Back in the 1920s, workers in a light bulb factory in Chicago were the subject of a series of tests to discover the optimum level of lighting required to maximise productivity.

It was quickly discovered that when the lighting levels were increased, productivity increased too.

What was also discovered however was that when the lighting levels were decreased, productivity also increased.

And when lighting levels stayed the same, productivity increased.

What has become known as the Hawthorne Effect (so called because the experiments took place in the Hawthorne Works) demonstrated that it wasn’t the lighting levels that affected productivity. What did cause the increases of productivity is open to debate and interpretation, but one contributing factor was almost certainly change.

It didn’t matter whether that change was for the better or worse, the change in working conditions saw increases in production - albeit only temporarily (productivity at the factory didn’t continue to increase over time and eventually returned to normal levels).

I believe the same effect comes into play with time management.

Whenever I embark on a new time management plan - no matter what it is - my productivity increases. But eventually it returns to the pre-change level.

And that’s why when I feel that I’m not achieving as much as I’d like to in the 24 hours I have each day, I look for a new time management system to boost my productivity.

So here’s my current way of organising my time which may prove of use to you too, particularly if you are finding it increasingly difficult to manage a portfolio of websites.

First thing in the morning I check my stats to see what I earned the day before. I have bookmarked all of the relevant pages - Google Adsense, Amazon Associates, the affiliate networks, etc., - and saved them in a folder marked Earnings.

I use Firefox as my internet browser and it allows me to navigate to that folder and “Open All In Tabs”. With one click, the pages all appear, I log in to them one at a time, and within a minute or so have seen them all.

I then check that all of my websites are live using the same system. All of them have been bookmarked in a folder marked Websites, I navigate to that folder via Firefox’s Bookmarks tab, click “Open In All Tabs” and within seconds can see if there are any problems with sites that don’t load. If there are any, I find out why and fix the problem.

Similarly, I have bookmarked all contact forms on my website into a folder marked “Forms”, I use the “Open In All Tabs” option and then test each form, making sure they are all working. Any that aren’t can then be fixed.

Most days all of my websites are working as are the forms, but occasionally there is a problem and this allows me to fix it ASAP.

The above takes about five minutes and I do it before breakfast each day.

I also check all of my email accounts before breakfast too. Some accounts are then checked at various times throughout the day, but the important thing is to check each account at least daily.

My email inboxes are a fantastic source of inspiration and ideas for content for my websites. Affiliate companies write to me with their latest offers, companies send me press releases, people send me suggestions or questions - all of which can provide material for my websites.

I have a worksheet that lists all of my email accounts and that has space for notes. As I tick each account after checking it, I also write down anything of interest. This list can then be organised in order of priority and provides part of my plan of action for the day.

Then I walk the dog and have breakfast. This gives any ideas time to formulate in my mind and when I return to my computer screen I have a pretty good idea of what I’ll be doing for at least part of my day.

The post - especially the magazines that I subscribe too - is treated similarly. Anything of interest gets noted and prioritised. As does anything I see on TV that is of interest.

I also trawl the internet, looking at websites relating to the various niches I work in - again all bookmarked in separate folders. And if I come across other interesting sites in the course of my day, I make sure to add them.

From the above I’m never short of things to do, but I also have a wishlist of jobs that I would like to do in any given week - whether it is launching a new site or redeveloping part of an existing site, testing and installing a new script, whatever.

These wishlists stem from my quarterly plans of action that I draw up by taking a week out to decide what the following 12 weeks will be dedicated to (52 divided by 13 divides the year up nicely).

So I make sure I find time for these jobs too - either because time becomes available or because I draw a line under what I’ve added to my daily worksheet (anything important can be carried over till tomorrow, and anything that gets carried over too often isn’t that important).

I’ve been doing the above since the start of the year and so far so good. But as soon as productivity starts to slack, I’ll be looking to shake things up a little. So any tips from your side of the fence would be much appreciated.