Tips for Maximizing Time

I'm not sure why she's smiling...working from home and being a mom at the same time is not that easy.

These days it’s all about being productive.  From productive parenting to being productive at work, efficiency and good use of time are essential.  Since I am a mom and I work from home, I am doubly focused on, well, being focused.  I have learned that keeping a 2 and a 4 year old on track while also balancing a work schedule requires a lot of planning and discipline.  Here are a few of the things I do that really help me maximize my time:

• I do not work when the kids are awake unless my husband can be with them.
• To make the above work, I have to be really intentional about getting the day started.  It’s easiest for me to work ahead- whether it’s washing and drying dishes or picking toys up off the ground, I prefer to get it out of the way rather than leave it for an already hectic morning.  That way when morning dawns, I don’t start the day behind.
• Similarly, I work ahead for my actual job.  Since most of it is writing, I try to do all the writing for the following week THIS week.  This one is two-fold: 1) Deadlines are stressful and accomplishing something early motivates me and 2) If one of us gets sick or something comes up, I have some slack time and still get a pay check.
• Lastly, I minimize distractions with white noise.  My husband jokes that I get sensory overload and shut down.  It’s true- too many noises or voices at one time completely derail me.  I need a quiet, peaceful work space for maximum productivity.  (I also use white noise for my kids’ rooms so they can sleep through my phone calls and the seagulls squawking.  If they’re not sleeping, I’m not working, and nobody gets to eat.)

Those really are the keys to my success.  Now if only someone would buy me this sit or stand work station, I’d really be lengthening my invoices.

2 Free Resources You Need!

I work from home while I take care of a toddler and a preschooler.  Sometimes my mind gets muddled in menu planning, teaching numbers and letters, potty training, and changing diapers.  Often, it’s hard to separate my personal life from my work world.  However, I am committed to being an excellent stay-at-home mom who works successfully during “down time.”  Being productive without going crazy, while essential for mothering and pulling in a pay check, can be tricky.  I’ve posted before about working from home, and the importance of white noise like this free white noise generator, but I thought I’d share another tip that keeps me on top of my schedule.

Each week I…

• plan a menu
• work on keeping my daughter accident-free
• schedule our family activities
• and try to keep track of work expectations and deadlines

That’s a lot of planning and thinking ahead.  One wall calendar just doesn’t cut it.  I have started using a free online printable calendar 3 different spots in my home:

• 

  If I want to jazz it up, I print it off on colored paper. Wild, I know.

  in the bathroom for a potty chart

• in the kitchen for meals and family activities
• by my desk for deadlines

For the potty chart, we put stickers for dry days and nights.  For the meals, I just write down what we’re having when and with whom.  My husband enjoys checking what’s for dinner.  For my work calendar, I use different colored pens/pencils to write down when work is due for what company (I write for several different groups).  I then highlight the more important ones, and since I usually work ahead, I always check off what I’ve accomplished so that I don’t get confused.  It’s a great system, and I finally am not missing important deadlines, nor do I have a million things written on 1 tiny square!

Sometimes it is fun to work in a new setting. Whether you work at home all day by yourself or work in an office full of noisy coworkers, I think it can help you to focus better on your work to occasionally change things up a little bit. What better place to go than a coffee shop with free Wi Fi? Nice atmosphere, yummy coffee, comfy seats. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Here are a few tips to help you telecommute from a coffee shop (or book shop or anywhere with free Wi Fi) effectively.

1. Buy a drink or something to eat. Please don’t take up valuable table space and use their internet if you aren’t going to buy something from the shop. The exception might be if you are working from a book store. I’m not sure what etiquette would dictate on that. Although if you are like me, you will have trouble leaving a book shop without completely blowing your budget.

2. Get a good seat. This means something different for everyone. Whether you want to sit in a corner, by a window, on a chair or a couch, inside or outside, go ahead and be purposeful about where you are sitting so that you are comfortable and can work.

3. Make sure you have everything you need to work. Nothing is more annoying than getting there, buying your cup of coffee and sitting down ready to start being super productive, only to realize that you forgot your power cord, or a book you needed, or any other of a myriad of things. Take a couple of extra seconds before you leave the house to make sure you have everything you will need to do your work.

4. Bring headphones. You are going to the coffee shop to be productive, so be proactive and get rid of conversational distractions before they begin. A good play list of songs or some white noise will keep you from listening in on others conversations.

5. Don’t go when there are events planned. If you go during the day, there’s a pretty good chance nothing out of the ordinary will be happening. However, if you go  in the evening, check first to see if there is a band or other activity taking place. Its really hard to work if there is live music blaring in your ear or if the weekly knitter’s meeting is taking place.

6. Make sure laptops are allowed and welcomed. I guess some small mom and pop shops have recently started discouraging laptops. Seems like they might be biting the hand that feeds them…. Anyway, you don’t want to go where you aren’t welcome, so a quick look around to make sure there are others with laptops and that there are no signs discouraging their use would be a good idea.

There are many more tips out there, but these are a good start. Can you think of any more helpful tips or practices?

