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When you work from home, everything seems to clamor for your attention - from the laundry pile to the breakfast dishes, to the dogs who would really like another walk. And then there are the well-meaning family and friends who call or stop by in the middle of the day, just to visit. Here are a few tips for helping you carve out time to actually work during your workday, so you can get more done in less time. 1. Ask yourself some questions about your boundaries and how much time you really want (or need) to spend working. For many of us, the reason we work from home is so that we can spend more time with family and friends; so that we can spend less time commuting and more time connecting. Get clear with yourself about how many hours you can reasonably expect to put in during a given workday, while still leaving time to enjoy an excellent quality of life. If you aren't finding the time to do all the important tasks to make your business a success, is there any time you can borrow from your evenings – or the occasional weekend – to finish the desired tasks? Can you hire an assistant to do some of the busywork so that you have more personal time available to you? 2. Question the 9 to 5. You might need to eliminate the notion of working banker's hours. As someone who works from home, your most productive hours may be from 5 am to 7 am – then a break to get the kids off to school – followed by a few intense hours between 9 and 2. And then maybe you'll wrap things up again with an hour before bed. Pay attention to your routine and see what works best for you and your family. One of the most magnificent things about your work at home career is that it can bend to your needs and wants. 3. Schedule in some social time. If you successfully work from home, chances are you already have a great deal of discipline and focus. And if you're like me, that level of focus can sometimes come back to bite you. When you work for too long with such incredible focus, you can start to burn out. That's why it's essential to schedule brief moments of fun, to help you break up the routine and get your freshest ideas flowing again. For me, that means brisk walks, hikes, or cross-country ski outings with my dogs (occasionally accompanied by friends or business colleagues) as well as twice-monthly breakfasts with friends, to help remind me that there's more to my life than my business and my kids. 4. Make a place for yourself. I worked for nearly a decade from my kitchen table. Truth be told, I still do sometimes (because it's so very sunny there), but it's also nice to have a separate place where I don't have to roll up my day planner, notes, and ideas when it's dinnertime. See if you can find space in your home for a small desk. Ideally, it will be in a room with a door, so you can shut out all the distractions. Plus, a closed door is a fairly clear sign to the rest of your family that you would prefer to not be disrupted. That doesn't mean you have to work there all the time, but it's nice to have a place outside the flow of traffic that you can escape to when the house gets especially noisy. 5. Give your family cues. Perhaps you'll tie a ribbon on your door to signify that you are deep in concentration. Or, if your desk is out in the open, use a visual cue that you can wear (such as a hat or a particular sweater) to signify to your children and your spouse that you shouldn't be interrupted at that time. Of course, if your children are young and home with you full time, you'll need to restrict your work hours to naptimes or perhaps hire a mother's helper to give you some time to focus and get your work done. 6. Get the nagging household chores out of the way as soon as possible. This really works for me. As soon as my kids get on the school bus each morning, I do all of the day's chores – so that they don't nag at me while I'm trying to get my business work done. Establish a routine of important tasks that you can complete just before you start your workday, Do the laundry, finish the vacuuming and the dishes and take the dogs for their walk, before you sit down at your desk. Hopefully, that will keep the house distractions to a minimum. The biggest challenge with working from home is to stay on-track, without getting distracted by the other important pieces of your life. The best way to do that is to set your boundaries and know what works best for you. Jamie Jefferson writes for New Coupons and Deals as well as Office-Supply-Coupons.com where you can find the best prices and deals on home office supplies and tech.
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