business women

Working from home is NOT glamours like you see in the movies…

Most think that working from home is a luxury. You get to wake up when you want, work in your PJ’s, no commute, no traffic, no money spent on gas, lunch money saved, and you get naptime as if you were in preschool. Those things I have learned easily become your curse instead of your blessing.

I am a mother of 2 and I work my business from home. My 6-month-old son stays home with me full time so I have to work and be a mom to him at the same damn time. I get so many messages on how I balance my two lives and make it look easy. I came up with four simple tips that help me stay productive since I am working from home.

1. Get dressed as if you have a 9-5

Working in your PJ’s the first week you work from home is life but after that high is over, you develop a pattern of always working in your PJ’s. You become unproductive and lazy because you have not fully prepared yourself. It is so true that when you look good, you feel good which makes you perform better. Stop working in your PJ’s and get dressed all up like you have a job to go too because you do. It just so happens to be your own business that you work from home.

I comb my hair, I beat this face, I wear cute clothes, and I get all dolled up to go to work. You don’t work from home, you work from the office that just so happens to be in your home. Change your mindset.

I wake up 30 minutes earlier than my children so I can get myself ready. At 8:30 am when I drop my 5-year-old off at kindergarten, I am cute in my office with my laptop and coffee ready to start my job at 9:00 am.

2. Create a top 3 to-do list

Life happens but life really happens when you work from home with children. I can’t control if my 6-month-old wants to be a whiny brat all day and all he wants to do is be held and cuddle. So, I come up with my top 3 things that I MUST get done that day. I have my day planned by the hour but my main priority is completing my top 3 task so just in case my 6 months old decides that he wants to be king of the day, I am covered. When my 5-year-old and/or husband comes home or when my son goes to sleep I can start to work on the other things on my list that I didn’t get to tackle earlier.

I also wake up in the middle of the night and many times I can’t go back to sleep so I will work on my top 3 things to get ahead in my day. So make your list before you go to bed.

3. Work in an uncomfortable setting

Don’t work from your bed, the coach, in front of the TV, or any other place in your house where you can get comfy because you will get tired and see a good place to take a nap in your house and sleep will be your business for that day. Don’t set yourself up for failure because it will work and you will be mad when you wake up. Work from your desk or at your kitchen table. If you were at a job, you would be working at a desk not your bed to act as if you are at a job

4. Buy cute stuff

Cute notebooks and pens motivate me to be productive. Get you some cute stuff that you like for your workspace to make it your own. If you were at a job, you would decorate your cubicle with pictures of your family. You also use your pink pens/pencils, glitter notebooks, and inspirational quotes so do the same thing for your home workspace. You need that décor to keep you motivated.

I had an office space in downtown Chicago on the 21^st floor. So, working from my office and working from home was a major adjustment. Having a new baby though and wanted to stay home with him and take my daughter to and from school. The fact that I am saving the $1,200 a month bill that I was spending on rent. I save money that I won’t have to spend on daycare for my son and afterschool care for my daughter is a definite win. Working for the home requires discipline if you plan to produce as if you weren’t at home. I run my home-based business as the cooperation that I am. Working from home has major perks but you don’t want to turn perks into an everyday ritual. If you need a 15-minute power nap, take one but don’t turn that into a 3-hour sleeping session.

Whether you’re working for someone else, are a freelancer, or already a business owner, there’s always one thing you seem to be struggling with – having enough time to get everything done.

Time management is a powerful skill and the foundation of being productive and balancing personal life and work. But how do we get better at it?

The main solution lies in working smarter instead of harder. Truth is there are some habits you can develop and techniques you can try that will help you get things done faster, save time and have more of it for yourself, be full of energy throughout the whole day and keep seeing progress without getting overwhelmed. Here are some of them:

1. See what can be eliminated.

If you take a closer look at your daily to-do list and your calendar, you’ll notice that not everything in there is essential.

Some of the things are just old activities you keep doing because it’s what you’re used to, others can be automated or delegated, and there are the things that simply don’t give you the results you want but you haven’t analyzed them to figure it out.

So now’s the perfect time. Take every item on your list and go through every activity or even tiny task or chore you dedicate time to. Ask yourself whether it’s really necessary. Think about removing it and see what’s the worst that can happen. Most of the times, nothing will really change. So cross this off your list and you’ll have more time to do the things that actually get you ahead in life.

2. Prioritize.

[bctt tweet=”Life is all about priorities” username=”womeneur”] But if you haven’t set aside any time to define these, then you’re living on autopilot and doing many random things too. That’s something that can ruin your chances for success, especially in business.

Prioritizing means arranging all the areas in your life in order of importance. For most people it’s family, for instance, but if they haven’t thought about it and included the family-related stuff on the top of their to-do list and planned them in advance, they can easily put work before that.

So, what is it that you care about the most?

It is personal development? Then make a step-by-step plan on what new habit to develop next, schedule some reading time daily, start meditating and journaling.

Is it improving your personal brand? Then add an hour of networking, building your portfolio and sharing valuable content on social media to your list and do this before checking email or other secondary things.

3. Define and remove distractions to focus better.

You’ll get things done faster and perform better if you concentrate easily and don’t get interrupted. So here’s what you can do about it:

Tell others not to bother you (enter the room, call or text you) while you’re doing your most important work for the day.

Forget about meetings. They are a huge distraction and nothing important is discussed there. What happens is that your workflow is interrupted and you need time to get back in the zone after that.

Block access to the Internet with a free software if you have to do some serious work offline.

Set some limits to using social media and browsing purposelessly. Don’t do it while working as notifications keep coming in all the time and you’re engaging your mind with unnecessary information.

When you notice you’re procrastinating, try this: Remember why you need to get this done and how good you’ll feel once you complete it. Break it down into smaller actions and make a list of the first 3 steps, each of which will take you less than 5 minutes. Now simply get to work on the first one. That will help you build momentum and keep going.

4. Assign a time to everything.

[bctt tweet=”Deadlines work wonders, so even if you don’t have one, set one” username=”womeneur”]

What’s more, have a fixed time of the day when you’ll start working on a task and plan out how long it will take. Then, once the time comes, you’ll find it easier to focus and actually get it done in the given time period.

5. Don’t strive for perfection.

Perfectionism is an enemy to productivity. So let go of the desire to get everything done and to be perfect. Know that your time is limited and there’s only so much you can do in 24 hours.

That’s when prioritizing comes in handy. Once you eliminate the non-essentials, you’ll have more time, but after prioritizing you’ll know where to start.

Define the 3 most important tasks for the day every morning, or even the night before, and get to work on them first. Only when you’re done can you move to less important stuff.

This way you’ll always be moving in the right direction and will feel accomplished before noon.

So, what about you? How do you manage your time and make sure everything important is done?

business women

4 Ways To Be Productive as A Mom Working from Home

1. Get dressed as if you have a 9-5

2. Create a top 3 to-do list

3. Work in an uncomfortable setting

4. Buy cute stuff

How To Manage Your Time When There Are Too Many Things to Do

Womeneur Resources To Help With Time Management