Working from home has many perks. For example, I just recently placed a small microphone under a tree stump in my front yard. When the mail carrier tries to go by my house without picking up my outgoing mail, I pretend to be Satan tallying up that willful disregard for my postcards as a mark on the “bad boy” list. That guy NEVER forgets my Netflix.
One of the reasons I can do things like this is because I work from home. The other reason is that I don’t have a conscience to speak of.
The point is that I am of the privileged minority that gets to do stuff at home when I feel like taking a break instead of having to hang out by the water cooler trying to drain it quickly so Study McMuscles from Accounting comes by and heft a new bottle into place for me.
If you have a small business, you know there are only so many hours in the day to get things done. You know there are also all sorts of little mindless tasks that you never do that could improve the quality of your business.
Start making better use of that time than hanging out on YouTube watching cats play Parcheesi. (Incidentally, does it ever worry you that there are animals out there who know how to play games you don’t know how to play? It worries me.)
“But I don’t want to work in my spare time!” you say. “I want to hang out and eat potato chips! What’s the fun of working from home if you can’t just screw around when you want to?”
To which I reply, “Oh, my little biscuit. There will be plenty of time to screw around. Wouldn’t your spare time be way more relaxing if you had fewer things on your mind nagging at you because you knew you should be doing them?”
Yes, yes it would. Let’s think about some of them:
Doing Your Own Files
Doing your files means anything from the accounting to sorting your tax receipts from your grocery receipts to putting all the information about each of your clients in a nicely labeled folder decorated with sunflowers and lightning bolts (very avant-garde, that).
Every writer, designer, coach, consultant, hell, MASSEUSE I know has a pile of paperwork they never get around to taking care of. Invariably, this costs them money.
Filing is fairly mindless work, which means you can throw on an episode of your favorite TV show while you’re doing it. You won’t even feel like you’re working. You’ll have nice neat files, and you won’t have to worry that you’ll have to scramble for receipts at tax time and won’t be able to write off that $2,000 bucks for a new computer because you can’t find the slip.
Money and mindlessness! It doesn’t get any better.
Update Your Email and Client List
You have a huge number of people you know you should follow up with. But you don’t. You’ve forgotten. Let’s face it; anyone who sat in your inbox for longer than a week has been given up as a lost cause.
The next time you have a spare hour or two to mess around with, put on some nice rockin’ tunes and go through your inbox.
While you’re at it, figure out some sort of sorting system for your emails. I have a file in my email right now called “Contacts to Follow Up With”, which is grammatically incorrect, but since it’s my email no one cares. Once nicely sorted and perfectly organized, I can manage my email easily, save time better spent elsewhere (like learning Parcheesi) and make money from reminding clients they really do want to work with me.
The next time you have spare time, go through that inbox, make a contact list and throw out a few emails. If only one in ten of those friendly nudges works out, that’s still a huge return on your little time investment.
Go Hunting
Before you hightail it to the nearest gun store, I’m talking about client hunting. Browse around your favorite blogs, websites, and forums. Pick up that stack of magazines and read them over again. Look through the news.
Feels like screwing around, doesn’t it? Well, it is. The difference is that it’s screwing around with a purpose. While you’re re-reading that article on how to get the grout in your tub sparkly white without using chemicals, take note of the products they’re recommending. Go see if that company needs the services you’re selling.
Do the same for interview subjects, companies mentioned as doing good work, or the authors of articles. If you read an article about great marketing and the author owns their own marketing company, see if they need your services. Mention the article. Tell them you like what they do. It works.
There you go. That’s three ways to use your screw-around time without feeling like you’re working. Who’s got more to add?
Ah … my favorite kind of hunting. Or, at least, right after shopping for the perfect shoes/book/yarn…
.-= –Deb´s last blog ..Tour Stop with Quinn Cummings =-.
I have a list of productive things to do whenever I am tempted to waste time on the Internet. It’s posted just to the side of my computer screen.
.-= John Soares´s last blog ..President Obama Presents the American Graduation Initiative to Help Community Colleges =-.
