Time management is perhaps the most universally desired skill. Everyone feels he could manage his time better. And I am no different. I am constantly seeking ways to better my time management skills. And being an entrepreneur makes it almost impossible to have as much control as you desire over time. But it also presents the perfect situation to improve your time management skills.

image: dreamtechie.com

In today's post I will be sharing with you the quick tips I have stumbled upon that has greatly improved my time management skill.

1. Task Discrimination
I am sure you've heard of the popular Stephen Covey activity matrix. The classification of every activity into one of the following:

• Not Important - Not Urgent (e.g. playing game on your phone)
• Not Important - Urgent (e.g. the little emergencies that interrupt our days)
• Important - Not Urgent (e.g. Most of the things you do at work. Forget about the asap people tag every request with.)
• Important - Urgent (e.g. Submitting a business proposal which has a deadline of noon, today)

As great and effective this classification is, some of us rarely remember it when we are under pressure and need it most. Especially me. So the trick I use is to do a task discrimination. I run through, in my head, the tasks I have pending and pick the one that will cause me the most pain/regret if I don't get it done. It's more like practicing Brian Tracy's Eat that Frog! It makes me feel better knowing that things could have been worse if I had picked another task.

2. Persistent Consideration
If you give me 20 tasks to complete. Rather than go from one task to the next immediately, I'll study all the tasks and put them in that part of my mind that is persistently considering them. Then I now go from one task to the other. 

It helps me switch easily and fast from one task to the other, and it helps me to go through the tasks in an order that ensures that I do related tasks first and unrelated ones last. This is my greatest time and task management skill. It is what makes it easy for me to work till 2:00am and wake up at 5:00am to write a blog post before going about the numerous unrelated projects I have to attend to that day. Because I am persistently thinking about them all in a part of my mind, I am able to get a lot done everyday and not feel too stressed.

3. Distraction Filtering
One of the benefits of studying in FUTA is that you learn to get things done (even things that require focused attention, like reading for tomorrow's paper) under any environment/condition. You can put me in a very noisy place and give me a 300 page technical book to read and make a detailed summary of and I will feel just at ease as I would have been if I was in a quiet room. I can filter out distraction very well and fast. It helps me make the most of every minute I dedicate to a task. And it's part of the reasons I don't notice my phone ringing on some days. 

It's a skill that comes with necessity and practice. And it can help you get a mighty lot done when others are busy complaining of lack of a convenient place. I have friends who need a place to read. Me, all I need is a book to read. I can read in any place.

And those are my three quick tips for time management.

image: nationalgeographic.com

If you look around you, everything you see is the product of knowledge. Someone thought of it and made it. Increasingly, knowledge is a more powerful capital than money itself. With knowledge you can create amazing ideas and products that people will gladly give you their money for a piece of. 

One of the big differences between the poor countries and the rich countries is the level of knowledge the rich countries acquire and make use of compared to the poor countries. The amazing part is that, oftentimes, the rich country has more data (and fact-based knowledge) on the poor countries than the poor countries have on themselves. And the difference in the standard of living between a developing country and a developed country is mostly attributed to an economic factor called Total Factor Productivity (TFP). It is the knowledge edge that enabled a country like Japan, that has very little natural resources, to be over 6 times richer than Nigeria. 

More importantly, the world is changing in ways that make knowledge more important that wealth/money. In business, knowledge is now the new capital. Money has become a raw material, a tool you can always buy in the financial market. There are now lots of investment houses and venture capitalists who will throw money your way if you can come up with a great business. If you have a huge wealth of practically proven knowledge. In fact, the fastest way to lose your wealth nowadays is to not add to your knowledge. You will fall for an unsound financial advice. You will also find it very hard to grow your wealth.

If you take the world's richest men, the one thing they all have in common is a knowledge so sound that they borrow money to implement the ideas it produces. They take huge risks and bet millions of dollars on their knowledge based ideas. They are the best example of how knowledge is capital.

image: universetoday.com

We all have a dark side. 

We commonly say no one is perfect. And like to say it about ourselves. But we avoid talking about our imperfections, the cracked dark side. We would rather cloak it in quotes and generalizations than speak plainly about them. We are like the moon; we have a dark side we hide from people.

We treat our lives like the life-cycle of a butterfly. We are only eager to show off the colorful part of us. We forget that without the hidden egg and the ugly caterpillar, we would not have the beautiful butterfly.

It reminds me of this popular English proverb -- Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly.

It's our dark sides that make possible the colorful part. And we should learn to embrace it, be not ashamed of it and make the most of it. Great writers are often the product of a tough and uneventful life, from Charles Dickens to J. K. Rowling. Our youth which we see as inferior to silver hair and try to conceal in the great matters of life is what has made some of the greatest men, from William Shakespeare who wrote most of his plays in his 20s to Martin Luther King Jr who died in his 30s. 

