Working from home: A dream come true! Relaxed days spent doing what you love with much less stress than working in an office.
Well... maybe. What you'll find is that working from home has its own unique challenges. Your business world can start to intermingle with your personal life in ways that can be confusing to you. You very well may find yourself becoming less productive. Without a defined schedule built into each day, you may become distracted and conflicted about which activities to focus on; do you clean the house or work on marketing this afternoon?
One of the most important things in a solopreneur's day is being productive, whether you're a voice actor, a web designer, or write code for a living. As entrepreneurs our time, quite literally, is money. Being productive in our business day is absolutely vital to our success.
I've outlined some steps here for you that I use in my own home-based business practices to keep me focused and productive. They aren't listed in any particular order, but if you use these strategies in your own home-based business, I think they'll work well for you too.
1. First, start with the end
Know exactly what you would like to achieve before you begin. Get absolutely clear on what you want the end result to be. Whether it's finishing a sales letter by 10:00 am, making five prospecting calls, or getting a detailed quote on your website design, know exactly what you're aiming for before you start.
When you have your outcome clearly in mind it becomes easier to strategize the steps necessary to achieve it. Start with the end.
2. Work with your body's natural energy cycles
I don't know about you, but if I had to buckle down to work at 7:00 am I'd never get anything done! But from 3-9 pm I can work like gangbusters!
Pay attention to when you feel energetic, clear-headed, motivated, and focused. Whether you work best in the early morning on your patio or prefer to go into the office in the evenings to get things done, make sure to work with your own natural energy cycles and you'll get a lot more accomplished.
3. Focus on the critical inch
Are you perhaps focusing on the wrong aspects of your business? Are you staying very "busy" but not getting any revenue-producing projects completed? Are you working on what's urgent vs. what's important?
I like to think of the "critical inch" of a business as that which is the most vitally important to make the business produce a profit in the shortest amount of time.
Are you entering business card information into a database when you should be calling prospective clients? Are you reading your colleagues' Facebook posts when you should be working on creating new products for your customers?
Deliberately focus every day on what will monetize your business.
4. Least favorite first
There will invariably be some tasks or projects that are your least favorite, or that you may even dread. I recommend tackling these as early in the workday as possible. Don't wait until late in the day to work on a difficult project. If you make the decision to get any unpleasant tasks out of the way first thing, it will set up the rest of your day for success.
5. Stop multi-tasking!
No, multi-tasking does not help you get more done. It dilutes your efforts, interferes with your imagination, and you end up giving 20 percent of your attention to five different things instead of 100 percent of your attention to one.
Make a point to have a single-minded focus on one task at a time with 100 percent of your energy and imagination. You'll be amazed at how much more you're able to accomplish.
6. Discourage distractions
You'll get much more done more quickly if you can focus completely on what you're doing without interruptions. This can be tricky with kids, friends, and family members who think they should have easy access to you now that you're working from home. Do your best to make it clear that when you're working you cannot be interrupted. Or you can schedule specific times to check in with them. But endless interruptions and distractions will derail your productivity.
7. Use a timer
If you want your productivity to increase exponentially, get a kitchen timer and start giving yourself a specific timeline in which to complete a task. When I started using this method of time management, I'd complete in a few hours what used to take me all day. Set the timer, whether it's for 10 minutes or an hour, and while that timer is running I want you to laser focus on what you're doing. No stopping. No distractions.
8. Clear the decks
Is your desk a mess? Are you working at your coffee table that's heaped high with magazines and unopened mail? Clutter in your work environment is a money repellent. Clean organization is a money magnet.
A tidy, streamlined work environment is one of the quickest ways to increase your productivity. Have what you need close by whether it's reference materials, office supplies, files you refer to frequently, or your client lists.
9. Plan your day the night before
I suggest planning your day the night before. Take some quiet time in the evening before you go to bed and decide what needs to be done the next day. That way you can get up in the morning and you already know what your priorities are and you won't get sidetracked by emails and low-priority tasks. You'll feel more organized and won't waste morning business time trying to figure out what you need to do that day.
10. Batch tasks and errands
Group similar tasks together for greater efficiency. Whether it's running your errands all on one day - post office, doctor or hair appointment, meeting with your web-designer, etc. Or computer tasks - for example, returning emails, researching information for your business, or ordering supplies. Make the most of your time by grouping meetings, out-of-office errands, or in-office tasks, together.
11. Get away for a bit
Yes, you have my permission to take a break! Whether it's a short nap, flicking through a magazine with a cup of tea, a meditation pause, or a proper lunch break, getting away from your project can work wonders. It allows your mind to relax and soothes your nervous system so you can get back to work with renewed clarity and motivation.
Just don't leave your project for TOO long. Remember it's just a break, not a change of plan!
12. Exercise
One of the best ways to keep your brain alert and firing on all cylinders is to get plenty of exercise. If you spend a lot of time sitting (or standing in a recording booth like I do) then including exercise in your daily schedule is crucial to your productivity. Inactivity can make the blood and oxygen circulation in our bodies sluggish and our creativity and energy suffer as a result. Get up and get moving. Whether it's a brisk walk for 20 minutes or a yoga class at lunch time, put exercise on your schedule.
If you implement these productivity-enhancing strategies of mine I know you will definitely start getting more done each day with less stress.
You'll feel more inspired as you see your business results improving and you'll become even more able to create abundance and success in your life.
© 2012 Maxine Dunn
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