How many hours do you actually work per day in your company? Statistics shows that almost 80% of jobs covers around 3 hours of work per day. How many hours do you spend working if you start at 9am - 5pm? I would say you have spent 11 hours working. Why do i say so? You might have forgotten the traveling time you spent from your home to work and back again. A 2 way ticket which cost you three hours of precious time. If this is how you visualize your life to be for the next 40 years, then you are stuck forever in the web-cycle.Operating a small business from the convenience of your home seems enticing. You are able to work at your own pace and move about at your own time. You have the capacity to spend more time with your family and friends. Being a boss means you are free from dealing with difficult colleagues, putting up with morning and afternoon rush hours and getting stuck in the 9-5 routine.
Working at home means you need to put 110% concentration on your business and you should be aware of the challenges ahead which may decrease efficiency and productivity levels, putting the quality of work at risk.
Some people find it difficult to concentrate on their task because of the inevitable distractions at home. Writer's block sets in easily on people who couldn't focus on their writeup while they stare blank on their computer screen, what could i do next? You need to gain full control over it so that you can have a flexible and convenient way to earn a living online.
Here i have a few tips that you can take back to ensure that working from home is a positive, productive experience.
Schedule your working hours
How well you plan your working hours tells how effective and efficient a person is. It is important to limit the number of working hours otherwise it is no difference working for a company where you spend 8 hours "working" for nothing. Try to limit your work time to 3 hours per day which includes your research and blog posting.
Once you hit over the limit, save the draft copy and continue the next day, do not overload yourself if you are unable to finish your work. Do an experiment if you do not believe me, try working for 8 hours on the computers and you will see yourself spending almost 4 hours doing unrelated work like web surfing and checking out other blogs and not realising you have wasted so much time on un-necessary stuff.
I will fix 2 hours of my time on Saturday to read on blogs that i subscribe and stumbleupon, it gives me more space to spend time with my family and friends over the weekend. Creating capacity is not that hard after all.
Distractions to be eliminated
Timothy Ferris is author of 4 hour workweek and bestseller in New York Times. In his book, he talks about how and why we should remove unnecessary distractions. All these distractions caused us to stop our work and confuse our work and delay our targeted schedule deadline.
The biggest culprit among all distractions are the email, both you and i have. I must confess that i check my mail 8 times a day and it was consuming alot of my time over the days. I must have been spending 2 hours reading all of my 100 mails i receive daily.
Since reading the book, i have learned to reduce my reading of email to one day and now 2 days. I wish i could stop reading my emails, unfortunately i have profitable business which requires me to reply back to the consumers. Responding in 2 days means i have more business to reply back on 1 single day and responding their feedback in the next 2 days. Did i lose any business? No, I do not, the reason why i do not lose any business is because i replied though after 2 days. Now, i have dedicated this job over to my new part time secretary who will filter on important message that i need to read, that cuts my time and also i cna be more efficient on my work.
Create your ideal work environment
My home "office" is painted with bright colors, the room is simple and there is no fanciful equipments other than my computer and my bookshelves storing all my internet marketing books collection. Creating a ideal work environment is essential, it should not have radios, television and bed which could get you carried away while you are at work.
Move out to absorb new ideas
Remember i talk about writer's block and how we should give ourself space to gain control of ourself. Try to move out of your home and head down to starbucks for a cup of coffee, appreciate the surrounding and the big nature around you. Start to put thoughts into action as you go along. If you are unable to think of any interesting ideas, then close your laptop and head home for a nap, do not waster your time on unproductive things. Start afresh the next day again and find your inspirational then.
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8 Responses to "How To Be Efficient and Productive Working At Home"
March 17, 2008 6:26 PM
I am working from home and find that sometimes I put in 12-14 shifts on the PC. But there are distractions which probably prolong my working day- kids, housework, etc. I try to follow a list I devised to make the load easier, that way I know exactly what I have done and what needs doing.
It sounds easy, but its damn hard to follow on one side, i guess you are right, we need to be more discipline.
March 18, 2008 3:51 AM
After 19 years at this (having started at 24), I've learned that 'home work' isn't 9-5 or 8-6. It's 168 hours a week parsed and divided into whatever blocks we desire/need. I don't know the last time I worked a 40-hour week. Heck, a 30-hr week would be a lot to me. But I work a ton of 3am shifts that mean I'm uber-productive (at hours that don't interfere with family time). So what if I'm asleep by 9p. It's my gig and my rhythm. My clients like that I meet deadlines, and what the heck, there's no way I'm going to compete with my teenagers to see who can clock the latest bedtime anyway. I lost that one a long time ago...
I would not agree on that, because i am not able to cut my working hours, its just so hard, i think leading the current life is the best.
March 19, 2008 1:59 AM
Ha... my biggest distraction has gotta be checking my stats.
March 19, 2008 5:54 AM
Email is a big distraction for me. I always have messenger open on my computer so I see right when I get a new email.
February 1, 2010 10:31 AM
Excellent post, I know the hardest things for me to adjust to when I started were getting on a set schedule, and also not overworking myself. I have got myself set up on a great schedule and try to always be done by 6PM to spend time with my family. I always end up working more though when everyone goes to bed, so I stil do overwork myself somedays but that is the way it has to be in the industry I chose to start a career in.
March 4, 2010 4:23 PM
Good post, nice share. Thanks for your post.
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