Manage Your Time Well to Work from Home

Posts : 111 Join date : 2013-07-08

.

Manage Your Time Well to Work from Home

Time and tide wait for no man. This is a fact known to all of us. However, then why is it that some people still have all the time in the world, while others always have a ‘to-do’ list that does not end? Do some people have additional hours in their day?

Effective time management is the answer to all this. Time is a scarce resource and each one of us has only 24 hours in our day. You cannot change what is available. However, making the best use of it would make all the difference in both our personal and professional life. Skill and talent will prove useless, if we are not able to manage time well.

The habit of procrastinating that is putting off for tomorrow what can be done today, is yet another reason that many people are forever running from pillar to post to complete the tasks at hand. The way you manage the 24 hours in the day, actually determines whether you are successful or not.

Time management is especially important for women. We are forever juggling between our home, children, responsibilities and work. Work from home can prove to be total chaos, if managing time is not the top priority. With work from home, the home is the office, and the office is the home. Marking a clear demarcation between work and home becomes difficult in most cases, work would end up stretching into all your free time, if you do not manage your time effectively.

A few simple changes and you would have made a difference, which allows you to enjoy both your work and family. It will also result in increase in productivity, and a guilt-free work atmosphere. Whether you are a work from home writer, run your own business or provide professional services, time management is one that we all need.

Tips To Manage Time For Both Home And Work Effectively

Set Your Goals Appropriately:

The goals and aspirations that each one of us has are different, unique so to say, and so are the demands on our time. It is important that we understand ourselves, our ambitions, responsibilities and circumstances.

For a work from home woman there are also a set of circumstances that determine certain boundaries. This is especially true in the case of a work from home mom who has to attend to her responsibilities as a home maker, wife, mother and the other multiple roles she plays as a woman.

You need to also work around all this and set your aim keeping in mind all the factors. Take a step at a time and you will see that even the tallest of mountains can be scaled easily.

Be Organized:

Everything has a place, and keeping the things in their right place will help you save a lot of time.

Make preparations beforehand. For instance, planning your menu for the next day and chopping vegetables and making other such preparations will save you a lot of time in the morning. Once household chores are sorted out fast you will be able to sit to work early and also without any distractions.

If you work on the computer make sure to have your desktop and files organized after the day’s work and you will see that you have everything at hand when you need it.

Maintain A Diary:

Plan your day/week well in advance.

Make a realistic and carefully planned out schedule. Stuffing the day with a hundred “to-dos” is definitely impossible and would only see you running from one to the other without actually achieving much. Making a proper plan that will help you juggle all that you have in hand.

Prioritize:

Make sure to get your priorities right.

Prioritizing will help you allot adequate time and attention to the assignment depending on its importance and urgency.

Do not make the mistake of saying a big ‘Yes’ to everything. It is not humanly possible for a person to do everything and so it is important to be sure of the tasks that you take on only what is possible.

If you have help at hand, delegation will ensure that you have time to attend to the crucial matters.

Avoid Distractions:

Working from home requires a lot of discipline and thus, it is important that you work from a particular place in the home every day and also allot specific hours to work.

Make your family members know that it is work time and that you need to concentrate.

Make sure that the housework, the ringing of the bell/telephone; or the temptation to log on to your favourite social networking site does not distract you. Such distractions can actually hamper work and productivity and force you to work late into the night.

Ensure Quality Time for Family:

Make sure that you spend quality time with your family.

Letting work expand into your time with family can actually lead to a lot of guilt and cause immense stress.

Draw that fine line between home and work and you will see how happy you are at both places.

Managing time effectively and efficiently is the key to happiness and productivity. Make out your action plan today and you will see the big difference it can make to life, as a whole.