But although it’s easy to sit in front of the computer for several hours in a row doesn’t mean those hours are spent efficiently. There are way too many distractions that keep us from what really should be doing – work and make more money!

Blogs (yeah you really should get off your butt instead of reading this blog post!), forums, Twitter, chatting with friends, reading and writing email, Youtube videos, news, some funny article your buddy sent you….the list is endless.

And it is WAY too easy to get sidetracked. “Oh just one quick refresh of that thread..” or “let me just check if someone responded to my blog comment…“. Just one minute here and another minute there. It adds up way fast.

Before you know it, you have wasted an hour and a half on really accomplishing nothing! I had this problem but found a great solution. Best of all – it’s FREE and easy to use. 

The solution is called RescueTime (not an affiliate link. Duh…it’s free).

Here’s a screenshot of my RescueTime dashboard showing how efficient and productive I have forced myself to become (click to zoom):

When I first began using it some months ago, my Efficiency and Productivity scores were pretty low. I would work scattered hours throughout the day, but still spend a lot of it on non-productive tasks – sometimes without even realizing how much time got wasted away. It’s way too easy to end the day by thinking “Oh well…tomorrow is the day when I will get to it”. 

Anyway – RescueTime is awesome. It forces you to see really what you’re spending your time on.

• You can set yourself minimum productive goals, such as shooting for at least 3 hours work daily
• You can set yourself maximum non-productive goals, such as shooting for less than 30 minutes daily on forums, blogs and chat
• It’s up to you to define what programs, websites, apps, will be measured as work or leisure
• You can get daily or weekly reports on how you’re performing
• Whenever you check the RescueTime Dashboard, you can get a visual overview of how well you have done for the day, the week, the last 10 days, or the month.

What really got me going was that I constantly try to beat my own record for productivity and efficiency. The pure time I have spent working on a new affiliate campaign is right there in black and white. The next day I tell myself I will beat my own score and work even harder.

This really works wonders – and as a result, I have gotten a LOT done the last few months. I would venture to say that I am now probably four times as productive as I used to be.

That means:

• More time to test new offers and research new niches
• I can set up a new landing site in short time
• I can launch several campaigns in the same time I used to launch just one

Of course, it is still important to network and stay current in this business. So I do set aside some time every day to check up on a few forums and read a few select blogs. When I’m done with my todo-list for the day, I also take time to jump into the chat window to talk with my fellow marketers and friends. 

All in all – RescueTime will truly change the way you work. If you’re a procrastinator who can never really get a campaign off the ground – then I highly recommend you start using this tool.