Our strengths lie in our weaknesses. If we will embrace the side of us we are less proud of and try to make something worthwhile of it, we will definitely have a more colorful life as we turn many of the ugly caterpillars in our lives to beautiful butterflies.

It's a lot easier to do things and pursue difficult goals when you have a motivation. Even Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to enthusiasm (being motivated) as the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved. Then in another instance he said our biggest need is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.

I liked best how Antoine de Saint-Exupery put it:
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” 

image: refe99.com

Motivation is the difference between a happy life and a sad one. Its absence will make a prince sad and its presence will make a pauper happy. Motivation is what will make a man leave every comfort to venture into the unknown. It gives you an infectious energy. It makes you radiant and adventurous. 

The greatest gift you can give yourself this valentine period is to find motivation. Look for that thing or someone who fills you with a lively hope and rekindles your ambitions. Look for the motivation to do what you've always dreamed of doing. Find yourself the motivation to become who you've always wanted to be. Get the extra push you need to start living the life you really want.

Sometimes, like Bruce Lee once said, it is not about a daily increase but a daily decrease, hacking away the non-essentials. It's easier to steer an empty ship than to captain a fully loaded one. And that is why during a storm, they always throw the heavy non-essential things over board. And it is same with our lives. We stand to gain a lot from letting go of the non-essentials. Of traveling light and motivated. 

You need someone or something to inspire you to become who you would love to be. For me, it is someone and I have found her. I hope you find yours.

It is unfortunate that INEC, under intense pressure, has postponed the elections to March 28 and April 11, 2015. 

image: thescoopng.com

And for some unintelligent reason, the government decided to have the military show off their new kit on the streets of Lagos rather than have it deployed to where it is needed. They caused needless traffic gridlock and insensitive panic. 

I don't even think we have a federal government. It's like we are been ruled by an entire community of brainless greedy puppeteers. They put their puppets in political positions and pull the strings from behind the curtain. They make everyone look stupid. They care only about their ego and pockets. Using all the country's resources to fight their personal battles and doing so in the most nationally humiliating ways.

Everyone knows that nothing unusual has happened since the January of last year when the election dates were set, that necessitates the shifting of the polls just one week to the the set date. And it is same as armed rebellion when the military threatens the citizens and INEC that they would shirk their duties if we go ahead with the set election dates. In what democratic nation does the military dictate what the entire nation should do in a time of peace? 

It's almost like we now live in the worst of times. You imagine the worst a government can do and you can be sure our government will do worse. It makes me wonder why such terrible people should control the fate of a 160 million people strong nation. They say things they should be ashamed to say. They do things no sensible person should do. They have no sense of shame and no desire to act intelligently.

And it all makes me wonder: Which way, Nigeria?

The journey of a thousand miles, as we all know, starts with just a single step.

The first step is always the most important. It signals your transitioning from thought to action. And as we all know: no one get celebrated for what they thought about doing or what great plans they had. People are honored for what they did. 

And it doesn't stop there. Your life changes only when you take action, when you turn your thoughts to actions. Whatever change you want in your life; whatever direction you want your life to go; whatever future you want to create for yourself; whatever legacy you want to leave; whatever impact you want to make; whatever dream you desire to make come true and whatever journey you wish to embark on in life; it all starts with just a single step. And another.

I have a book on survival written for soldiers. It is filled with all sorts of tricks of how to survive in any situation you find yourself in as a soldier -- including how to figure out which plants or fruits are edible when lost in a thick forest. There is a chapter in the book titled The Psychology of Survival and it explains how research and history have consistently shown that it is not the strongest who survives the most terrible situations nor the most intelligent nor the most skilled. It is always the one with the strongest will to survive. The one who keeps pushing himself forward and not giving in to despondency. The one who doesn't stop taking a new step, even in hopeless situations.

I think life is a war in itself. We are constantly fighting for survival -- to keep our lives, to stay true to the real person within and the survival of our dreams. Every day we are battling to ensure the good within us overcomes the storms we face. And like a soldier, it is not our intelligence nor our strength that will help us the most but our willingness to keep taking a step forward. Your dream, no matter how big, will come true if you make a habit of taking a step forward regularly along the path to fulfill it. Your troubles, no matter how great, are going to succumb if you don't give in to despondency and keep taking a step forward in the direction you want your life to go.

Life is meant to be full of interesting journeys. Every goal, challenge and storm you face is a travelling ticket. It's now left for you to take on the journey. To take the first step. And another.

A lot of us underestimate the odds stacked against us for being a Nigeria-based Nigerian. We feel we know enough and are skilled enough and deserve much more than what we are currently getting. And are even sure that we will do better if we move to a more developed country.

image: centives.net

It is true that we deserve better, but it is mostly because we are currently getting almost nothing in Nigeria. No social amenities and no state assistance. Even the armed robber in Nigeria deserves more than he is getting (and a healthy jail too). It's also true that you will do much better by quitting Nigeria to start a new life in a more developed country. But it will be because they have a better system and pay a higher (minimum) wage.

