Making Headway on a Slow Day: 9 Ways to Turn Down-Time into Productivity Time

Written by Dina Giolitto, Wordfeeder.com


If you work from home, you knowrepparttar kind of day I mean. You maderepparttar 100209 calls. You revised those drafts. You sent outrepparttar 100210 emails. Where is everybody!? As much as you used to relish a slow day when you were corporate, it’s a little different when you’re playing boss to yourself. Your mind gets to wandering. Should I head out torepparttar 100211 park? Should I hitrepparttar 100212 mall? Should I... file for unemployment?

For a freelance writer, designer or web marketer who works from home, a day without contact fromrepparttar 100213 outside world can bring on anything from sluggishness and inertia to a panic attack. Such fun gamesrepparttar 100214 mind will play whenrepparttar 100215 two of you are left alone for long periods of time! But here’s a little secret about slow days. They’rerepparttar 100216 perfect opportunity to catch up on everything that went out of your headrepparttar 100217 minuterepparttar 100218 phone stopped ringing.

How do you remember what it is you were supposed to be doing before it became unimportant? Think back torepparttar 100219 last time you were swamped! Chances are, your mind was in overdrive, firing off ideas about how you could be improving your business. Were you mulling over a couple of articles? Pipedreaming a new web marketing strategy with an online buddy? Wishing you had remembered to meta-tag every page of your website?

A slow day is your big chance to get cracking on those little plans that will lead to big business for your company. Do you make lists of things that never get accomplished? Today’srepparttar 100220 day you’ll be filling that goal notebook with checkmarks! Here are some tips on how to make headway on a slow day.

1. Learn a new program. Remember last month when you bought "HTML for Dummies" and then tossed it into your closet? Now’srepparttar 100221 time to drag that book out of hiding. Remember that free software you installed along with your scanner? Takerepparttar 100222 tutorial. A day that’s free of interruption isrepparttar 100223 perfect day to pick up a few new technical pointers. Mastering some new programs can save you a huge headache when push comes to shove and you're struggling with that last-minute project.

2. Organize your workspace. Isn’t it about time you stopped usingrepparttar 100224 floor as your file cabinet? And STOP depending on your email for phone numbers; you'll be sorryrepparttar 100225 dayrepparttar 100226 server goes down and you can't get in touch with your biggest client! Invest in some hanging file folders and a Rolodex--so you’ll have easy access to contact information, project notes, contracts and such. Stock up on printer cartridges and paper so you don’t run out inrepparttar 100227 middle of an important project. Hang a wall calendar and start using it. There are so many small things you can do to get organized and increase your productivity!

3. Write an article. Experiencing freelancer frustration with nowhere to vent? Had a recent eye-opener while doing work for a client? Being an independent contractor means something new every day. Whether it’s a challenge, a victory or a pitfall, everything you come away with is a valuable lesson to be learned. Why not share your knowledge withrepparttar 100228 world? There are thousands of websites looking for content. Many give you a byline, and some will even pay you! What a great way to makerepparttar 100229 most of your experiences... and get your name out there in print.

Looking for a new idea: Here's one

Written by Loring A. Windblad


This compilation of information is Copyright March 2005 by http://www.organicgreens.us, and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text, including this header, intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos.

So you’re looking for an opportunity and you’d like to make it a Homebased business – one that you can work from home or be free to move about and not stuck inrepparttar confines and withrepparttar 100208 restrictions of an office five days a week.

How about something so new it was “just invented” in 2000. So new that it wasn’t even available in Canada,repparttar 100209 US and Europe until 2002. So new that practical uses for it, including uses of a commercial nature, are just beginning to make themselves known.

That’s only three years – or a little less.

So what am I talking about?

I’m talking aboutrepparttar 100210 “picture taking cell-phone”.

What? You can’t see any practical use for a “picture taking cell phone” except as an invasion of someone’s privacy, and you definitely don’t want it to be your privacy? Well, I can’t disagree with that, but consider these uses as a starting point:

·In Sweden recently a burglary attempt was photographed onrepparttar 100211 store owners cell phone camera, circulated torepparttar 100212 police andrepparttar 100213 criminal apprehended within a half hour. * ·In Wales doctors have been experimenting with a system to speed diagnosis of fractures by sending photos of X-rays to consultants to get a second opinion in minutes. * ·Inrepparttar 100214 US mobile-phone service providers are setting up electronic photo albums where customers can display pictures taken with phone-cams. * ·In January 2003, showstudio.com, a fashion-news web site, used phones to beam photos from Paris fashion shows, producing almost-live coverage ofrepparttar 100215 catwalks and scoopingrepparttar 100216 competition. * ·BBC News Online now accepts photographs of news events from readers. * ·Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, predicts phonecams and similar technology will changerepparttar 100217 news landscape. *

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