It’s Not Just Time Management
by Alyssa Avant on May 20, 2008
in Just Me, My Work
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It’s not just about time management, it’s also about discipline. Discipline is something I’m going to need a great deal of over the next few months in order to make my working from home plan continue to work. I have been doing very well working from home since about October of 2007. All this time, my son has had 1/2 days of preschool. Now, he’s out for summer, and there are going to be 100s of distractions for me, not just him, but his activities such as VBS at church, my mom is off (she’s a school teacher) and there will just be more temptations to do something OTHER than work.
A fellow WAHM wrote on this topic on here blog, and I loved a few of her suggestions. In fact, today I’m going to try them. They include not turning on the computer before I eat my breakfast, get dressed, and do some housework.
Another is that I spend a specific amount of time on certain tasks and then stop. I am bad about just messing around online for endless amounts of timing hopping from one task to another. Though I am organized and do have a plan, I need more discipline to actually STICK to it. So it’s not JUST about Time management for me it is also about discipline.
Finally, I agree that I should have a quitting time each day and for the summer especially since my children will be home all day with me I think this is going to be important. Especially with the new baby coming I need to be disciplined with my work so that I have time to enjoy my family too.
I'm Alyssa, a Christian writer & speaker, but most of all a wife & mom with an amazing husband, Greg and three energetic kids. I am in a season of simplifying my life, which God says means trading good for best. Please stay, connect, and follow my journey.
I really need to work on all THREE, organization, time management AND discipline! Schedules just never seem to work with me so I always tend to just go where each day takes me, flying by the seat of my pants! Love your blog! Will be back to read more!
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Alyssa,
You’re right. As comforting and convenient as it is to work from home, it sure can be distracting. Your tips sound like perfect advice for someone having trouble with this “inevitable” issue. Being your own boss and setting rules for yourself can be tough, but if you want to get things done (and done right) you have to be disciplined about your work ethic! It was tough for me, but with a regimented schedule, you can really get a lot done in less time than you think. I even set up my own business website and taken my business online with Microsoft’s new Office Live Small Business. Have you heard of it? It has everything a budding entrepreneur could ever need to create and maintain a successful online business. It has a great website layout designer that requires no HTML experience (for the less web savvy) and a fabulous organized e-mail system that even checks the status of sent messages. You can consolidate your invoices and look at reports of day-to-day traffic on your site.
There’s plenty more information at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com
Oh and I forgot to mention that Microsoft not only hosts everything on your website free of charge, you even get a customized “.com” domain name! It’s a really cost-effective and easy way to bring any starting home business up and running on the internet. Please check it out, and if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me! I work with Microsoft and would be more than happy to answer any questions you or your readers may have. Again, thanks for the great read. I’ll be checking in on your future posts!
Best,
Kimberly
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As a WAHM of over 2 years, those are some great tips to live by. And as your children grow and their needs change, so will yours. It’s a constant juggle, but it’s all worth it
It wish you the best this summer!
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I really need to work on all THREE, organization, time management AND discipline! Schedules just never seem to work with me so I always tend to just go where each day takes me, flying by the seat of my pants! Love your blog! Will be back to read more!
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