Having a home based business has given me many advantages, however I have quickly discovered that my productivity is not as high as I thought it would be. Working from a ”home office” can easily become a productivity killer when I do not stay on top of things.
I have decide to change this with a few simple steps to get my home based business organized making productivity a lot easier and would love to share them with my readers.
First of all, I realize that I am running a business. My home based business opportunity needs a permanent place to live. I chose a corner of my living room which houses our shelves and books. I know some people set up shop in their garage or kitchen but we do not have that extra space. I have made this my work place and the only things that reside there are my computer, books and pens. A good place with a big disadvantage, my daughters also think that this is their activity place too and this is posing a big challenge at the moment.
Regardless of the challenge, now that I have an office space, I do set some guidelines on how I will run my home business. These guidelines are just small general rules to help me be more organized. In plain terms, if everything is in its place, I won’t waste time looking for it.
Along the same lines, I have created a priority note book. This is the book that will be checked first thing in the morning and last thing before I leave my home office. In the morning, the book contains all of the items that need attention that day. In the evening, I try to organize the contents to be ready for the next morning. This makes it much easier to have my daily work tasks set when I get to the “office” each morning. No more wasted time planning my day while an hour or two of it is vanishing.
Low productivity in a home based buiness arises mainly from disorganization. We aren’t sure what we want to work on or what is most important sometimes, so it takes a little while to get that together. If I am organized from the beginning and keep my priorities current, I won’t spend my time deciding what to do next – I already know.
There are other things that I do not have currently but would love to acquire to make me even more organized and highly productive. These include;
- An electronic filing system that keeps emails, project specs and proposals organized without adding to the paperwork I already have to handle. Electronic files are easy to organize and they will also help with the millions of password I already have.
- I should also, keep an in and out box on my desk and a shredder. ( I almost forgot about the daily snail mail that includes the bills and school notes). Incoming mail has to be organized as soon as it hits the desk. Junk mail is to be shredded, orders are filed in a box to be filled and other mail is sorted according to purpose. Dealing with mail first thing will prevents anything from getting overlooked. I have not done well in this area and I have a pile of mail on my desk so this is an area I ought to do better. There is always room for improvement.
I want to say good bye time wasters and hello productivity! I am making it better, reaalizing that my work space is within the most busy place in the house. I have to have a great sense of self control too, avoid watching TV when I am supposed to be working and unnecessary surfing of the internet-this can be a big time waster. I do not have many people to call and chat with on the phone and so that is not so much of a disraction. I do have some distractions from my children if I work past their waking up time but that is unavaidable, I am work at home mum!
All the best in being organized,
Grace
One way to get organized is to learn’ how to be organized’. This e- book homeprenuer habits by Jimmy D. Brown is a great resource. 
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