If I am not traveling, my day usually starts at 7:00 a.m. I work for an hour or so in bed on my laptop, then, depending upon the day, I work out with my trainer at my house, shower, and leave for the office by 9:00. I have conference calls lined up until I reach the office, usually around 9:30 a.m. I work straight through until 7:30 p.m., only getting up from my desk to use the restroom. I almost always have lunch at my desk unless I have a meeting. When I get home around 8:00 p.m., I usually take a couple of hours to hang out with my girlfriend, eat, relax, and watch some TV before picking up my laptop. I don’t usually get to bed until 12:30 a.m. That is, of course, if I don’t need to chat with India about an application spec which can sometimes run until 2:00 a.m. or later.

I remember a time when I would have a meeting on the other side of town and after the meeting; I might hang out at Starbucks for an hour before heading back to the office. This seems unthinkable now. It’s gangster, but Biggie was right when he said, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” I don’t think he just meant betrayals, shootings, and enemies. I believe he was pointing out that as you start to see more success, everything, good or bad, is amplified. Success increases your problems, issues, tasks, and work. This amplification starts to affect your available time, and the formula is simple: the better your company does, the more money you make. The more money you make, the more you have to deal with. The more you have to deal with, the less time you have. The less time you have, the more important time management becomes.

The importance of time management has really changed for me every week for the past three years. I have never been that person who felt taking the trash out or cleaning the kitchen was beneath me. I have always taken the position that I work for my employees. I used to gladly go to Staples and buy office supplies or pick someone up from the airport when they came into town. But as the company started to grow, I realized that money was flying out of my pocket when I was spending time on these tasks. Take the Staples run for instance. In the 30 minutes it would take me to go to Staples and back, I could have made at least 10 important sales calls. I could have completed a phone call with a potential investor or evangelized mobile marketing to an analyst who was including me in his upcoming report. The amount of important work (which directly affects my bottom line) was literally endless. I realized I had to create a new habit–a habit of quickly analyzing every task. If it didn’t affect my bottom line, I didn’t do it. “But Jared,” you might say, “I run a marketing firm and my bottom line could be something as small as writing a blog article on Internet marketing in hopes that it would drive traffic to my site and a few of those readers would become leads.” It’s true–the bottom line is a long line, so not only do you need to properly manage your time, but you need to ensure you are managing your time by prioritizing tasks. (Read my previous post on what I use to manage tasks.)

Of course, everything gets even more complicated if you have a significant other and/or kids. Your bottom line isn’t just about money anymore; it’s about family, too. Your time becomes incredibly valuable because every minute you spend on something is one less minute you have to spend with your loved ones. Every entrepreneur works hard, and regardless of spouse or family; he/she must relax and not think about work for a while. I believe that balance is the key to a happy and healthy life. Proper time management will ensure you get all of your work done and have time to play.

I really encourage you to start to think about everything you do. Start to prioritize your tasks and quickly delegate or delete ones that:

1. Don’t affect your bottom line
2. Cause you to spend less time with your friends and family
3. Give you less time to lead a balanced life

A good time manager will make more money, have a happier marriage, raise successful kids, create stronger ties with friends, and lead a happy and healthy life. Why did I write this article? Because I am on a plane to Chicago with nothing to do and nowhere to go. When are we going to be able to use cell phones and have Internet access so I can get something done?!