I have been working from home for four years — even before I got married and had kids. However, it is only recently that I truly learned to work more efficiently. I realized that, to be able to work from home successfully, it is important to have a plan, to be organized and most importantly, to have the determination to finish tasks.
Here are my 6 tips on working from home more efficiently…
Create A Game Plan
The first thing to do is to plan your day because without a plan, there is a tendency to get distracted by other things: e-mails, social networking, etc. It doesn’t matter when you create this plan. You can plan your day a month, a week or a day ahead — the important thing is that you have a game plan.
The plan must have the top goals for the day and the tentative deadlines. This way, you have clear goals and schedules.
Group Similar Tasks
If you check your e-mail every time you receive a notification, it is likely for you to use a lot of your work hours reading and replying to e-mails. To avoid these time traps, try grouping tasks and set a schedule for each group.
Do Not Give In to Distractions
I think this is my weakest point because my distractions are my kids. Thing is, my kids must always come first. So, what do I do? I go back to the first tip, which is to plan my day and to stick to the plan. I work during the kids’ nap times so I get to work continuously without getting distracted by all the cute things they do. 🙂
Always Finish What You Started
Sure, multi-tasking is a cool superpower, but this can be your downfall too. Sometimes, we get caught up with so many tasks getting done all at the same time that we often end up not finishing anything. Instead of multi-tasking, focus on one goal at a time. Do not move on to another task without finishing the first one you started.
Give Yourself a Break!
Never ever ever forget to take a break. In my four years of working from home, I learned that the biggest work-stopper is fatigue. I have this tendency to not work — for days — when I feel overworked. So WAHMs, give yourself time off!
Working from home is awesome as long as you know how to manage your time properly. As one of my favorite go-to websites for work at home moms says, it’s a WAHMderful Life! 🙂