I somewhat sarcastically call the online part of my life my e-life.  My e-life consists of my websites, my incredibly ignored e-mail accounts, my online survey sites that are also terribly neglected (I can’t tell you the last survey I did but I did just get $.50 in Paypal for doing one!), my friends with whom I chat online, and so many other “irons in the fire’ that I have online.  My e-life is a BIG part of my life, perhaps because I spend so much time at home and online.  As big a part of my life as it is, it’s a mess and I need to get it organized.

How about you?  Do you have your e-life organized and do you practice great time management?  I know that I can let the hours get away from me, and there are days when I start posting deals and don’t know when to stop myself.  Other days, I start checking e-mail or chatting, and the next thing I know 4 hours have passed and nothing has been accomplished.

I am on a mission to get my life organized, and I challenge you to join me.  This week, I am starting with my e-life, everything that I have going on electronically, or in other words online.  It may take me more than one week, it may only take a few days.  But that’s where I think I need to do the work the most.  Want to join me?  Read on for what I’ll be doing.

In order to make my life work both online and offline I need to practice better time management.  I thought it would be fun if we all took this challenge to better organize our lives, both online and offline.  I’m starting with my life online because it is where I’m hoping to start earning a portion of our income eventually.  I cannot work in chaos.  It’s easier to live with a messy space than work in one, although neither is a picnic, but I’m going to start with the greater challenge.

This week’s challenge: Creating an e-mail system that allows me to access the specific information I want, quickly.  Creating a schedule for online activity that will allow me to make time for othe things in my life without feeling rushed, or that I”d rather be doing one while doing something else (no more neglected hsuband!).

1.  Creating proper e-mail addresses for various online activities.  My personal e-mail addresses get slammed with newsletters, survey invites, printable coupons, notes from friends, and so many other things.  I forgot one account for one week, and when I checked it I had over 2,000 e-mails because it was at one time my “main” account.

I will be using Gmail to create different accounts for all of these things.  One will be for newsletters, one will be for surveys *more than 1 may be necessary*, etc.  I will keep the e-mail address since I have had it for so long and it is provided through my ISP.  Some friends have it, and I get a few bills to it as well.  Those will remain as-is.  Creating the other accounts will give me the ability to check them quickly, and  won’t be forced to wade through “junk” to get to the things I am interested in. I will be more likely to get e-mail as well, since my ISP e-mail filters what they consider spam, and it isn’t always spam. That sentence makes sense to me, hopefully I’m not rambling.

2.  Creating a schedule for online activities.  I oould spend all day reading blogs, chatting, playing games, and taking surveys.  I have ADD, however, and I’m really bad about starting something and getting distracted.  The  next thing I know, I’ve started 3 other things and nothing gets completed.  I’m still in serious need of finishing a few blog series, and I promise they’ll get finished!  I start with good intentions and end up scattered all over the place.  I got a $1 planner from Target, and using it I am going to create a plan for myself for each day.  I will schedule the days/hours I spend doing each thing, except blogging.

3.  I will be setting a set time for blogging.  Considering that I have doctor’s appointments typically mid-morning through late afternoon most often, my blogging efforts must be scheduled very early morning and late night.  Most likely they will be late night.  For instance, at the moment it is almost 1 AM CST.  It isn’t ideal but this is the best time for me to do the majority of my blogging.  Of course, when I am home *which is most of the time* I am online so I can bring you time-sensitive deals.  I want to be able to provide you with the best, latest and most thorough money-saving content available, so a big part of my challenge is to find a time that is best for me to be able to do this for you.

So those are my challenges for the week.  The e-mail challenge is just a matter of doing it.  I’ll have to unsubscribe from many things only to resubscribe to those things that are still useful.  I get so many e-mails that I don’t even want!  No more. 

My biggest challenge? Time management.  Once make a plan, sticking to it will be the hard part.  Just as with dieting, that’s going to be a challenge.

Does your e-life need organization help? Are you able to function at maximum capacity online to accomplish all of your activities when you want to?  If not, join me.  By the time I’m done, I will no longer dread checking my e-mail and I will not have any more missed survey opportunities.  I’m aware now of how much I’m capable of doing so I’ll be scaling down a lot on my internet activities to make room for more Making Cents Out of Life! 

We committed to a lot more “stay at home” days to save money, so this is a frugal way to spend them and see results!

Next week: Coupon Organization.  I can’t wait to show you my mess )