3 Simple Steps to Time Management

Time management is absolutely crucial to success in high school, as well as the post academic world. These three simple steps will have you getting more work done than you ever thought possible!

1. Prioritize. Write down a list of things you need to get done now, things you'd like to get done soon, and things you want to do or try. What I like to do is set up my to-do list in three distinct brackets. The first bracket is full of the things you need to do NOW. For me, school work is something I need to do, so homework and studying come first.
   The second bracket is the group of things that don't necessarily need to get done NOW, but you would like to have them finished by the end of the day, the end of the week, or some other period of time. This blog, for example, is in the second bracket for me.
   The third and final bracket that I like to use is full of the things I WANT to do or start. These are the things I have always had a slight interest in, such as writing HTML code or blogging.
   Apply all of these brackets to yourself and your everyday life and you'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish.


2. Set out time blocks. Schedule a time every day to get your bracket complete. Once you have your specific time block set, start to divvy up the time according to the brackets we discussed earlier. For example, set out two hours for homework, one hour for blog writing (or whatever else you'd like to get done), then 30-45 minutes of possibly surfing the internet looking for new, interesting things to try. The more important things come first, with the things that you want to do finishing off. This works well because by the time you have all the work finished that you need done, looking into new things you are considering will seem very relaxing and easy.
   
   Tip: As you start trying new things that you'd like to do, you may realize that you need to move them up to the first or second bracket. Re-evaluate your priorities every now and then just to keep things in perspective.
   
   Tip: Take breaks! Schedule in a couple of 5-10 minute breaks in your brackets. Take a walk, get a snack, do anything, really! This will help keep you fresh, energized, and focused. Taking breaks also gives you a little incentive and helps me to motivate myself to work a little harder for the next ten minutes or so because I have a break coming up.



3. DO THE WORK! The hardest part about starting anything new is actually finding the motivation to do it, once you get up and start working, you'll find that it's easier than you feared and you may enjoy doing it! Don't skip out on your time management brackets. Doing this will cause you to drop the habit you've worked so hard to develop! Don't put off your brackets until you absolutely must do them. This causes inconsistency, lack of motivation, and poor work quality.

Following these three simple steps will allow you to manage your time properly and will allow you to accomplish things you never dreamed possible! Time management is as important as any other aspect of success, and can help you determine what you'd like to accomplish in a timely manner, which is very important.

Passive income

High school students are busy, it's no surprise to anyone. With students doing more homework nowadays than at any other point in time, participating in sports, and possibly experiencing a very rigorous, college preparatory curriculum, it's no wonder why students can't find time to support a part time job to make money. Be it for gas, college savings, or just spending money to have fun on the weekends, money for high school students is hard to come by.

Although there are some parents out there who are fortunate enough to be able to provide their children with gas money and spending money, many aren't. Students might want ways to make up more money for their own benefit once they are out living on their own, or some high schoolers like having extra cash to spend on their girlfriend/boyfriend, weekends, or other things.

In this and the next few articles, I will be showing high school students, or anyone seeking extra money, how to make money without doing work continuously. These sources of passive income won't make you rich, necessarily, but they sure can help out when you're in a tight spot money wise.

Bulk candy vending

The first form of passive income being discussed is bulk candy vending. This is a personal favorite of mine because I enjoy talking to people and getting out and being active. Bulk vending machines are the small machines you see in convenience stores, auto shops, super markets, and many other retail locations(note these are NOT the larger, more expensive electronic machines). You put in a quarter (or two), and get either gumballs, candy, stickers, or small toys from the machine. Kids love these, so they're also great for those of you who are fans of making people happy with your services. The best part of all about bulk vending machine: they make you money all the time, without you having to maintain or constantly visit the machine. All one must do is go and service the machine every couple of weeks or so, I prefer to do so after school or on a weekend. Servicing the machine simply entails walking into the location, giving the machine a quick clean, refilling the candy, and collecting your coin.

How much can I make?

This all depends on the particular location and the type of candy you decide to use. The national average per head per month of bulk candy income is $25. This means that if you service your machine once a month, and it has three heads, the national average would state that you'd pull in $75, not bad for not having to do much actual work, right? Of course the national average isn't correct when concerning every location, some make much more, and some locations will make less. It all depends on how good of a location you have. In general, 1" gumballs are the most profitable, selling for 25 cents a gumball when you spend only about 5 cents per unit. Candy, such as M&M's or Mike and Ikes, are also pretty profitable.

