Work at Home Success How do you measure the success in your life? As a home-based working mom its so different than the outside corporate world. I know for me, one day it can be a call from Borders that they are accepting one
of my books, where another day it can be that I finally got my 8-year-old to go on a field trip at school. The last two she had missed being too scared to attend and instead spent the day home, sick. Both days, I consider huge successes! Both days, I felt a real winner!
Home based success can mean the little things such as a day we get all our work done while attending a sick child, or being one of the only parents able to attend a school function that your daughter so eagerly anticipated. Thats what we are trying to achieve in our home-based business, the best of both worlds. And having worked at home since 1985 I can truly say, it can be done.
So how can you achieve this success for
Your business and family? How can you make more good days than bad? Here are some tips:
Start Early: I find that by getting up an hour or so before everyone else, I can accomplish so much more. That allows me the extra 10 minutes of devotional time, a few minutes to enjoy my coffee alone, and then time to dig into my work. I usually save my peak work for this time as this is truly when Im at my best.
Regroup and Rebalance: So often home-based moms feel overwhelmed and unable to accomplish anything because of this. Try breaking it all down. Take a day or two and write down your typical day. What can you change to make it better, to make it work? Often when its down in writing, its clearer to see where changes can be made. Try to lump together tasks and delegate any tasks you can. And above all else-avoid Guilt.
Eliminate time-robbers! We still have to cook dinner, (I tried, it didnt work!) but I dont have to talk to my friend, who doesnt work, for 45 minutes during my workday. Say No!
Also, with my kids I found some of the work I actually could take outside or in another room. Theres no rule that says I have to work at my desk. Perhaps you can create different workstations around the home. Be creative.
Shortcuts To Success: What can you do to make
Your business run smoother? Constantly be thinking of ways to improve upon
Your business. Organization is naturally a big one. The more organized you are, the better youll be at many things.
Another shortcut for me was to create different books of materials that I frequently used so I didnt have to reinvent the wheel each time and it was right in front of me. Thus, I created different 3-ring binder books of marketing letters, press releases, etc. Anything that I frequently use and would save me time, Ill implement. Think about things that you can do for
Your business. Things that you use often, that you could print out and possibly make a collection of, and then look to as a resource. Or what other times savings tip could you think of that would help
Your business?
Another thing I do is buy paper that has 3 ring holes already in it. When I print out a clients e-mail, or clients article, Ill immediately put it into their binder categorized by topic. Im now able to find things more and also can see clearly all Ive done with the clients. Focus on Success: Continue to see yourself as a success and focus on your goals. Success is within your reach when you continually focus on your goals, both for
Your business and your family.
Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business & the Home Office Recovery Plan. She specializes in publicity and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Publishing
virtualwordpublishing.com/and. She also is the publisher of the science fiction thriller, Sledgehammer,
pauloreyes.com/
