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November 7, 2016 0 Comments

4 Tips to Achieve Ambitious Goals

Achieving goals is a prominent concept in business, life and self-development, and it’s for good reason.  When we set goals, we’re more likely to get where we want to be in life.  Although establishing these goals is a lofty and admirable practice, there are ways we can go about them that will ensure that they’re much more achievable!

Write it out

We often forget things if we don’t write them down.  Think about going to the grocery store without a list – we often end up forgetting several things.  The same can be said for to-do lists and other means of writing down reminders.  First of all, by writing down your goals, you’re more easily able to remember them on a daily basis.  Additionally, writing down your goals makes them that much more real.

Visualization is another large part of goal-setting, so if your goals are time-oriented, purchase a wall or refrigerator calendar so you may see your goal date, daily steps, or time passage appropriately.  When you can actually see something in front of you, it’s a more constant reminder of what you’re trying to achieve.

Every day, every week

Do one thing every day or every week to work towards accomplishing your goals.  It can be as simple as reaching out to someone, making a contact, networking, completing a document, or anything small that will help you on your way to success.

Choose an interval that works best for you.  If you know that daily practice isn’t possible, stick to weekly.  When you keep this momentum going, no matter daily, weekly or monthly, you’re more focused and able to come back to what’s important.

Be realistic

Goals must be realistic to be obtained, and what’s realistic for you may not be the same for your friends, partner, or family members.  You know what you’re able to accomplish, and you also know that goals require you to push a bit.  We feel much more accomplished when we’ve strived for a goal and made it happen, so ensure that “realistic” does not mean “easy.”

With that in mind, set goals that are able to be accomplished in a set amount of time.  By keeping time ambiguous, you’re less likely to commit.  Set a specific goal, with a time frame, that is possible within the scope of your lifestyle and willingness to accomplish it.

Move forward

If you’ve reached a goal, go a step further or establish a new, more bold goal that is similar.  You can also choose another step forward that will complement your prior achievement.  Setting, achieving, and moving on from goals is all part of self-improvement; we can stretch ourselves and work to improve and grow.

Goals don’t need to be scary or unobtainable dreams – they can be a real part of your life that allows you to strive for more and gain a true sense of accomplishment.  Reach for your goals, whether they are personal, business-related, or simply related to improving yourself.

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October 3, 2016 0 Comments

3 Tips to Fall Into Organization

As the season changes into fall, the routine of life gets back into gear.  It’s also a prime time to consider organization as a work from home employee.  When your home is also your workplace, it’s important that organization is a key component to your daily life.  In a home office, you don’t have a cleaning crew to keep your office nice and neat on a daily basis, so it’s up to you to establish this routine.

Read along for some best practices for “falling” into organization this season!

Manage your environment

A disorganized office or home can set you up for overwhelm and failure from the get go.  Make it a point to keep your spaces neat and tidy, which is known for boosting productivity.  This also keeps you from wanting to spend your day cleaning and organizing, which can be avoided with a cleaning schedule.

A cluttered space is often a cluttered mind, so do your best to organize your desk, home, and general living space so that you can give as much productivity as possible to your home based job.

Make it a daily habit

All you need is 10 minutes per day!  Once your system of organization is set up, simply spend at least 10 minutes per day staying that way.  Whether you choose a detailed filing system, color-coded documents, or just very well organized computer files, be sure that you’re taking the time every single day to look at these items.

When organization becomes a habit, it becomes part of our life.  Research suggests that it takes 21 days to make a new habit, so do your best to stick it out for at least 3-4 weeks, especially if organization isn’t your thing!  You might just find that you’re more productive, your mind is more clear, and you’re much more able to find needed items and files when they’re needed.

Keep it separate

Although this is more of a mental organization tip, it can also do wonders for your physical space – an office or a computer organizational system.  Make sure all your clients, employees, and employers are kept separate, as to clear up space in your head.  When you’re constantly putting everything together, you have to take the time to decipher which item, email, or request is from which client.

Since many work from home employees hold numerous freelance positions, organization here is more important than ever.  If you want to keep everything in one place, such as a master to do list, organize your clients or employers by color-coding them.  This will allow you to quickly see which tasks are for which person, leaving your brain power for the important items – your work!

Organization doesn’t need to be difficult or time consuming – it just has to become part of your life.  When you’re organized as a home based employee, your productivity is much higher and you’re able to produce more accurate and efficient work for your clients.

Think of how much easier it will be to find those folders or emails once everything is set!  Organization frees up time and mental space from the clutter – the clutter of seeking items you can’t find, and the clutter of a disorganized workspace that generally brings down your workday.  Put in the time now and reap the rewards daily!

