How to Stay Focused at Home

by Shannon Suetos

There are many great benefits from working from home: you can set your own hours, wear what you want to and be your own boss. These types of benefits are what most people see when deciding to start a business at home. What they don’t think about, are the many distractions they are faced with such as: television, Internet browsing and family members.

Structure is something we all need for work—whether this means going to an office or staying at home there needs to be boundaries. The hard part about working from home is you are blending your work life and home life. Setting boundaries will help keep the two lives separate, even if they are in the same place.

Agenda
Scheduling your day is just as important when working from home as it is when going to the office. Many people find it beneficial to take a few minutes at the end of their day to schedule their tasks for the following day. This can help streamline your work and get everything you need done in a timely manner.

If you use Gmail, Google Calendar is a great tool to use to get yourself organized. You can set up reminders and even sync text message reminders to your cell phone. Evernote is another popular smartphone app to help you organize your thoughts, and keep notes while on the go.

Internet Browsing
One of the many benefits of working from home is knowing you can take a few minutes to check out your Facebook without getting reprimanded by your boss. On the flip side of things, a few minutes can quickly become an hour or more. Lazyman.com recommends, “creat[ing] separate Firefox profiles for increased productivity…when I'm in the work profile, I don't have the quick auto-complete to my "fun" sites. During breaks I can load up my fun Firefox profile and quickly get to what I want.”

Work Space
Some people work well with distractions. Others need a closed room with no distractions. Decide what works best for you and go with it. There are plenty of companies who have televisions, and other types of distractions in the office to help promote creativity. Knowing how to assess what works well for you is a must for the home based business owner.

Taking a Step Back
Being your own boss also means you have to know how to successful critique yourself. Knowing what you need to get done and asking yourself how you could have streamlined the process is a must. Ask yourself questions such as, “ if I could only work for half of the day tomorrow, what would have to get done?” Doing this will help you set your priorities straight and help you stay focused on the big picture.
What do you do to help you stay focused while working from home?

Shannon Suetos is an expert writer on direct mail companies based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as direct mail at Resource Nation.

"Maintaining a Professional Image While Working at Home"

by Ali Brown

One of the benefits of a home office is never having to wear a scratchy wool suit or pantyhose (unless you want to). The danger is that it’s easy to let that professional image slide if you spend the workday sitting on your couch wearing yoga pants and channel surfing in between conference calls. Follow these tips to maintain a professional image while working at home:

Stick to a schedule. True, working from home allows you to set your own schedule and gives you the flexibility to travel, take care of children, or otherwise tend to your personal life. But if clients never know when they’ll be able to reach you or if you sometimes sleep ‘til noon because you stayed up late watching movies, that can jeopardize your professional reputation. Your work hours will depend on the nature of your business and when you work best, but once you get into a schedule, try to follow it. And let your regular clients or customers know what those hours are. Being self-disciplined with your time means customers or clients can count on you and makes it easier to get work done.

Mind your social media use. Sites like Facebook and Twitter can be excellent tools for promoting your business and keeping in touch with old friends or colleagues. But if you get too personal or casual online, it can have an adverse effect on your business. Remember, anything you post online is public. Even if your settings are supposedly private, it’s easy for one of your contacts to take a screenshot or retweet something they find funny and/or offensive. Be friendly, but put on a professional face and always ask yourself how potential customers or clients might react to something you’ve posted.

Manage your incoming phone calls. If you use your cell phone for business and personal calls, remember to answer calls from unfamiliar numbers in a professional manner. Resist the urge to answer if you’re in a noisy bar or next to a screaming child. In fact, if you have young children, you should set up a separate phone line for your business and make sure you’re the only person who answers it.

Set up a separate workspace. Even if it’s a converted closet or a corner of your living room, having a space devoted to work helps you get into a business mindset that you’ll project to clients or customers. Having a designated workspace also helps you navigate issues of work/life balance. When you’re at your desk, it’s time to work. When you’re sitting on the couch watching TV, it’s time to relax.

Get out of the house when you have to. Sometimes it’s hard to feel like a professional when you’re surrounded by laundry that needs to be folded or toys that need to be put away. In those cases, it makes sense to work somewhere else, at least part of the time. It’s also smart to have a place outside of your home for meetings. Coworking spaces often let you rent conference space by the hour or the day. You could also partner with another small business to share meeting or office space.

The bottom line? Maintain a professional mindset and create some separation (physically and mentally) between your business and your personal life.

© 2010 Ali International

 Self-made millionaire entrepreneur and Inc. 500-ranked CEO Ali Brown teaches women around the world how to start and grow profitable businesses that make a positive impact. Get her FREE weekly articles and advice at www.AliBrown.com

Time Management for the Entrepreneur

by Deborah A. Bailey

It’s the end of the day and you’re feeling overwhelmed because you haven’t accomplished everything that you set out to do. Not to mention the fact that now there are more things to add to your “to do” list. If you’ve ever had that experience then you know how frustrating it can be. Where did the time go?

Even though we all get the same 24 hours in a day, we might not be using that time as efficiently as we’d like. A friend of mine, who’s also an entrepreneur, says she’s only getting a couple of hours sleep a night because she’s trying to get everything done. It’s not unusual for her to go to bed at 5:00 am, only to have to get up again at 8:00 a.m. to start working again. Though we can have good intentions when we start out, it’s so easy to get sidetracked with time wasters. If you find yourself wondering why you’re not getting things done, it’s time to change how you’re managing your time.

• Don’t answer every call as it comes in. Screen your calls and return the lower-priority calls at a later time.


• Close your email program. Reading and replying to emails all day long is a major time stealer. Choose two or three times during the day to check your mail.


• Keep a list of things to accomplish for the day and stick to it.


• Take time for breaks in order to keep your energy level up.


• Working for hours without clearing your mind will make you less productive.


• If you work from home establish boundaries. Don’t get stuck on the phone with friends or family who feel that if you’re at home you’re not working.


• If a potential client contacts you, arrange a time to meet. A consultation that you think will take 15 minutes could end up taking a large chunk of time out of your day.


• Create systems to handle repetitive, day-to day tasks.

If you plan out your day and create systems to stay on track, you’ll be able to accomplish more. At the end of the day you can look back on all the things you’ve completed and not be frustrated by what’s been left undone.

Deborah A. Bailey is author of two non-fiction books including, “Think Like an Entrepreneur: Transforming Your Career and Taking Charge of Your Life.” She's also the creator and host of Women Entrepreneurs Radio, a weekly internet talk show. Her fiction work includes a short story collection and a novel, available on Amazon.com. 

For more information, visit http://www.BrightStreetBooks.com.