When you work from home, you’ve got to keep a schedule
If there’s one thing that will sink your business like a rock, it’s the temptation to work your business in your spare time.
Hello!! There’s no such thing as spare time.
There’s wasted time… and there’s down time… but spare time is a myth.
What I’m going to do is share my schedule with you. Sure, I don’t commute to a job, but I do have things that could be considered a job… these are tasks I much do each day at a certain time (pretty much like your job, eh).
Beyond that, there are family commitments. Just because you have a home-based business, that’s no excuse to isolate yourself from your family. You’re gonna need all the support you can get, so don’t alienate them.
There’s also “down time”. That’s when your brain has pretty much said “I quit for the day”. Don’t panic. We all have down time… in fact we need down time so our brains can recover. I use down time to watch my favorite TV programs, to sleep, to play with the dogs, etc.
So, what does my average day look like?
Wake up the first time is generally around 6 AM. I stay in bed (the dogs want morning love). I use this time to mentally reinforce my “to do” list for the day. I’m out of bed around 7 or 7:15 depending upon which one of us three who share a bathroom needs to be out of the house first.
By 8:30AM, I have had my coffee, talked with my roomies, confirmed any last minute schedule changes, played with the dogs, and maybe had breakfast. It’s time to hit the computer, where I spend the first hour and a half.
This is the time I check e-mail, and answer e-mail. I also check all my stats. I post to several forums, so I’ll often swing through quickly and post as necessary (typically only replying to my active threads). I also use this time to read the news (Yahoo and a local TV station news).
About 10AM, it’s time to feed our animals. If I’m by myself, this chore takes up to an hour, depending upon whether I have to haul hay, clean and refill water tanks, and maybe clean the horse corral and stable. If Cindy is here to help, we’re generally done in about 30 minutes or less. This job gets done seven days a week.
After chores is my most creative time. This is from about 10:30 or 11AM until about 2PM when another room mate returns home. I use this time to update blogs, write advertising (will post it later), and research.
In the late afternoon, from 2 until 4 I read, generally online… the stuff I gathered from research… this is that daily two hour block I use for learning new things.
By 4pm it’s time to feed again and then we have dinner. I’m generally away from work for up to 2.5 hours during that time.
In the evening, I return for another hour or two, generally attending conference calls, or taking time to do some “social interaction” at some online chat locations.
By 8pm, I’m ready to “surf” for an hour before calling it a night.
Weekends are generally reserved for family activities and work around the farm. I may take a weekday off once or twice a month to travel to the city to shop.
So there you have it… a schedule that fits my natural day.
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Leisa Watkins (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Shari you are so right. Keeping a schedule is such a key to building a successful home-based business.
All too often people think they can work hard for a couple of weeks then relax for a while. My experience is that consistency is the key. A schedule provides the necessary structure to be consistent and therefore experience long-term success.