Let's follow the life journey of two typical Nigerians. One is born to parents based in Nigeria and the other is born to parents based in the US. They are born on the same day with equal potential.

The Nigerian based one grows up speaking both his native language and English. He attends a regular school with regular and mostly incompetent teachers. His English is not a quarter as good as that of the one based in the US. He heads to the university and learns subjects the world has stopped regarding as relevant over 40 years ago. He is exposed to so very little globally relevant stuff. All his idea of how a train ought to work comes from the TV and books. He has to read books to see the things the other one in the US grew up with. His education is much poorer. His relevant knowledge base insufficient, thanks to our educational system. His access to resources very limited, thanks to the government. His understanding of the world, very narrow. His ambitions, mainly to get out or earn a living.

The US based one grows up speaking English with the huge benefit of learning from the native speakers. He attends a community school with free tuition. He benefits from one of the best educational system in the world. He learns things relevant in the world and relevant to his future opportunities. He is exposed to the height of human inventiveness and has his mind stretched a thousand times more than the Nigerian based one. His access to resources is like an ocean compared to the Nigerian based one's puddle. His ambitions are comparable to that of anyone in the world. He grew up soaking in the higher quality knowledge and attitude that exists in his environment. He picks up relevant skills and knowledge from the society that the Nigerian based one doesn't know exist. The only problem he has is fitting in whenever he comes visiting his Nigerian based cousins.

These two people can be compared to someone growing up in a cattle rearing rural community in Borno state and the other growing up in Lagos state. Obviously, one would end up with more relevant and marketable skills than the other just because of the environment he grew up in. Now imagine the Borno guy buying motivational books written by Lagosians who make their living from giving motivational talks. How is that going to reduce his disadvantages? He is not going to learn a better and more modern way of farming. He is not going to have access to the resources that makes it possible for the Lagos one to become a full-time motivational speaker/writer. Now imagine that all the farmers in Borno state start buying motivational books from Lagos rather than reading books that will improve their business productivity and give them relevant skills. And as it is with partial nature, one or two will make it as a motivational speaker than the rest. But overall, they would have all been better if they didn't read motivational books but read more skills imparting books.

And that is what I see happening around me daily. I see people who should be building their skills spending the little they have on motivational books and building castles in the air. They have forgotten that the odds against them are of the sort that feeling good and positive thinking alone can't overcome. They do not consider that they need to put in a lot of good efforts and positive actions to get on the same pedestal the writers of the books started with. They are like the Borno farmers, and for the very few whose lives would be changed for good by the books, the entire group would have fared worse than if they had all read more skills imparting books.

If you are a Nigerian and have lived all your life in Nigeria, you should read more skills imparting and eye-opening books than motivational books. It's going to take people with the hard skills required to build the infrastructure, the system and the society we all admire in the developed countries.

Yesterday, I finally decided to have a professional help me with some of my business needs rather than keep doing everything myself.

I went on Fiverr and PeoplePerHour to search for highly rated professionals who wouldn't charge me a limb. In a very short time, I found out that the guys on PeoplePerHour are out of my league. Their charges are the equivalent of a limb. So I decided to use the guys I found on Fiverr.

I ordered the following four services:

1. Redesign my company brochure (View the result)
2. Create a LinkedIn banner for my profile (Not a perfect job but it was my fault, I gave incorrect pixel specifications. You can view the results here: LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter)
3. Promote my blog to over 100,000 people (In progress)
4. Increase the blog subscription numbers (Also in progress)

The entire experience was a pleasant one for me. The two jobs that have been delivered were done in just a few hours and very satisfactorily. The brochure was redesigned by a guy in Europe and the LinkedIn banner was designed by a guy in Sri Lanka. The other two jobs are being done by a guy in Luxembourg and a lady in USA. It's another way of reminding one that the world is indeed getting smaller. 

Fiverr gave me a $5 bonus for spending over $25. It added to the pleasant surprises.

On another note, I am extremely impressed by the Skype subscription features. I finally bought a US phone number and did a $13/month unlimited call plan. I now call my friends and family in the US and Canada for free under that plan. And they can call me back on the US line and get charged what they normally would be charged for a US call (usually free, covered in their plans too). My next venture is to call up all the US businesses I can partner with or be an agent for in Nigeria. Would be targeting those doing businesses that provide enterprise applications. And I'm already calling my close friends in the US to get ideas of what they see working great there that I can incorporate in my business offering or pitch to clients. 

