Changing time management habits for a work at home mom

by Jess

I used to watch plenty of TV and then complain that I did not have enough time to do my work.

I changed these "bad habits" by planning my work hours at home and then sticking to my schedule. I now dress into the clothes I would normally go to work in, and ensure that I work from 9 to 5, the same as when I am working in the office at work.
Jessie


Kell’s reply: Hi Jessie, Well done on changing your habits – time management can sometimes not work for people because it involves a change of daily habits...which can be hard.

I work 3 days a week from home as well. I find that planning my day and then working my plan is critical to staying focused. I like the idea of simulating your work environment as much as you can.
I find that when I schedule my time, it is best to do a weekly plan in advance. I do my weekly plan on this time management schedule.

To ensure that I keep to my schedule as much as possible I make sure that I have plenty of breathing space. What I mean by that is that I don’t have one block of time immediately following the other.

Like most people, life gets in the way and sometimes crises need to be attended to. This breathing space enables me to attend to some of these things and it keeps my schedule realistic.

Another thing that I do in my weekly planning is try to make the schedule as specific as I can. This way I am much more committed to doing things.

So rather than ‘write draft’ it might be to ‘write the first 2 pages of the draft.’ Sounds simple but this specific task makes me much more likely to do the task.

If paper planning is not for you then something I have also tried a lot of is time management software. Software can be quite useful in moving from the helicopter view of my goals to daily habits of success.


Jennifer Rai’s comments:
It can be a huge transition when you go from working in an office setting to working at home.

I think it is a great idea to schedule a work day from 9-5 (with a lunch in between) to keep you on track. Thank you for the great read!