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Reduce home interfering with business

by Tash Hughes

Of course, one of the advantages of working form home is that you can get bits and pieces of personal stuff done during your day.

However, it is easy for personal things to get in the way of productive work time unless you take control. Here are some simple means of working effectively from home.

  • Separate your work area from your living area as much as possible. Different rooms are ideal so you can shut the door between personal and business, but there are other ways to manage this.
  • Set yourself some working hours and stick to them. You can publish these hours on your website, in your newsletter, on a sign at the door, in your email signature or even on your business card. During business hours, answer the phone with a business greeting and don't chat with friends.
  • Set up filters in your email boxes so that personal emails are left until after business hours. This is easier done if you have different email addresses for personal and business use.
  • Consider a separate phone line for business. If that's not an option, consider using your mobile as a business line, get a second ring on the phone, use your answering machine to screen calls or use a phone answering service. Thus, you can ignore personal calls in business hours and business calls in personal hours. By collecting messages and returning calls at your convenience, you have more effective control of your time as well.
  • Consider getting drinks and snacks as quick tasks – don't let yourself tidy the kitchen for half an hour every time you're thirsty. If you are prone to doing other things when you leave your work space, take a jug of water and some fruit with you to your desk in the morning so you have less reason to get up.
  • Make a 'do not disturb' sign for your office or front door so that people can clearly see you are at work. If you want to know who has visited, leave a notepad and pencil stuck to the door frame so they can leave you messages. If you expect business callers, your sign may be worded like "We are currently working. Please knock only if you are here on business matters."
  • Learn to say no to friends and family, and don't feel guilty about it. Teach them that your business is as valid and important as if you were working for someone else in an office somewhere. It just takes a friendly response like "Thanks for calling Sue. I will finish work at 3, so how about I call you back then?"
  • Consider hiring someone to clean your house. Not only will it save you time, a clean house is less distracting as you work. If the house is actually cleaned as you work, you will have more reason to work and a sense of getting two jobs done at once!
  • If you have school children, see if there is someone who could walk them home for you – maybe an older child or another parent who walks past your house anyway. Or take turns with other parents to pick the children up. This can give you an extra 20 or 30 minutes to work in.
  • Keep household papers away from your desk if possible, or at least in a separate folder or pile. When you are working, you don't want to be paying personal bills or search through the bills and school notices for a client's paperwork.
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    Tash Hughes is a Mum of two and a writer in Melbourne. She is also the owner of Word Constructions and assists businesses in preparing all written documentation and web site content, including newsletter articles. Page not found | Party Plan Australia ↓

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