It's also cheaper to call my nigerian lines via Skype. And the best part is you'll never know. It is very clear and shows my Nigerian MTN number if I call a Nigerian line. And it shows my US line if I call a US, Canada or any other foreign line. If you call back it will ring on my phone, whether I am connected to the internet or not. It's like my world just expanded.

Yesterday was the day. And I almost turned it into a community event as I asked a lot of people for help. And today, I will be reporting the result. 

It went better than I expected. The host was impressed, everyone I asked to tune in and who gave me feedback said I did excellently and I got a business deal there. You can listen to the audio recording here: Radio Interview

The bulk of the advice I got was that I should not sound too techy. That I should speak at a level everyone listening can connect with and benefit from. And the practical implication of it was that I couldn't talk big data. I even had to use a very weak definition of it. So I focused more on data.

I told them that data is everything you can measure. Your height. Your age. Your sales number. Everything you can measure is data. And that translates to everything you can gather -- even people's opinions are data. And that we all do some form of data analysis already. Your decision that set up your business in Lagos and not in your home town is because you have run the numbers in your head. You considered Lagos with its huge population a better market than your home town even though it's a lot easier to set up in your home town. That is a data driven decision. And you are constantly making such data driven decisions in your business already. You know what what product to have more of in your store and the one to have very little of -- inventory management -- because you have done the data analysis, even if it was just in your head.

I then went on to say that my aim is to help them put a structure to that data analysis they already do and to show them more ways they can profitably use data. When you are starting a business alone and with a little funding, you can afford to do the numbers in your head and not make any big error. But when you are starting with a considerable sum of money and possibly borrowed money, you have to use a standard and structured way of doing your analysis -- from market data research to your sales data. You have to take your business data more seriously. And this applies if you are serious about growing, even if you started very small and did all your analysis in your head.

Your business data journey begins the very day you come up with your business idea. You begin asking friends for their opinions and you begin gathering relevant information about what you want to do. Including possible market size and where to situate the business. You are already working with data. Then you start the business and you have to deal with sales data. Then, inventory data. And as your business expands, you need to manage your customer data. 

So every business needs to, at least, have in place a structured way of doing their 

1. Sales Management
2. Inventory Management
3. Customer Relationship Management

When you have that in place, you can easily travel for a long vacation and business will not crumble. That is one of the benefits of having a standardized mechanism of doing your important business data analysis rather doing head-run analysis. The next benefit is that as your business grows the data analysis becomes larger than what you can run in your head and some business insights will only come to you via having these structured mechanisms in place. And most importantly, recorded data has no substitute. A bank is not going to give you loan if all you have is stories of how well you doing and how fast business is growing . They will need the data -- facts and figures.

Then you should go more creative. (Actually, this is where big data applies more). Get on social media. Look through demographic data and several online accessible huge data repositories. Let some business insights jump at you. Do some big data analysis to find patterns that even your competitors know nothing about. Just as Amazon will suggest things to buy to you, intelligently. Do something similar in your business. Be more business creative and proactive. Use all the data you have and can get.

Once again, you can listen to it here: Radio Interview

This past month I spent over N12,000 on my Airtel line and another couple of thousand naira on my MTN line for phone calls. I already use Skype for free calls and yesterday I decided to the comparison between what MTN and Airtel were charging me and what Skype offers.

MTN and Airtel charges me N24 for my first minute and between N6 and N12 for my subsequent minutes. Skype's Nigerian plans charge 3.3 cents and 3.1 cents per minute (depending on the plan you pick) and from the very first minute. And at an exchange rate of N200/dollar that would be as low as N6.20k per minute flat rate to all networks in Nigeria. So on the surface it looks like a much cheaper alternative for someone like me who is always internet connected.

So I decided to do a test. I bought $10 Skype credit and set my Caller ID to my MTN number. So when I call you from Skype you will see my MTN number. Then I started with the 3.3 cents per minute plan. That will translate to about N6.60k per minute. I am going to make more of my regular phone calls through Skype. I already have it on my PC and my phone.

I did a trial call in the midnight and as expected of Skype, the call quality was excellent. If my calculations prove right, I would be cutting my phone call expenses to less than half of what I currently spend. Or as I plan to, I would be making much more phone calls for the same amount of money. And I would be less reluctant to make international calls as there are crazy cheap on Skype. I would be calling up more foreign companies I can partner with or people I need their services without fear of high call expense. 

And one more cool feature with Skype is that I can buy a US or UK line and put it in my profile, on my business site and on my business card as our international business line.

So next time you get a call from me, it might be a Skype call. 


P.S. >> My radio interview is today. You can listen live if you have the time. It's ICT Radio Show on Nigerian Info 99.3, Lagos, from 1:30pm to 2:00pm. I will be talking on how small businesses can leverage data to grow their business. And a big thanks to everyone who gave me advice on how to be prepared and effective. Thanks a lot!