As the lines between family and work begin to blur, it's more important than ever to structure your time.
This will be different for each individual but crucial nonetheless.
Approach your home business the same as any other.
Start out each day at the same time, schedule your breaks and try to work within your own time of peak performance.
For some this will be bright and early while for others it's late at night.
Because I have 2 small children I break my schedule up working first thing in the morning while they are at school.
I take a late lunch and before I pick them up I take care of a few household chores.
I then return to work for an hour or two after they have gone to bed in the evening.
The important thing to remember is to know what needs to get done each day.
Plan your work and work your plan.
Create a list of daily tasks.
This list will vary according to your personal goals.
Put them into checklist form prioritizing as you go.
This will keep you on target.
What works for me is keeping each day focused on one aspect of my business.
For example, Monday is Product Development, Tuesday is Traffic generation, Wednesday I Gather leads, etc.
Again, take each day and break them down into doable task lists.
Your Space.
This needs to be a separate distinct area that is yours alone.
When I first began I had a table and chair with my computer in the corner of my living room.
The key is to keep this area uncluttered and make sure the rest of the family knows how important this is.
My children used to keep guard for me and tell on each other if they were even getting close! When you sit down wherever you will be working, you need to feel at some level, "It's time to work.
" Limit your Distractions.
The dirty laundry will wait until you're done.
Don't answer the phone during working hours unless you have a line dedicated to work.
It took a while but friends and family finally got the message.
Same holds true for visits at the house.
Unless they know better, your friends will think you're home in your PJ's watching television.
Be clear from the start.
Last, believe it or not it can be difficult to make time for yourself but it is crucial to your success.
It can be very self-destructive not to allow yourself some downtime to exercise, get some fresh air, read a book or anything else that may energize you.
I schedule time to see friends for a cup of coffee twice a week.
Feeling cut off from everyone and everything else can have disastrous effects when you work from home.
I use these meeting times to take care of my errands in town as well.
I find the ability to be flexible a source of inspiration.