If you have children in school and own a home business, you are probably relieved to have a break after the summer vacation. You’ll be able to return to a full time schedule, if you had taken a little time off during the summer. No more stopping in the middle of a task to do something for your kids. So you think you’ll have the time to get everything caught up, or start on that new project.
But wait! Now that the kids have been back in school for awhile, why do you feel like you’re not getting any more accomplished than you were over the summer? You had plans to update your websites and/or set up new ones, evaluate your projects and goals, etc. But you just do not seem to have the time to do these things. What happened to all that extra time you thought you would have on your hands now that the kids were not distracting you during the day?
More than likely, it’s not the extra time that you’ve lost, it’s how you manage your time. It’s time to set a different routine and manage your time wisely to get back on track and make your home business a success. Here are some steps you can take to do just that:
1. Set priorities. Each day, you need to list create a To-Do List, in the order of importance. Even if the hardest task you need to get done is the most important, list it at top and do it first. Normally getting the most difficult task out of the way will make your day go even smoother.
2. Plan of Action. Write out the time periods that you would like to work on each task. Creating blocks of time to do different tasks will help you keep track of your work during the day. The schedule does not have to be followed by the minute, but it helps keep you in stride.
3. Messages. Learn to let your callers leave messages if they call during the time you are working on an important task. In your Plan of Action in #2 above, set aside a block of time to return these phone calls. Of course, you should not do this all of the time as this would not be good customer services, but if you are right in the middle of working on an important task, do not let the phone call be a distraction and continue on with your work.
4. Breaks. Make sure you take breaks during the day. You may feel like you have to work straight through the day to free up some of your time later, but you need to take care of yourself. What better way can you do that than to take a breather from your work?
5. Delegate. You may consider hiring a Virtual Assistant to work on administrative duties while you concentrate on your higher priority projects for the business. They say, “Time is money,” and the money you would spend to hire a Virtual Assistant would be worth the money spent.
Sit down and make a plan using these steps, then when your children get home from school, you’ll have plenty of time to spend with them just like you did during their summer break. These steps will definitely get your home business back on track.
Of course, the above steps are only some of the things you can do to get yourself organized and motivated throughout the day. We would love to hear the things you do to help yourself accomplish your daily goals!
