Time Management

I speak from my own experience when I tell you that you can go crazy with all of the online survey sites, product testing sites, freebie sites, etc. In fact, I will confess to you now that there have been days that I literally sat at the computer for eight hours straight, poring over these sites as well as my e-mail account.

This would not be a problem if I was making even minimum wage doing all of the above. The problem was that depending on what particular activity I was doing, I calculated that I was making about $0.67 an hour. Yikes! Also realize that by me spending eight hours online, the laundry didn't get done, the dishes didn't get done. Actually, there were very few dishes because I never made lunch or dinner. I snacked at my desk and my husband was on his own when he got home.

I will keep this short: Doing surveys online will not make you rich! Therefore your life outside of these websites needs to take top priority. Let me give you a few tips that work for me when it comes to managing this online hobby of mine:

• Set a Goal. My focus has been Swag Bucks lately so I set my goal at four $5 Amazon gift cards a month which equates to needing 1,800 swag bucks. Divide that number by 30 days, and I need 60 swag bucks per day to reach my goal. This means that if I complete a survey for 75 swag bucks today, I am done! Log off of swag bucks and move on!
• Use a Separate E-mail Account. You should be doing this for all of your survey and freebie sites anyway, but I am including it because if all of your survey offers are together in one account, it is much easier to just log off.
• Be Flexible. I mentioned my goal of 60 swag bucks a day. What I failed to mention is that aiming for four $5 gift cards a month is aiming high for me. If I spend a half hour "working" swag bucks and only end up with 20 swag bucks, it's okay to be done for the day! Some days will be better than others across all of the sites you participate in. The key is knowing when to call it quits so you still get everything done for the day.

That's all for now. Happy Friday!