When you work for a company you have a boss, and they assign responsibilities to you. They tell you what days and times to work and the deadlines of your workload.
When you are self-employed you are the boss, so you have all of the responsibilities and have to determine how your work time is best spent. Tips for managing your time when you work at home.
Here are 5 tips that can help you manage your time being the boss and work from home.
1. PLAN YOUR SCHEDULE
Write down all work-related tasks that you need to complete. Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. Regardless of what you need to work on creating a schedule ensures that you complete everything in the deadline you set for yourself.
Even though I am heavy multi-tasker, being a single mom of three and owning my own business I kind of do not have a choice, I have recently realized that block scheduling works so much better for me.
Blocking out specific times for work, kids, house chores etc really has helped keep my household and business running more efficiently. I do not feel stressed because of my expectations can be accomplished.
Having to take my oldest to school and having the preschooler home part time and the baby full time with me I know I cannot put in 8 straight hours of work. My work day get split up at different times throughout the days, depending on the children’s needs.
The scheduled I have for myself allows time for work and taking care of the children. You can set your schedule anyway you see fit that works into your life. It does not have to be 7-4 Monday – Friday. One of the biggest benefits of being self-employed is being able to work when you can and not work when you are not able to.
2. GROUP OUTGOING PHONE CALLS
If you know you need to call the phone company or you have a phone meeting with a client, schedule those phone calls” in a block time. This allows you to settle your home environment and take those calls without any distractions in the background.
I usually try to make business phone calls when I know the baby will be napping this ensuring that the caller on the other end does not have to hear the baby in the background. I know as a single mom that it is not always possible and that is ok, just do your best and try to give the child an activity while you finish up your call.
Remember you are the boss and sometimes life happens in the background that you cannot control. If your child is upset crying or screaming, then you will probably need to end the call and settle the child’s needs then call the person back.
3. USE GOOGLE CALENDAR
If you do not know what google calendar is you are missing out. You can use the appointment slots to set your schedule and the tasks you need to complete.
Google calendar is amazing because if you need to have a zoom meeting or video chat you can share links with participants involved in that meeting, no need to exchange 3 emails back forth confirming dates and times.
You can schedule 10 minutes or 2 hours; it varies based on what you need to complete for that block of time.
4. SCHEDULE SOCIAL MEDIA FUN TIME
This is the most important tip in the whole post. Social media is a major time taker, most people do not realize how much time they spend on social media every day. If you have an iPhone you can track your use on different platforms, be prepared to be shocked.
When I was trying to figure out how to be more productive since I could not add more hours to the day, I tracked my social media time. It got to the point that I hardly ever got on Facebook (I stopped that a few years ago). Then last year I decided to also delete Instagram.
I felt like Facebook was always a competition of who can post the most and I found myself looking at other people’s life and starting to feel jealous thinking “wow they have the perfect marriage” “they kids are so well behaved” then I concluded it is an illusion. Smoking mirrors most people only put what they think will get someone’s attention some good, some bad.
I stepped back from the rat race and only went on Instagram, then I found it was the same rat race over there I decided I would let them both go and I am on a social media hiatus and loving it. I have gained back so much more time and feeling more accomplished focusing on my children and my business.
5. DEDICATE TIME TO FAMILY AND EXERCISE
It is true if you do not write it down or put it in your google calendar it probably will not happen, at least that is true for me. Family is the most important thing. Making time to spend with your family needs to be made a priority and should have dedicated time.
Me and my girls have movie night every other Friday, this is something I started last year, and they always look forward to it. We make dinner together then we pick a movie then sit down and watch it together. No phones, laptop or other devices just quality time together.
Sometimes I surprise them, and I have Mommy’s Spa Night I let them choose their polish colors I massage their hands and feet then paint their fingers and toes. They love it because it makes then feel like they are being pampered at a real spa.
Schedule time for exercise, this is a work in progress for me. Before I had children, I enjoyed working out early at 5am because I like to go to bed early. Now that I a single mom of 3 little ones it has been harder for me to find a time to get exercise in at 5am.
Let me be honest here I have been very complacent getting this baby weight off. Going through my divorce I have not made exercise my priority. Now that the divorce is finally over my stress is too. I can regain focus on I am dedicating “exercise me time” for 30 minutes during the week after lunch. So far, it has been going well, it is on my calendar and I have been sticking to it. Maybe I will finally walk off the last 9 pre-pregnancy pounds and then some with my baby almost being one.
6. STICK IT OUT AND CHANGE IT UP
Some days I feel very productive, other days I thinks wow I was busy but what did I get done. Having your scheduled blocks checked off will help you see what you accomplished when you feel you have not accomplished much that day. Learning to optimize your time to benefit your life more will be a game changer for you and your emotional, financial and physical state.
Taking ownership and being honest with yourself is the first step in making you get all or most of it done. I hope my tips can help you know that it is ok if it is not working try something else. We can not create more hours in a day yet we can create new routines and how the time is spent.
I would love to hear your time management tips. How do you manage your time? How do you handle your calendar? Please share in the comments section below.