How many hours and tasks each month as full time webmaster

What is the most efficient use of time for a full time webmaster

[steve40]

As a general rule I work 6 days a week 5:00 AM to 8:PM with 3 hours off a day for
Dog walking , feeding horses taking child to school etc.
and seventh day just log in few times during the day for stats etc.
So a total of about 70 hrs per week

Last month was the first month I tried to log the time spent on tasks related to being a full
time internet webmaster and the results were not what I expected

Took as my total for month 300hrs
80 hrs per month researching data for new content or updating current content
60 hrs per month using research data for update of existing pages and adding new pages
50 hrs per month Checking earnings AFF / Contextual
20 hrs per month Tuning and updating affiliate adds
20 hrs monitoring changes due to G Jagger update and reading this forum
15 hrs monitoring and tuning adwords
10 hrs per month Checking website stats
3 hrs finding new BL's

approx 40 hrs sat at my desk and looked out of the window thinking

I set up some monitoring S/W on my PC to help with logging so not exact but a guide

I would be interested in others feedback and how they spend their working time
I realise the 50 hrs spent checking earnings is mostly wasted but although I would like it to be lower i think
often it can provide motivation to keep going when your working alone

Part of the reason I did this was that I am currently in the process of setting up a pure Ecommerce site
website
suppliers
merchant services etc.
and wondered which part of my current business will suffer, unlike many here 75% of my research time for content is to update current pages and not to add new pages

steve

[hannamyluv]

There is not set standard to determine what is right. I could not even tell you what hours I spend. I could document but it changes as much day to day as month to month. And to document would only stilfle the creative (and profitable) processes I have in place.

Last month I spent many, many hours logging in to monitor type in traffic as that is what I was interested in. Technically, it was a waste of time, but I learned something so maybe not so much so.

You have mastered the disipline to work for yourself, so I think you will find that you self balance or you economize. Indeed, it is only when I find myself pressed for resources that I find better and faster ways to do something. It is either that, or I find that some task I did complusivly no longer needs so much attention.

I never regret my obsessive habits because I always find that they rebalance themsleves and in the process I learn something. I don't check my type in traffic every other hour now, but now I know which kind of terms get what kind of type in traffic at what times. It is now part of my repertoire of knowledge and will be used to develop other sites and marketing plans.

I think you will find the same. You may find that nothing suffers because you will be forced to become more efficiant.

[HRoth]

I have noticed that limiting the time I spend working has unexpectedly made me much more productive. For instance, instead of answering customer calls whenever, I answer only during times I have set on the site. This made me much more organized in my work, and I ended up working less but smarter, just like they say. Now I am extending that idea to doing certain tasks on certain days, like packing orders only three days a week and using three other days for doing site work, making merchandise, ordering stock, and finding sources. I get tons more done not being distracted by having to get orders out, and vice versa.

I also try to keep in mind something I read in book geared for prospective organic farmers--that if you don't take off one day a week, instead of getting more done, you'll get burned out. So taking off one day a week is actually productive. This is true in my experience.

I also find that it is more efficient to me, although counter-intuitive, to take one thing through the whole process instead of trying to break it up into steps. Like if I have an order that includes something I am out of, it is better for me to go right then and email the customer (or better yet, phone them, so I can get immediate answer) about a substitution instead of putting it in a pile of things I need to send emails about. If I put it in a pile, it never gets done. If I get an answer right away, I can pack that order and move on to the next one.

[oneguy]

I don't manage my own time effectively at all, so don't get the impression that I'm an expert.

I also find that it is more efficient to me, although counter-intuitive, to take one thing through the whole process instead of trying to break it up into steps.

I find this to be true. The main reason this is true (for me) is that when I break something up, I have to spend time figuring out where I was every time I go back to the task.

Also, I wind up with 20 half done tasks. At the least, I try to take a task to a reasonable stopping point, so I can easily tell where I'm at.