If you’ve worked from home for awhile now, you’ve probably come to recognize that time management is key. I am the multi-tasking queen. Once, I managed to talk to a customer, change a diaper and pour bubble bath solution into a running tub all at once. Pretty impressive, huh?
Not really. The problem with multi-tasking is that you really aren’t paying enough attention to the tasks at hand. While you might feel like you are getting a lot done, your children are getting short-changed (pardon the pun) while you are talking on the phone, and your customer is getting poor service because you are not giving them your full-attention.
If you are managing a family and a home-business at the same time there will obviously be times when both roles intertwine. I am not saying that is necessarily a bad thing…it just isn’t the most effective way to do business, or to parent for that matter.
So, how can you be more effective without multi-tasking? Here are a few quick suggestions:
Plan your week ahead of time.
While this might seem simplistic, planning ahead is often ignored. Most at-home business people don’t know what they are doing in the next five minutes, much less the next week.
A few months ago, I was having a bit of a time management meltdown. I spoke with the Vice President of my direct sales company who challenged me to spend each Sunday evening planning both my personal and office hours. I proceeded to create a large calendar that I hung on our refrigerator. I highlighted my “work-hours” in yellow, and family activities in other colors.
When I created my Sunday schedule, everyone benefited. My husband was less stressed because I didn’t drop any… “you need to watch the kids…now” bombs on him. I was less anxious because I knew what to expect the next day. My children also looked forward to our Wednesday “play-days” where the entire day was devoted to sliding, swinging, movies and crafting.
Plan to work in (at least) ninety minute segments, she told me. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, she suggested. You can be answering e-mails, calling customers, filing paperwork or simply organizing your office space. You simply can not become fully focused on an activity unless you are giving it at least ninety minutes of uninterrupted time.
This was a tough suggestion for me to implement. Like I said earlier, I used to pride myself on doing numerous things at once. I committed to planning activities in ninety minute blocks and it worked wonders. I stopped taking quick breaks to answer the phone during board games with my kids. I stopped throwing loads of laundry into the washer while chatting with customers or team members. (I almost washed my cell phone once) . Suddenly, I didn’t feel obligated to answer calls when it wasn’t “work time” and I stopped checking e-mails during “family time.” While I was often tempted, I simply had to check my schedule to know when the next “work-block” would occur.
These are just two quick suggestions I hope you’ll consider trying if you are feeling the time-management meltdown like I was. Give it a try for a few weeks and stop in again and let us know the results.
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