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Productivityand Organization is the key to a successful business. This is especially thecase if you workfrom home and have all the added distractions of home life right therebeside you (behind you, in front of you - you get the point). So, you will need to organize your home lifebetter than the next person. It is nearly impossible to perform at your best ifthere are a zillion things you need to organize on the home front. The secretto being more effective in your professional life is to organize yourself fromthe ground up. Here are some tips that Ihave found to help when working from home:
Reprioritizeyour ?To do? list
Weall know we could be more effective if only we were ?on top of? our personaland home lives but often don't make headway in these areas because these tasksoften come last on our ?To Do? lists. It's important not to underestimate whata difference home organization can make, particularly if it is also your workplace. Don't keep ignoring small household jobs, because although the tasks mayseem minor individually, when seen as a whole they add up to one enormousenergy drain. Start by tackling the smaller tasks one by one and graduallygetting them under control. Next time you find yourself saying, ?I must dothis, but I don't have time?, make yourself do it right there and then. Don'tbelieve yourself when you say ?I'm too busy, I will do it later? because chancesare you won't. Once this becomes routine you will be able to continually,de-clutter and alleviate all manner of paperwork and objects around the houseand office.
Dealwith your paperwork as it comes in
Thinkof all the paperwork that you have around the house, and then triple it and youwill be close to the extra paperwork you will have to deal with if you workfrom home. Often it is how we deal with this extra paperwork that can make thedifference between a semi-successful or highly successful business. You need tohave an efficient filing system for your business and home-based paperwork tofunction at an optimum level. Fileimportant items or recycle them straight away if they are irrelevant to you, nomatter how interesting they may be. There simply won't be time to read all ofit and you don't want it clogging up your home office or messing with yourfocus.
Getthe basics down on paper in the one place
Youshould start with the most basic information you need to sort through in theshort, medium and long term. The topics can be as simple as ?what you haveloaned people?; ?websites to re-visit?, ?books to read? or those share tips youneed to make a note of and so on. Bywriting all this sort of information down as the need arises, you will be amazedat how much less cluttered your head and house will feel and how much moreproductive you will be with your time. For example a daily ?To Do? list withjobs as basic as ?Empty the dishwasher, wipe bench, water plants, make beds?etc. sounds obvious but it really helps you do jobs in clusters instead of hereand there because you get distracted by other things - the kids, the phone etc.The point of having such a list is to help keep you focused, so that you getthose mundane unavoidable jobs out of the way, and you literally free up moretime for yourself.
Regularlymind dump
Anotherimportant point that some people underestimate is that it's vital to clear ourmind of all the ?stuff? that we store up top that doesn't have to be there - which we often forget when we need itanyway! It helps to regularly put pen to paper and write down all the bits andpieces of information that are floating around in your head. As one quotesuccinctly puts it ?The weakest penis better than the strongest memory.? Anon. It is very energizing to do and youshould also notice a marked improvement in your memory, by freeing up this muchneeded headspace.
Get dressed forwork
As tempting as itis to work in your ?Sloppy Joes? all day, make the effort to dress smartly sothat you are in work mode. Believe it or not, this can even make a differenceto the way you talk on the phone and therefore the outcome of your calls. Beprofessional in all areas, as you would if you had a business with customersseeing you every day.
Setsome ground rules
Letpeople know that although you will normally be ?home? they needto pretend you aren't, so you can get your work done. Let everyone know your'do not interrupt me? times and make sure you stick to these timesyourself. Discipline is needed so youare not tempted to go off for a coffee with a friend more often than youshould.
Work rhythms
Work at the time ofthe day when you are most productive. If you are a night owl then arrange yourwork time around this and get other things done during the day. Or vice versa -if you are a great morning person then get stuck into it and chill out a bit inthe afternoon. Get to know what works best for you and capitalize on it.
Set work priorities
Do this every dayand do them in order of importance. Set a schedule & stick to it. Checkemails only twice a day (have them set so they don't interrupt you when you?refocusing on something else.) Screen calls if possible, so that you speak topeople only when it suits you, rather than when you're in the middle ofsomething important. Try to makecalls rather than take calls. Where possible, take care of things via emailif you can as opposed to time-consuming meetings/phone calls.
Don?tforget your family & friends
Whenworking fromhome, remember to factor in your family's needs amongst everything becauseit is easy to get wrapped up in your work and not realize something needs togive until it's too late. For example, try to work when the kids arehaving a daytime nap, or at night. It can be quite a trap to say to yourself,?I'll just reply to these emails?, or ?I'll just make a couple of calls?, andbefore you know it an hour or two has gone by. Be ?present? when it?sfamily/friends time ? don't have one eye on the email or be taking phone callsfor work. Sometimes it may be necessary to re-asses your workload and cut backto spend more quality time with your family & friends. I desperately neededto do this after being featured on Ch9's ACurrent Affair, due to being ridiculously busy for too long. It was obviousI needed to cut back for all of our sakes & so we could re-group. Perhapsyou need to do the same?
Personaltime
Don?tforget to give yourself permission to have a life in amongst everything elsetoo. A regular walk; a cup of coffee; time to read a good book and so on areessential to your mental health & wellbeing. If your health or wellbeingfalls over because you are working too hard, there may be no one else to takecare of your business or your family, so take care of ?You? too.
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