Four Important Tips for Working Effectively at HomeWritten by Alvin Apple
You've started your own home business and it's a beautiful thing. You've finally achieved your dream and gotten out of rat- race. You've emerged triumphant from commuters nightmare; you set your own hours, set your own dress-code and call your own shots. The world is your oyster and your raring to go, just be careful you don't fall into classic "non-productive" work-at- home trap.One of most common problems behind failure of a home business is lack of productivity. People get out on their own, and find that they just don't get things done. In excitement of getting away from frustrating rigors of corporate world, people sometimes forget to bring a little of that corporate structure and discipline home with them. When you've got no one to answer to, procrastination and poor time management can creep into your routine, and they're killers. Now I'm not suggesting you go running back to your cubicle in that generic high-rise downtown, merely that you take some of productive elements of a 9-5 job and incorporate them into your home business. Here are some basic pointers: First: Set a schedule. This is crucial to success. Saying "I'll get to work sometime this afternoon," just doesn't work. Something always comes up. Your work time has to be a top priority, so set a schedule and stick to it. Maybe this is 7-3 when kids are at school, or maybe this is late at night when kids are in bed, or a combination of both. Regardless of time you choose, make sure you honor it. Second: Police your productivity: Now that you're your own boss there's nobody looking over your shoulder. This is a great feeling, but it can also lessen your productivity. Once you sit down at your work desk, make sure you're being as productive as possible. No computer games, no web surfing, no personal phone calls. Now, don't chain yourself to your desk, that would defeat purpose of working at home, just be as productive as possible. You can always schedule breaks and phone time, after all you're calling shots.
| | Tales of A Newbie Entrepreneur: How I Learned To Accomplish More in Half the TimeWritten by Leigh Butler
I know what you are thinking. Surely this is impossible. How could anyone learn to accomplish more in half time? This must be a hoax. Hmmm! But, it sure would be nice if I could do that. Well, you can! If it worked for me, surely it will work for you. Let me explain. About a year ago I decided to start my own online business. This was a new experience for me. I knew absolutely nothing about running a business. However, I consider myself to be a lifelong learner and believe that anyone can learn to do just about anything if they set their mind to do so. With that in mind, I began to research and collect information on starting and running an online business. Needless to say that I was attending graduate school fulltime and consulting at time. These three tasks proved to be more than I could handle. I won't go into great detail about how I became overwhelmed. But, I was spending an average of 16 hours per day reading and researching information on Internet for my new online business and reading & writing for my graduate courses and consulting contracts. After 2 months, I was at point of desperation. Tired! Agitated! Frustrated! Stressed! My body felt totally depleted. Oh, pressure! Too much to do, too little time to do it. Was I ready to give up on my dream of owning my own online business? No! Was I ready to give up on my dream of finishing graduate school? No! Could I relinquish my consulting contracts? No! I had to eat and pay my bills. What could I do? Where could I turn? I knew I had to find a solution. Well, time management and prioritizing was not answer. I was successfully incorporating all of tips, techniques, and strategies that I learned over years. And still I was spending majority of my day (about 12 hours) on what I would consider NECESSARY reading. Not to mention time that I had to spend recalling, synthesizing, and writing (about 4 hours).
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