“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
As a work at home mom, I constantly struggle with time management. I went on a time detox, where I kept track of all my working minutes in a spreadsheet to see where it goes. I next moved to scheduling my time with a detailed schedule with a planned versus reality view. If you haven’t figured it out, I can be a little bit on the type a side.
These tools provided amazing insight into how my time is spent balancing my small business owner, domestic goddess and omnipotent mom (of course I know where your favorite shirt is?) responsibilities.
Below is a quick summary of the time management methods I find most effective.
I believe in signs. My kids and nanny know that a closed door means no interruptions. My door is not closed all the time unless I am seriously crunching on deadlines. If I plan to have a closed door all day, I set an alarm for planned interruptions. This way everyone knows when they can ask me questions or tell me about what happened at school. Of course, emergencies and boo-boos are always an exception to the rule. No fake crying allowed.
Schedule it. I schedule a time to prepare my day. I review my tasks, prioritize and estimate time. I have time scheduled for multiple random and small tasks related to my business and home life. I set time for larger projects and do not allow interruptions during those time slots – door closed, Outlook shut down and phone on vibrate.
Voicemail is your friend. Schedule times when you return phone calls. You DO NOT need to pick up the phone every time it rings or return a text message immediately. Same goes for email. This one is REALLY hard for me. Work in progress but I’m aware that you need to bring your business phone line to the future in order to succeed.
You can’t do it all. Don’t expect to be able to complete all your household responsibilities during the work day. Prep for your day just like any other working mom. You can use the daytime to your advantage but if you think it means you get to just chill at night after the kids go to sleep, you are not going to be productive. Work hours are your friend.
Home Life Balance. This might be a little twisted but this is what works for me. I use home tasks (laundry, cleaning out the chicken coup, prepping dinner) as a reward for a completed task. I consider it a HUGE benefit of working from home that I can complete these tasks during the work day. However, my work day cannot consistent of too many home tasks because mamma needs to make some money.
Reward Yourself. An even better reward is taking time out to hug my kids or hear about their day. Really that is what makes this crazy life worth it. I volunteer at my kids’ schools, pick one up early for quality one on one time and other fun things that create great memories for the both of us.
If I have a particularly kick ass morning, I take extra time making a super delicious lunch and might even take a stroll around the neighborhood. I used to believe I could be nose to the grindstone all the time. I learned the hard way, it doesn’t work. I was stressed out which lead to being less productive and sick. If I was in an office environment, I would be taking “water cooler” breaks. I just have kitchen and backyard breaks instead. Reward yourself and do it often.
Life Happens. The schedule gets messed up. Kids get sick. Emergencies happen. There are days when you are as a motivated as a dry snail. It happens. Do your best to refocus. Re-set your day or start over the next day.
When all else fails and stress takes over, breathe deep and repeat my daily (sometimes hourly) mantra: I am enough. There is enough. Or if things get really overwhelming, I take a headstand which always changes my perspective…ironically true.
I would love to hear your tricks to staying focused at home?