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August 29, 2016 0 Comments

4 Fun Planners to Get & Stay Organized

Let’s face it, planning your day is a lot more fun with a beautiful calendar!  Not only do the planners below help to keep you organized and on track, some even offer motivational tools and self-improvement options to help you grow.

Read along for some of the best and most fun planners to make organization more exciting!

The Happiness Planner

The Happiness Planner is “designed to help you live a happier and more fulfilling life by mastering the art of positive thinking, mindfulness, gratitude, and self-development,” according to their website.

Some of the tools in the planner include encouragement to: integrate more of what makes you happy in your daily life, end each day with gratitude, set goals that you want to achieve and write down action plans, set goals for improvement, and much more.  The Happiness Planner has a 100-day planner, a 52-week journal, standard year planners, as well as interesting features such as planners that resemble clutch purses.

This planner is a great option for you if you’re looking to incorporate positive thinking, affirmations, self-development, and specific goals into your daily calendar.

Click here to learn more about The Happiness Planner.

Erin Condren Planners

Erin Condren’s Lifeplanner is a “stylized organizer” that comes in a variety of designs, sizes and shapes.  The planners are fully customizable and feature options like coil colors, leather-like covers, floral designs and much more.

These planners also allow you to customize the layout and color theme, as well as adding personal photos and your name.  There’s also a focus on goal setting and journaling, with pages adding prompts for you to fill in. An inspirational section with notes and quotes is also featured, as well as blank space for creativity, notes and doodles that we all love so much!

Click here to learn more about Erin Condren Lifeplanners.

Passion Planner

The Passion Planner is another planner that does more than just keep track of your day-to-day life.  It has benefits such as: customization, positivity, creating keepsakes, managing time, following passions, decluttering, challenging yourself and more.  It sets you up on a Passion Roadmap, which includes 3 year goals, lifetime goals, one year goals, 3 months goals, and so on.  This is a great feature, as it’s commonly known that written down and progressive goals are more likely to happen!

There are also focuses for each day, week and month, as well as space for to-do lists, good things that happened, and drawing space.  As a bonus, for every planner purchased, one is given to a stranger in need, which has resulted in thousands of planners given to various non-profits all over the country.

Click here to learn more about the Passion Planner.

The Happy Planner

The Happy Planner is “an expandable, disc-bound planner system that combines your love for creatively with your need to organize,” according to their website.  It is full of bright colors and a lot of inspiration! It comes in 1-12 month, undated options, along with sheets of stickers, pocket folders, and sticky note pads with 20 sheets each.  This allows you to organize your life, keep items with you, and dress up your planner to make it more your own.

They have various beautiful cover images to choose from, as well as month box kits that allow you to customize and use a specific theme. If getting a little crafty and being inspired by inspirational sayings helps you to pursue your goals, this planner would be a great fit for you.

Click here to learn more about The Happy Planner.

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August 22, 2016 0 Comments

7 Top Tips for Time Management

Time management is a hot topic these days.  Between family, a social life, and a career, it can be tough to make it all work.  When you work from home, you’re also balancing home activities, chores, and possibly kids as well, making it a delicate balancing act!

Read along for some tips and best practices to ensure that you’re being as productive as possible – while staying sane and making time for what’s important.

Organize your computer

When you work at a computer all day, you want it to look nice! Just as we keep our houses clean to keep mental clutter limited, your workspace is the same way.  Be sure to close unused tabs and try not to keep things running in the background.  While this can be convenient, it  slows you down by distracting you and slows down your computer with all the processing power.

One at a time

Settle into one task at a time! It’s tempting to open numerous tabs and begin flying through your work, task by task, but it’s not overly efficient.  Take the time to do one task at a time and you’ll find that you’re giving it much more focus and attention.

Set intervals

It’s been said again and again that working on a task for more than 90 minutes at a time is futile.  Work on one task for a set time, such as 15-90 minutes before taking a break or moving on to something else.

It’s also important to set intervals to get up and take a break! Time management is also closely tied to productivity, and you’re much more productive after taking a short break and coming back refreshed.

Multitask mindfully

It’s fine to throw in a load of laundry during the day – it’s one of the perks of working from home! However, if you do housework every few minutes, you’ll never accomplish your work. Take breaks throughout the day and schedule chores as needed.  For example, toss in a load of laundry in the morning, do the dishes on your lunch break, and take your pup for a walk during your afternoon break.  Not only do you get more done this way, but you aren’t disrupting your work time and you’re taking mini-breaks – a great mental management tool!

