediate tasks first for each category, but if your family life only has “maintenance” items for that day (ie no birthdays, weddings, promises to keep, etc.) then at least do that. Do one thing in each channel every day.

It’s important to do one thing from each life channel every day because if you make that phone call to your sister then it’s a morale booster for you and for her. You both benefit and you will be more productive in the long run.

By prioritizing each task in your life this way and ensuring that you spend a little time each day in every channel where you have commitments, you will be more fulfilled, more productive, and much happier.