Strategies: 8 keys to success in your daily routine

— -- Can't find a job? You're not alone. Over 13 million Americans are out of work. Are you just going to sit at home in your bathrobe and mope? No. It's time to start your own business and create a job. As someone said to me, "Being a consultant means never having to say you're unemployed."

As you transition to self-employment, there's lots to think about. One of the most important, but overlooked, is how to establish a day-to-day routine of how you'll spend your time. It's tougher than you think.

First, recognize you're no longer just looking for a job, and you may have to break some bad habits. When you're job hunting, your day goes something like: Check job listings, send resumes, have coffee with someone who knows someone who might have a job lead, read e-mail. Even if you're working really hard at trying to find a new position, that's half a day.

You can justify spending the rest of the day exercising (staying in shape for that job interview), golfing ("another word for networking, hon ..."), running errands or picking up the kids (yes, you really do have time for that, no matter what you tell your spouse).

Once you decide — or realize — you're actually running a business, you need a different approach to time management.

Recognize that you do, indeed, need structure. You can't play it by ear every day. And you need to devote enough hours to build a business; you can't just wait until you have clients or customers. On the other hand, you don't necessarily want or need the rigid limits you had when you were someone else's employee.

That's a tough line to walk. I know. When I first started my then home-based business, I set a rigid 9-to-5 schedule. After a while, it didn't fit the way I was most productive. I worked best very early in the morning, then taking a break around 9 or 10 a.m. to walk my dog, work diligently until 2 or 3 p.m., go exercise, and then perhaps end the day with a bit more work, if I had any to do.

There are tempting ways to waste time when you work from home. You can spend hours on the Internet, feeling busy. You can read news and blogs and interact with people on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. These may be useful but limit the amount of time you spend.