Machines

When buying your first machine I would definitely suggest buying used. You can usually find a decent, used machine on Ebay or Craigslist. I would definitely suggest buying a triple head machine, in general those are the ones which I find bring in the most profit per head. Used, these can run you anywhere from $75-$150, this means that after you've had the machine on site for two or three months, the machine will have paid itself off in profits!

Locations

The hardest part about bulk candy vending, by far, is locating. There are many great locating services out there who either physically go out locating for you, or call local businesses placing your machines. Of course, there is a fee associated with these services, and the ones who physically go in locating for you are more expensive. Many people prefer locating services over self locating.

Personally, however, I prefer to self locate. Self locating can be very difficult at times, even veteran vendors only report about a 1 in 10 success rate. Although the basics of self locating are pretty simple, the entire process can be very demoralizing at points. You will get denied, sometimes very rudely, and you will get down on yourself. Locating my first machine took about a month of inconsistently going out and making cold calls to random businesses, I can safely say I went to about 20 locations, getting denied at all of them. However, after I had learned the basics of sales through numerous conversations with my parents, refined my pitch, and kept at it. After I started my current sales technique, I got the third location I tried. After all the other failed locations, getting this one was one of the most rewarding feelings in the world. Keep at it, after your first location is secured, locating additional machines is much easier.

There are two types of locations: commission and charity. Commission locations are pretty self-explanatory, you simply pay the store owner a percentage of either your profits or gross income. Charity vending is a little different. There are numerous national charities with vending outreach programs. A vending outreach program is where you pay the charity a monthly fee in order to represent them and use their name. Locating a charity machine entails simply asking an owner to donate a few spare feet of store space to charity. You also get to display the charity sticker on your machine, making the store look good. The advantage of charity vending is that you may not have to pay as much for a particular location, you are also serving a good cause.

Servicing

Servicing your route is something you will have to do only once or twice a month, depending on the location. When I service a machine I try to keep it quick and clean, no more than five minutes in the location is optimal. I bring: candy refills, keys, paper towels, rubber gloves (NEVER touch the candy with your bare hands), a small bank zipper bag for coins, citrus cleaner to keep ants away, and a screwdriver.

Good Luck

Overall, bulk candy vending is a great source of passive income that I thoroughly enjoy managing. At times things may get tough if you decide to self-locate, but persistence in really any business is key. Bulk vending really is a business that can make you as much money as you need it to, as long as you're willing to locate the machines and service them periodically! Before you get started, though, make sure to check local and state laws and get all the proper licenses for bulk vending.



Stay tuned to the upcoming posts in the series of passive income! Cheers!

Quote of the week

Here's where I'll post an inspirational quote or something that has helped get me motivated to do what I have set out to do. The quote will usually come once or twice a week, and will generally come from a successful person. I will also interpret and apply the quote to very general things, such as hard work or dedication. Many of these quotes won't have a traceable author and will be credited to "unknown".

"The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday." -Unknown

Do not let anyone's opinions change what you think of yourself. Don't compare yourself to others. Don't be discouraged if you can't reach their level of competence in a certain area, because everyone is equal and you will be better at something else without even having to work at it! Find what suits you and what you enjoy doing, for you will be the most successful at that.

The second meaning I took out of this that really inspires me is to be constantly improving yourself every day. Do things that you couldn't find the time for yesterday, make progress constantly no matter what. Focus on what you can do NOW, not what you could have done yesterday or what you might have to do tomorrow. Always work your hardest at what you're doing and you will continue to improve yourself and become more successful.

Introduction

Well, hello. I'm completely new to blogging of any type, so I'm just going to start by introducing myself. I'm Mitchell. I'm a senior at a high school in Louisville, Kentucky. I play lacrosse, and am planning on attending Indiana University next year and hopefully majoring in something in the business field. 

Basically what I'll be blogging about are certain things that interest me and, hopefully, you. From entrepreneurship to html coding, or really anything I'm interested in trying, you'll get to see it and learn about it first hand. Also, I'll be taking requests on topics to write articles about!

Cheers.