Working at Home...

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Tips On Getting Organized

As a work-at-home mom or dad, your day consists of juggling many, many tasks at one time. In addition to trying to grow your business, you must manage the abundance of household chores that each day presents. Then of course is the first and foremost priority of spending time with your children, which is primary reason you're staying home in the first place.

So...how in the world can you manage it all?

Make a list!

Perhaps it seems silly to write down all that you need to accomplish in a day, but truly there is no way to get it all done without doing so. Begin with just a simple outline for the day. Think of your basic routine with your children and plan around that. You know, for example, that there are certain times of day that are "reserved" for your children's planned activities: mealtime, driving to school, nap time, and other specific playtime activities that require Mommy or Daddy to be directly involved.

Of course it is very beneficial for your child/children to learn to play on their own, but this cannot be an all-day thing. You must allow for special parent-child time during the day.

There are also times that are "reserved" for household activities: meal preparation, laundry, etc. Most of these tasks can be performed in and around doing other things. You can put in a load of laundry just before you sit down to a block of work time during your child's nap. Then you can make folding into a parent-child playtime, although admittedly folding takes much longer when children are involved. :o)

Okay...once you've identified the times in your day that are set, try to figure as much work as you can into the remaining time. Here's where you must get specific. If you just set aside "work" time, you might spend 3 hours during your child's nap reading emails and not actually getting anything done.

Beware....email is a black hole in time! Do not keep it open the whole day, or you may well lose many hours, indeed.

List the specific work activities you need to do each day: type an article, place an ad, phone prospects, send follow-up emails, etc. Whatever tasks your work-at-home business involves, make a specific list of them.

Then once you have your list of times in the day and activities, mesh them together and follow your agenda. Yes, you must be flexible. This is key. You'll almost never have a day when the activities and times work out as they're written, but that's okay. You're much more likely to accomplish everything you need to if it's written down.

So get out there and Make a LIST!


by Frances Leary