If you are self-employed and regularly work from home, then you might sometimes find it difficult to stay organized and productive. When you work for a traditional employer, it’s a simple matter to settle into “work mode” and to get your tasks done every day, but working from home requires quite a bit of discipline. Here are 10 tips to help you stay organized and productive.
1. Keep a Tidy Workspace
If you have a messy workspace, then you can feel less motivated and more stressful. It’s important to have an area dedicated solely to work and to keep that area free from clutter.
2. Set Goals
If you know what you need to do every day, then you are much more likely to accomplish it. To-do lists are a must for the self-employed person. You might want a daily do-do list as well as a weekly to-do list.
3. Exercise
It’s tough to stay productive if you are always feeling tense and stressed. Exercise not only helps you get your mind off your work for a time, but it also keeps your brain in top shape to help you solve the important problems that come up in your work. By the time you get back to your desk, you will feel refreshed and ready to tackle anything.
4. Keep Busy
Even if you don’t have any current assignments, there is always something to be done. You could work on improving your website, on new ways of promoting yourself, or on sprucing up your resume. As a self-employed person, your work is never done. The last thing you want to find yourself doing is watching television all day.
5. Walk Away
If your work starts to become overwhelming, don’t hesitate to simply get up and walk away. Since you’re your own boss, you can decide for yourself anytime you need a break and whether you would be better off taking a walk or grabbing a cup of coffee. You’ll be much more productive when you decide to sit back down.
6. Treat it Like a Job
Treating your work like a job means that you should keep a strict schedule and stick to it. This may sound more rigid than you’d like, but doing so can help you to become much more productive in the long term.
7. Prioritize Income Activities
There are so many things you could be doing every day, so it is important to prioritize. You should focus first on those activities that generate the most income for you, then shift your attention to activities that generate less. You should seek to avoid activities that do nothing for your bottom line.
8. Keep a Daily Log
By keeping a daily log, you’ll be able to track where you are spending most of your time so that you know the areas in which you need to improve. Most self-employed persons overestimate the amount of time they actually spend in productive activities, so this will help you see if your results match your aspirations.
9. Limit Email Checking
Checking your email every 10 minutes can be devastating to your productivity. It can distract you from the tasks you ought to be doing, and it puts you into a response mode. It’s a good idea to set aside 2 or 3 times each day to check all your email at once.
10. Get Some Good Office Furniture
There’s a good chance that you’ll be spending an inordinate amount of time at your desk, so it’s a good idea to get some good furniture. A good chair is good for your back and will help you keep healthy.
Staying productive and organized when you are self-employed is a tough task and certainly takes a bit of self-discipline. If you follow some of the tips above, then you can make the process a lot easier.
I know this was written a while ago, but its come up top in a google search. I’m struggling with focus as home based worker, who has so many different tasks to do that i often end up procrastinating all day! The list of to-do’s is essential, and good to do the day before, so you wake up with the day already planned. Not sleeping in is also essential!
I just want to emphasize number 3. You may think that you will waste some time if you stop working, but actually you will do more work when you come back. If you do not move for long time you will start to work slowly.
cool tips
Thank for you tips. One of the main problems I have is that I check facebook all the time which is a bad thing. Another problem I have is that I never exercise. I think I will follow your advices he he
Great words of advice for home-based business owner. My preference goes to #2 then #7 and finally #9. Without a clear list of what you need to do for the day, you’ll fall prey of lack of focus and end-up not doing much if anything at all. I like to have a set of 10 tasks listed by priority and it’s such a rewarding experience every time a check mark is place in front of each: DONE.
I really like 4, 7 and 9th point. I personally feel that we all spend too much time on checking mail and all.
I agree with all these tips, keeping good notes is the best thing you can do if you ever need to refer back to them, Specially when dealing with clients
If you are enticed by the idea of being self employed, you need to be realistic about what it entails.
I know that too many people including myself easily gets distracted by facebook and twitter. So having a rule on how frequently you check facebook or twitter helps a bit.
Hi, This is a nice list of tips and will help me keep on track with my home business. I also think it is a good idea to dress as if you are going to your office. I find that if you stay in your pj’s you tend to be much more lazy then if you dress in office clothes.