Say your schedule

Put your weekly schedule on your family calendars and let your friends and family know when you’re working.  It can be tempting to get out of the house at every chance when you’re a home based worker, but it’s important to get your work done too.

Another way to “say your schedule” is to know when to say no and be able to prioritize accordingly.  While it can be tempting to accept every role, event, and project possible, it’s not always in the best interest of your bigger goals or family life.

Get the right tools

Whether it’s client management system or a simple to-do list in Google Docs, figure out what works for you and stick to it.  Another important feature is a calendar that’s kept up to date and synced to your phone as well. This is also important for mapping out deadlines, staying on task, and prioritizing what’s most important.

Eliminate distractions

While it’s not always possible to eliminate each and every distraction if you have a house of kids and/or pets, you should have a plan in place for keeping them occupied during work hours. Whether you hire a babysitter, choose daycare or play dates for a part-time schedule, do whatever is needed to stay on task during work hours.

If you have an important call, be sure to arrange childcare and/or go to a quiet place so that dog barking and other noises won’t interrupt important business.  Of course this is not possible 100% of the time and most clients and employers know this, but do your best to establish boundaries and arrange for quiet working time when you need it the most.

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May 23, 2016 0 Comments

6 Tools for Work From Home Teams

 

Working from home comes in many forms, and one of those includes working on a team.  While some of us may just do freelance work for various clients, there are times when we might land a part-time or full-time job with a company that has other virtual (or in-person) employees.

While it’s no secret that working from home boosts most people’s productivity, adding a team into the mix can be challenging.  Communication isn’t as simple as walking into another colleague’s cubicle, and keeping files and conversations in one place can seem tedious.  Read along for some of the top tools for work from home teams and co-workers.

Basecamp

Basecamp is billed as the “leading web-based project management and collaboration tool,” which manages files, to-do lists, schedules, and much more.  When you join as a team, you can create separate folders for each client or project, and within those folders, you can have conversations, exchange files, keep information, utilize checklists, and more.  

This is an excellent place for collaboration, and it keeps everything from each team member in one place – no searching through zillions of emails, Google Docs, or other word documents that are just disorganized.

Basecamp begins at $29/month and you can learn more about it here.

Skype

Almost all of us use Skype for personal use, but did you know that it can be great for teams?  Not only do you get face-to-face interaction, but you can hold mini meetings throughout the day.  Phone calls are helpful, but seeing each other brings a new level of professionalism and accountability.

If your team is up to it, suggest that you keep Skype up and running on a daily basis.  You can call each other when needed, or use the chat feature to communicate quickly.

Skype is generally free to use.  Learn more about it here.

Free Conference Call

FreeConferenceCall.com is a completely free conference call service that allows you to host online meetings and record and share any call.  This is great for group meetings, as well as client calls that you need to hold with your whole team.

To host basic conference calls, simply sign up on their website and you’ll receive a conference number along with an access code.  You can send this information to your co-workers or clients to meet you on a call without having to fumble with three-way calling.

Learn more here.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a “social media management tool created to help businesses grow their social media presence.”  Simply put, it allows you to schedule all of your posts on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn business and personal pages, and so on.

You can link all of your accounts in Sprout and choose which profiles will receive the post(s).  You can schedule posts as far out as you’d like, making it easier to manage multiple clients.  This is an excellent tool for teams, as many times several people are managing social media profiles for one client or employer.  This keeps things organized, and you can easily see which posts are scheduled for when.  You can also easily export reports and data to share with clients and/or team members.

Check out Sprout Social and its capabilities here.

Go To Webinar

Go To Webinar is an affordable webinar service that’s helpful for larger teams or those with clients.  It’s incredibly helpful if your whole team is virtual, as your boss can give presentations or teach concepts via a webinar.  It’s also an excellent tool for communicating with numerous clients on a larger scale.

You can record your webinar, receive analytics and data, and add numerous features to your presentations that make them memorable and easier to use.

Learn more about Go To Webinar here.

Calendly

Calendly’s tagline says, “Say goodbye to email tag for scheduling appointments, interviews, calls, demos and much more,” and that’s just what it does.  If you’re tired of email tag to make a simple appointment, Calendly is for you.

You can utilize the free version with fewer features, or upgrade to the paid version starting at $8/month.  This is an excellent tool for teams, as you’ll likely be scheduling team calls and client calls frequently when working from home.

Keep things streamlined by sending a simple link to your colleagues and clients to pick a time to speak or meet with you.  Since it connects directly to your Google calendar, It gives the other person the option of choosing a time, while also giving you the accountability of keeping your calendar updated – a plus for your team and your productivity!  Learn more about Calendly here.

