Manage Your Time

If you work from home, chances are you already know that you're really pulling "double duty". You probably work on your business while doing the laundry, corralling the kids, or fixing dinner... and let's not forget all the phone calls from family and friends expecting you to run errands or just "go out" for an afternoon of fun.

One of the hardest parts of running a home business is separating your work from your family and social life. Here are six proven ways to keep your home life running smoothly while keeping your business on track.

1. First, create a work schedule and stick with it. It may be tempting to answer personal calls during the day or take business calls after-hours, but doing this actually shows that you're expendable - not dependable - and people will take for granted that you'll "always be there" for any little things that come up. Even though family comes first, stay true to your business hours and resist the urge to chat with friends or pick up groceries during working hours.

2. Your friends may consider "working from home" an invitation to chat during the day or just go out for coffee or shopping for an afternoon. Make it clear that your business hours are just that - for business. Leave personal calls for after-hours, and you'll find that your friends will gradually accept your schedule without feeling slighted.

3. Just because you have to set up a work schedule, doesn't mean that you have to keep the same hours as everyone else. One of the benefits of working for yourself is setting your own hours to fit your most productive times. Whether you're an early bird or a night owl, you'll find that you'll get much more done when you're attuned to your body's own natural rhythms. Some people work in the morning, take a break in the afternoon when the kids are home from school, and work again in the evening. Schedule your work time when you feel the most productive and you'll find that things get done easier, faster and better than when you were dragging along during those same rigid work hours that everyone else has.

4. If getting after-hours business calls or work day personal calls is a problem, it helps to have a separate business phone line, or at least an answering machine or voice mail, to take the incoming calls. This also gives your business a more professional appearance to clients than if you and your family make and receive calls from the same phone line.

5. If at all possible, try to separate your "home office" from the rest of your home. If you don't have the luxury of a separate room, a room partition or screen can be just as helpful. This also serves as a visual cue to family that you're working and shouldn't be bothered.

6. Dress and act professionally while working. Some people find it helpful to dress in casual business attire during their working hours. This reinforces that just because you're working from home doesn't make you any less of a professional. Answer the phone with your name, or business name, and keep your children off the phone during business hours. Also, spend money investing in the tools you need to do your job right. A cell phone, fax machine or even a budget computer can help turn your home office into a true workspace.

If you follow all of these tips and stick with them, chances are you'll find a routine that not only makes you feel productive and active in your business, but also projects the message that you mean business - literally!

Article written by Edward Charkow. Ed recommends that you take a look at http://www.biz-help.info for more business advice.

Latest News


Single Source Introduces New Advanced Quote Management (AQM)(TM ...
MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
All functions seamlessly integrate to the inherent back-office financials, inventory, purchasing and management reporting functionality of SM-Plus-meeting ...
KANA Recognized by Leading Industry Publications for Innovation ... Business Wire (press release)
all 22 news articles

BBC News

ECONOMIC REPORT Global manufacturing gauges collapse in November
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
... of price pressures hit an all-time low, according to a survey of corporate purchasing managers released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management. ...
Manufacturing index drops to 26-year low Washington Post
Manufacturing index at 26-year low CNNMoney.com
Manufacturing hits 26-year low Bizjournals.com
CNN - Forbes
all 617 news articles

CharlotteObserver.com

Construction Spending Reflects Economic Slowdown
New York Times, United States - 3 hours ago
The Institute for Supply Management’s monthly index of manufacturing activity fell to 36.2, from October’s 38.9. The reading is worse than Wall Street ...
October construction spending drops 1.2 percent International Herald Tribune
US manufacturing weakest since 1982 The Australian
Construction spending fell again in October Bizjournals.com
guardian.co.uk - International Herald Tribune
all 269 news articles

WNCT

Price Tags on Partridges and Pear Trees: A Different CPI
New York Times, United States - 4 hours ago
By Catherine Rampell For the last 24 years, PNC Wealth Management (or its predecessor, Provident Bank) has released this whimsical index, a measure of the ...
Video: 12 Days of Christmas' Items Would Cost $86,609 AssociatedPress
'12 Days of Christmas' items would cost $86609 The Associated Press
Twelve Days of Christmas would cost $21000 Telegraph.co.uk
Reuters - guardian.co.uk
all 351 news articles

AGC and LCM Declare Dividends
MarketWatch - 4 hours ago
a diversified closed-end management investment company, has declared its December monthly dividend of $0.0664 per share, reflecting a reduction of $0.0286 ...
AGC and LCM Declare Dividends Trading Markets (press release)
Madison Strategic Sector Premium Fund (MSP) Declares Quarterly ... MarketWatch
PPR - $.0340 November Dividend MarketWatch
MarketWatch
all 58 news articles

Reuters

AIG sells wealth management unit to Abu Dhabi group
International Herald Tribune, France - 12 hours ago
NEW YORK: American International Group, the troubled insurance giant, said Monday that it had agreed to sell its wealth management provider AIG Private Bank ...
AIG Sheds A Private Bank Forbes
UPDATE 1-AIG to sell AIG Private Bank to UAE's Aabar Reuters
AIG to Sell Private Bank to Aabar Wall Street Journal
Trade Arabia - InvestmentNews
all 171 news articles

Updated Information Regarding Auction Preferred Securities Market ...
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
BOSTON, Dec 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MFS Investment Management(R) (MFS) today announced the availability of information on the results of the weekly ...

Lincoln Financial Group Announces New Senior Management Committee ...
International Business Times, NY - 4 hours ago
She will also serve as amember of the firm's Senior Management Committee. Bettinger-Buckingham joins Lincoln Financial with more than 20 years ofexperience ...

Gideon Technologies CEO To Give Unified Compliance Management ...
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
Unified Compliance Management simplifies this complex problem. "The combination of a holistic centralized view of the network, unified and continuous ...

Research and Markets: Training Management Maturity Model: A ...
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
How effective is your current training management system? What do you need to do to improve it? Find out with this best practice model and set of assessment ...
Research and Markets: Fundamentals of Quality Control and ... MarketWatch
all 12 news articles

Resources