I love workign from home cuz I am a sleep freak and I get these sudden splashes of sleep…. so I can always take a nap whenever I wish…Secondly, my prob is that I cnt sit still…if i am working on something i have to move around to get my mind working …. in one of my prev office it worked but at nthr i felt caged
….. so no compromises on freelancing …but one thing i miss is the daily chit chat and gossip that u can have while sitting in one room.
.-= write a writing´s last blog ..Learn Business Writing: A Few Commandments =-.
Deb – and mice. Don’t forget mice.
John – Give us some of ‘em!
write a writing – Well, now you have better things to do than nap, n’est-ce pas?
.-= Tei Lindstrom – Men with Pens´s last undefined ..(Enjoy 10 returned posts for 2 weeks) =-.
My little biscuit? too funny
Seriously. The good part about working from home is that I can spread my time out because I’m not limited to an office door that locks behind me. The bad part about working from home is that I can spread my time … well, you get it.
Discipline in most areas of the work I do comes easily to me. It’s the small stuff that I tend to overlook for too long. Thanks for the reminder.
It’s true, sometimes it’s hard to stay on task when you work from home. But luckily, I am able to focus most of the time. My favorite thing, however, is that I can cook a steak for lunch, and take client calls at the same time. Perfect-o.
There are other “household” things that can be accomplished in those down times also that will help make your free time much more relaxing. Throw in the laundry, do the dishes, water the plants…. etc. When there are down times from working, I try to catch up on anything possible so that my evenings/weekends “off” can REALLY be evenings/weekends off. (I LOVE the microphone idea! That is GREAT! lol)
I envy all of you who work at home. I tried it once but can’t seem to make it work. Too many distractions. These are very good tips, maybe I’ll try it again.
Awesome post, this is really useful stuff. Working at home can be a real privilege and these are excellent time-saving tips. My favorite has got to be your first one. Being somewhat of an OC person, I really can’t take it if my papers are all bundled together and looking like a mess. It really helps one become more efficient and productive if everything is in order. Filing receipts, mail, postcards, letters, and other papers can be done even when you’re watching tv or a dvd, so it’s a two-for-one hit
Thanks!
The tip with the filing sounds interesting, I’ll have to give it a shot. I have to agree with one of the comments. I’ll try to load the dishwasher every time I fix myself another cup of espresso. I use an espresso ‘machine’ which goes onto the stove, thus giving me about 5 minutes every time to take care of the dishes. Taking into account that I drink up to 5 cups a day, the dishwasher gets loaded eventually.
The other thing I got used to is to listen to writing-related podcasts while cleaning, taking out the trash, etc. For the ones who are using Macs, you can even convert text to spoken word with a couple of mouse clicks; not perfect but there’s your chance to ‘read’ something you got as text while doing other things.
.-= Erik´s last blog ..Zitat von Oscar Wilde =-.
“The difference is that it’s screwing around with a purpose. ”
.-= Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..How to dramatically increase your optin list with ease =-.
“My little biscuit” LOL !
I work at home and also at an office, and while discipline is easier when ‘being watched’ my little breaks are in no way as tension relieving.
I really need those five minute (ten minute… twenty minute…) breaks every few hours to avoid burnout. I haven’t yet turned them into proper work but at least when home I can clean a little, water the plants, etc etc.
I do enjoy taking the occasional break from my regular routine. It feels great to let myself just surf sites I’m interested in and perhaps making a new contact or two. It doesn’t *feel* like work so it’s actually fun and relaxing.
George
.-= Tumblemoose´s last blog ..Vintage Typewriters and Deviled Ham =-.
“My screw-around time generally is spent catching up with news in my industry…”
I do that too – it’s my favourite screwing around activity. Although sometimes it can go a bit too far, and I find myself surfing Dilbert comics when I should be working…
.-= Michael´s last blog ..Nuns fined for speeding to see Pope…and other church-related news =-.
yeah. it is true, working at home takes a lot of disipline, with so many distraction and no boss to whancked you up, it is near to anything goes, but if you set your goal and treat working at home as working in an 8hrs. office set up, then we have no problem but, trust me, it ain’t easy.