Search Results for: blog are your business practices saving time or wasting time

Where are You Spending Most of Your Time?

Staying organized and reasonably efficient in a home business means having a good idea of what you are doing with your time, energy and resources. Just because you have a plan or an “idea” of what you imagine you are doing as you work at your business does not mean that is actually what you are doing. It takes some honesty and self-examination, but periodically it is a good idea to review where it is that you are actually spending most of your time? When I first started my writing business, I figured up a budget based on all the … Continue reading →

When Your Work Schedule Changes

Sometimes, life can seem all about scheduling—especially when it comes to taking care of the myriad obligations of family, work, community, church, etc. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that just when I get everything really humming along in a manageable schedule, something changes and throws everything out of wack. Often, what changes is my work schedule! For those of us who operate home-based business, we might have more control over our schedules than if we worked a more traditional job. This doesn’t make us exempt, however. In fact, I find that taking on a new client or … Continue reading →

Do You Need E-Mailers Anonymous?

Hi, my name is Traci and I am addicted to e-mail. In a previous post, I offered a few tips for managing your e-mail. While I try to follow my own suggestions, I learned a few more tips today that I wanted to share with you…and try myself. I have an e-mail program that shows the latest breaking news stories each time I log in to check my mail. Ironically, when I was checking my mail for the fifteenth time today, the headline was; “First AA, Then NA… Now Emailers Anonymous?” According to the Reuters News Network, an executive coach … Continue reading →

Are you really “multi-tasking” – or just doing several things poorly all at once?

If you’ve worked from home for awhile now, you’ve probably come to recognize that time management is key. I am the multi-tasking queen. Once, I managed to talk to a customer, change a diaper and pour bubble bath solution into a running tub all at once. Pretty impressive, huh? Not really. The problem with multi-tasking is that you really aren’t paying enough attention to the tasks at hand. While you might feel like you are getting a lot done, your children are getting short-changed (pardon the pun) while you are talking on the phone, and your customer is getting poor … Continue reading →

Setting Office Hours When You Work at Home

Just about every piece of advice I have ever read about working at home and raising a family says to set specific working hours and to stick to a schedule. Somehow, I have never managed to do this. Setting a set number of office hours makes sense: your family would know what to expect, your work will get the concentrated time it needs, and there will actually be time that you don’t have to be thinking about work or worrying about how you will find the time to get it done. It all sounds terrific in theory, I’ve just never … Continue reading →

Are Your Business Practices Saving Time or Wasting Time?

Ah, time–what a slippery, elusive, necessary thing time is when you’re trying to run your own business. For many of us, how we manage our time has a direct bearing on our bank accounts, and yet time management tops the list of things most entrepreneurs grapple with. How do we get things done efficiently without wasting time? Tasks take time–but how you do those tasks and what you’re doing with your time can make or break your home business. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be a mad multi-tasker (although that can certainly help) but it does mean … Continue reading →