Over the last few weeks, I seem to be struggling with managing my time or should I say, it is managing me! My schedule was always – up by 6AM, devotions, paperwork and then hit the phones. All being done by about 12Noon with the afternoon free or with time to relax with hubby before both of us headed to work. I am not sure why or how that all changed but now I am struggling getting up at 6AM and it seems like I am working all the time (or checking my phone for messages). UGH! I am sure that some would say that I need the extra sleep. The nights I work till 11PM, come home and then spend about an hour on the computer catching up on emails and messages definitely eats into my usual sleep pattern. I actually miss the days of getting up early and getting things done so that I had FREE time.
I LOVE working from home and I definitely need to re-evaluate my time management. An article in “theselfemployed.com” by Matthew Anderson talked about the rules of working from home. The focus of the article was about setting up rules so that you are creating an actual office in your home as opposed to going to an office every day. So, here goes – let’s see how many of them I am breaking and that I need to get back in the habit of…
Set A Morning Routine: Set up a routine that you can adhere to every single day and then stick with it, and do everything in the same order every morning. When you’re done with your routine, you should have taken care of anything you’d need to do before it’s time to buckle down and work, so there are no distractions once you “clock in” and get down to business. Okay, so I guess the first thing is to actually get UP when the alarm clock rings instead of hitting the off button (notice I didn’t say snooze button).
Separate Work and Life: Most days I can do this. I work in my office and then spend time with hubby. Being in direct sales, I find there are times when the two collide or that I work when I am with hubby. He is okay with this as long as it isn’t ALL of the time. He even nudges me sometimes to share Thirty One with people who I am around or points out opportunities that I might have missed or am hesitant because we are enjoying time together. I am not perfect at this one but I definitely can do it!
Stay Positive: This is so much easier for me now that I start every morning with devotionals. Time to drink my tea and talk with God.
For the rest of Matthew’s article, click the link. These are the ones that stood out for me this morning as I try to figure out a NEW morning routine. I am open for suggestions, share your tips for managing your time at home or in your home office better.
Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!
Hope Wissel 