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March 29, 2016 0 Comments

4 Tips for Time Management Success

Time management is a hot topic, especially for those of us who work from home.  It can be tough to plan your day – with kids and pets nearby and the distracting items of being at home (think TV, radio, interruptions, and so on!)  All of this can make managing time a full-time job.

Read along for some best practices in time management skills that will allow you more productivity and extra time to do the things you love.

Set your hours

As much as possible, set your work hours to remain consistent throughout the week.  If 9-5 works for you and your family, set it early and work around those times.  If 2-10 works better for your lifestyle, that might be the way to go as well.  Time management also maximizes what’s best for your lifestyle, family, and other obligations, so factor that in from the get go.

Set your time

Set an alarm or timer for each task that you complete.  If you need to do three things for one client, accomplish one, move on to the next client, and so on.  Of course, it’s necessary to designate these tasks in order of priority, but you can still set your time.

This will allow you to manage time so you’re allocating enough hours and minutes in the day for each task, helping them to get completed on time.

Multitask – to a degree

Over time, various sources have started proving that multitasking isn’t as good as it was cracked up to be; it can eliminate focus and draw your attention from what you started.

Even though multitasking gets a bad rap, you can do it in a productive manner – especially if you work from home! It’s not difficult to throw in a load of laundry, set your timer for your next task(s), and then retrieve it at the end.  While lunch is in the microwave, run the sweeper briefly.  It even becomes fun to work chores and other to do items into your time schedule.  This is yet another benefit of working from home, and it allows you to truly manage your work and home life time more efficiently.

See where your time is spent

Take a good look at where your time is currently being spent and evaluate it.  It’s not always easy, but it’s crucial to trim some time here and there, just as you would trim your budget or amend your health and fitness routine if it weren’t working.

Make sure that you’re billing your hours and accounting for all time spent on certain tasks.  When you track where your time is spent, you may realize that you’re spending more time on one task when you thought it was a quick, 30-minute item.

Time management is all about evaluating what needs done, where you’re currently spending your time, and how it can be used more effectively.

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March 7, 2016 0 Comments

Top Tips to Stay Focused When You Work From Home

When you work from home, the first thing that people in a traditional office situation will likely ask you is, “How do you stay focused?”  This is a very valid question, as there are plenty of distractions at home.

It can be easy for them to picture a day full of lounging on the couch, eating snacks, and zoning out to the latest Netflix release.  Unfortunately, if this was the case, there wouldn’t be any work getting done! Although most people who work from home report plenty of productivity, focus can be waning without the proper measures in place.

Regroup & Refresh

Interruptions will happen – regroup and accept them as you can.  It’s easier to move on this way after you take a moment to refresh after small or large interruptions – the doorbell, kids, dogs, neighbors dropping by, phone calls, and so on.  If you accept that these will happen and might throw you off for a moment or two, you’re better equipped to push past them.

Additionally, it’s helpful to regroup and take another glance at your current task or to do list after an interruption, as it brings you back in focus.  In addition to these ideas, sometimes a quick walk or breath of fresh air outside can be invigorating. Do anything (brief!) you need to do to get your mind back in work mode.

Schedule everything

Scheduling is a common theme in our posts and in the working world as a means of ideal organization – and for good reason.  Your schedule keeps you on task, assures that things don’t slip through the cracks, and also keeps you focused.  Whether it’s a schedule on a calendar or a master to do list, be sure you’re checking in with it fairly frequently throughout the day.

Another way to ensure expert focus is to schedule everything as you would in a traditional office workday.  Allocate certain times of the day to complete your tasks, i.e., work on one task from 9:00-10:30am, another until noon, break for lunch, and then come back to your next task. You can even boost focus by adding in the “extras,” such as picking up kids from school or throwing in a few loads of laundry.  When it’s not a spur-of-the-moment idea that leaves you unexpectedly away from your desk, it’s easier to get back in the groove of work.

Specific space

Create a specific space to do your work, far away from distractions.  Although you will still get interrupted from time to time, your workspace will become a kind of haven of productivity and focused energy.

It can be tough to focus when you sit in front of the TV or at the kitchen table all day.  Make your space your own with good lighting, comfortable furniture, an appropriate desk, and a door to close for calls and conferences.

Staying focused can be a tough task when you work from home, but it can be accomplished with some good planning and acceptance of those interruptions.  Refer to your schedule often, regroup when things are thrown off, and create a specific space for work and see your focus improve tremendously.

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January 28, 2016 0 Comments

4 Ways to Stay Focused While Working From Home

As the number of employees in remote and work-from-home positions continues to skyrocket, technology has stepped up to help freelancers and telecommuters stay focused. A 2015 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that half of employers who allow flexible work arrangements, 60 percent of those allow telecommuting. The percentage will continue to rise, according to Global Workplace Analytics, which reports ever-increasing numbers of those working from home at least part of the time.

