It’s Not Your Fault!

Do you constantly beat yourself up because you feel you aren’t getting enough done?  Well, the good news is that it may not be you at all.

Write down the tasks you have to do in any given week or day and then time yourself for a week or two on these tasks, and you may be very surprised at how long some things take.

For instance, you may think it only takes 45 minutes to prepare your quote, but in reality it could take 90 minutes.  You may think it only takes 15 minutes to write your blog article, but may find it actually takes 25 minutes.

In many cases, people underestimate the time it takes to do things, and this is one of the reasons they think they aren’t getting enough done.  By timing yourself, you will get a visual picture of your time.  When you see how long it really takes to accomplish your regular tasks, you will be able to realistically see how many things you can fit into a normal day.  You won’t constantly be trying to push yourself to do what is in fact the impossible; and you can stop beating yourself up for not getting enough done!

Time Management for Organizers Who Work from Home

Are you struggling to juggle your multiple responsibilities? Here are some time management tips for people who work at home:

• Define your business hours and let your clients and family know what they are.  When you are working, let your family know that you need some quiet time to get your work done.  When it is “closing” time, feel free to shut the office door and enjoy your family.  There is always tomorrow for you to return phone calls and respond to emails.
• If you have small children, get some childcare help.  Enrolling your child in daycare for a few hours a day twice a week doesn’t mean you are a bad mother.  You need time to work on your business, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about that.  If you don’t want to leave your child at daycare, consider hiring someone to come to the house and watch your children while you work.
• Many of your administrative activities can be outsourced to a virtual assistant.  This will free up your schedule and allow you to spend more time marketing your business. See www.tildavirtual.com.au.
• Check your email once in the morning and once in the evening, rather than checking it and responding to email every half hour or so. This will save you a lot of time throughout your day.  If you are waiting on an urgent email, rather than checking your email every 5 minutes to see if it has arrived, assign a specific sound to the person you are waiting to hear from and when their email arrives your computer will alert you. Check out http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP010524761033.aspx?pid=CH063564671033 for instructions.
• If you are tempted to start surfing the internet while working on the computer, unplug your internet connection until your work is done.  Once you have completed your report or spreadsheet, you can get back online.
• Participating in forums and social networking sites can be a great way to connect with others and gain publicity, but they can also be a big time waster.  You don’t have to join every single social networking site you find.  Choose a few good ones, and limit the amount of time you spend there.  Use a timer so you are alerted when the time you have allocated to surfing is up.

By placing a loose structure around your at-home business, you will find you are more productive and able to leave your business behind for the night when you close the study door.