Reposted from Inc.com

Inc.com‘s take on working from home

If you’ve read this blog for long, you must have figured out that I work from home.  I recently found a funny post that I can relate to in many ways.  This is her lead-in to 8 Work-from-Home Tips:

Inc. Magazine lives in New York City. I live in the Boston suburbs. So for three years I’ve been working out of my home office with nothing to look at but the Ozark-esque compound across the road and nothing to listen to but squirrels striking the back porch when they miss the bird feeders. It gets lonely at times. My house lacks both a water cooler and peers to engage in conversation around one. I miss the random hallway conversations that unexpectedly ignite ideas or forge alliances. When I know my colleagues are staying late to close an issue, I work late too, out of solidarity. The managing editor offers to order in dinner and sends out a link to the menu. I mentally place my order.

Nothing to Listen to….?

I was interested in her description of lack of water cooler gossip and nothing to listen to as complaints.  She goes on to supply 8 tips that further intrigued me.  Instead of feeling relieved from the office distractions, this work-from-homer felt alone and isolated- in a too quiet place.  It’s hard to remember my home being too quiet, but I think it was before July 12, 2006 (the birth of our daughter).  And when I sit down to think about it, there are times that are too quiet- so quiet I can hardly think.  I start to look around at the specks on my carpet and the dust on my mantle instead of the work on my computer.  I’ve tried music, but it ends up distracting me at an even higher level.  Sometimes I can work with the TV on, but if it’s LOST, let’s be honest, I’m all in.  Too bad I don’t make money for the number of hours I have my computer open, right?

Besides setting aside time that is dedicated to work (not dishes, cleaning, diapers, or blog-reading), I also have to further protect my focus.  For me, it’s white noise (give this free white noise generator a shot if you’ve never tried one).  I love the consistency and gentle hum it brings as I stay glued to the page I’m working on instead of fluttering all over the place.  I love efficient work, so for more ideas for better focus while working from home, check out these tips- from me to you.  You’re welcome. 

Being a mom and working from home isn't always as seamless as I'd like.

I work from home.  This sounded like such a good idea – my husband can do his thing, I can do mine and still take care of our little ones.  It has been a lot more challenging than I anticipated to say the least.

Here is a slice of daily “work” (in no particular order)

-Mama, I need you to check my bottom – 2 minutes to enter bathroom where 3 year old is bottom-up

-mailman knocks on door – 1 minute to explain he has come to _____ Road, not _____ Street, which is why the address is wrong

-mail contains info on getting kids’ swine flu shots – 5 minutes to read, 5 minutes to email husband to get his thoughts on whether we do the dreaded jabs

-daughter wants to play Clifford game before Mommy “works” – 15 minutes

-cell phone buzzes its sad little low-energy buzz – 2 minutes to find it, 1 minute to plug it in

-phone actually rings – 2 minutes to go see who it is and decide to ignore it b/c I’m supposed to be working

-3 year old needs one millionth toy she can’t reach in her “room time” – 1 1/2 minutes to chastise her for yelling down the stairs that connect to 1 year old’s room that has no door and which houses him sleeping (hopefully) and 3 minutes to go upstairs and retrieve said toy

-stare at passers-by through living room window- 1 minute

It all adds up (38 1/2 minutes) – and that was just the first 40 minutes of me sitting down to work.  I’m not kidding.  I’m still thrilled to be a stay-at-home mom, but I can see why few want to hire us.  We’re not very focused.  Who continues to crunch numbers, for example, if her 2 year old is throwing up on the new carpet?  (“Just a sec honey – hold it in, just one more minute while Mommy hits save…”)

Here are a few of the things I do to actually be a mom and accomplish my work:

1.  Work during sleep times/parent during wake times.  I don’t care how tired I’ll be, my kids will only be young once, and I am not going to miss it.

2.  Coordinate their naps – even if it means hard work.  Since I had #2, I have worked from home.  From the day I brought him home, he and my older one have slept at the same time- not for the same amount of time, but they go down at the same time.  Now that my older one has dropped her nap, she has “room time” where she plays by herself in her room.  This gives me work time, her a break, as well as a creative outlet that all the experts say is necessary for a well-balanced child.

3.  Turn off the phones/ringers.  I can call back later.

4.  Check email at beginning of work time to see if there’s anything urgent, then close it out, so I don’t see new ones coming in.

5.  Use white noise.  It helps drone out the neighbors and gives a peaceful hum that keeps me task-oriented.  (Here is a free white noise generator I like that you can try out.)

6.  Set reasonable expectations and goals and communicate those with boss – I can only accomplish so much during my work hours.  It’s important that my employer know my situation and know that my kids come first (so does my husband for that matter).

7.  Honor my work schedule/commitment – if it’s 10 hrs/week, work 10 hrs/week.  I am creative as to how I get it in (such as going to a coffee shop on a Sat morning, which is a welcome break for me from a normal day or working all during the week so that I have the weekend off), but I always honor my commitment, which keeps me employed.

8.  No computers from 5-7pm.  These are the fussy times for the kids and when my husband comes home.  My family gets my time when they need it, no question.  (My husband has the same rule and our marriage has changed as a result – we pay more attention to each other and the children, and we all have thrived.)