Get to the Po!nt

Time Is Money

It doesn't matter if you work in an entrepreneurial or corporate environment: Demands on your time can pull you in two—or ten—different directions. Taking control of your schedule can be challenging, but blogger Jeremiah Owyang suggests to wrangle your workday by thinking of time as money. Though Owyang speaks from the perspective of a Web strategist, much of his advice can be applied to a variety of disciplines. Here are some ideas that you can put right into action:

Pay yourself first. Each morning, Owyang budgets two uninterrupted hours for online reading and blogging; he enjoys both activities and they increase his professional value. "Like the advice from most financial advisors, they encourage you to pay yourself first by investing in your own funds, paying your bills and making yourself (reasonably) happy before paying off your creditors," he explains.

Cut back on unnecessary expenses. If an element of your workday doesn't provide ROI on the time invested, spend less time on that element. Owyang cites email as a typical problem area in his daily operations. "As soon as you answer emails, you're now paying for someone else's time," he writes, later noting it compounds his loss of time: "The more you respond to emails, the more you will receive."

The Po!nt: "Cherish your time as you do your wallet or purse," writes Owyang. "[T]his is yours, and unlike money, you can't invest and grow new time, you can only manage the existing time you've got, cut into other areas, or hire someone under you to do it."