Technological innovations make it easier than ever to work from home, but tools that help you stay focused and harness your willpower ensure your success. Here are four ways to marry technology with time management to keep you concentrated on the task at hand.

Wake up in the Right Frame of Mind

The tone of your work day begins when you wake up, so make sure it’s off to a positive start with an alarm you love. From having your favorite upbeat playlist from iTunes play to customizing a message in the voice of a loved one, apps allow you to rise and shine to what you want to hear.

Have a habit of pressing snooze? Look for an option within the alarm that disables the snooze button, or search for an alarm that forces you to solve a puzzle or math problem before it deactivates. You’ll be more likely to get out of bed now that you’re up.

Head to a Welcoming Home Office Environment

Working on a kitchen table that’s cluttered with dirty dishes diminishes a clear state of mind, and writing in a room that has a television playing decreases productivity. Designate a work-only space you’ll love getting to the grind in. Find a place that comfortably fits all the apparatus you need and one that features ergonomical furniture that prevents slouching.

Save space by using multifunctional tools, like an all-in-one printer, fax machine, scanner and copier that is easily transportable and works with your smartphone. A desktop organizer that includes USB charging also allows you to multitask and stay organized.

Turn off Distractions

Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is an emotionally draining cultural disorder that plagues more than 55 percent of those who use social media, reports Aeon magazine. To mitigate negative feelings about having to work instead of joining in on the fun your friends are having, use a smartphone with expandable memory, like the LG G4, to power your device with all the information you need. Then, set it to airplane mode, so you don’t receive disturbing notifications while you’re working.

There also are free distraction-blocking applications, such as the Freedom app, that allow you to choose websites you don’t want to see while it’s enabled. It also lets you plan freedom sessions in advance for a variety of devices.

Stay on Schedule

Never miss an appointment or phone call by using a reliable calendar application that syncs across all your devices. Customize reminder notifications so you stay on track, and use a virtual assistant to save time with administrative tasks that prevent you from accomplishing more meaningful assignments. Integrate cloud storage into your desktop and smartphone devices, so whatever you input while away is instantly available when you work from home.

Measure your task management by using a productivity app, such as Life Graphy. This app shows you your work habits and helps you discover better ways to use your time. You’ll become more efficient and improve your work-life balance.

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January 11, 2016 0 Comments

4 Steps to a Great To-Do List

The to-do list is a much talked about item, and that’s for good reason. Especially when working from home, staying on a schedule and keeping on task is crucial. Rarely is someone going to be managing your every move, which makes a to-do list a priority!

You can create a standard list to get through each day, but creating more of a “system” with your to-do list makes it more likely to stick.  Here are a few best practices for creating to-do lists that work with you.

Coordinate for you

Color coordinating is a great way to organize your list.  You can do this by client, task, priority, and so on. Although it’s useful, color coding isn’t for everyone, but you do need to find some type of system that works for you.

If you’re more visual, color coding is a great idea. If you like to group things by task, a more segmented list might be better for you.  Play around with your lists for a few days at a time to determine the best fit.

Prioritize

Whichever list you choose, prioritizing will be a constant necessity.  For example, do you have a specific task due on Friday? Be sure you aren’t placing that over an email piece due on Wednesday!

You’ll get in the flow of your tasks and priorities as your home based career continues.  You can always modify a list – sometimes it’s helpful to create one on the web via Google Docs or utilize a Word Document so you can change easily.

Repetition is key

Your to-do list isn’t going to be helpful if you use it for one week then quit. Get into the habit of adding every major (or even minor) task to your list. It’s truly an exercise in organization, and organization prevents you from missing items.  

It can take a few weeks to really get in the habit of using your list, but once you do, you will find that you’ll be storing far more information on your page and less in your brain.  This allows you to be more efficient and keep your mind on the tasks you need to complete.

Cross it out

Crossing off your items is half the fun! Not only does it allow you to keep track and feel accomplished, it can be important in billing your clients and employers.

The to-do list keeps track of your work, so be sure you’re giving yourself the credit by acknowledging when it’s done. If something is halfway completed, you can always update and make a note indicating the change.  These small movements in your list give you a sense of achievement throughout the day, and with longer projects, it can keep you feeling positive about your status.

A to-do list is always a must-have, and it can truly work for you in your work from home career.  Create one that works with your personality and work habits, prioritize what’s important, repeat daily, and cross it off – you’re well on your way to to-do list (and productivity) success!

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October 12, 2015 0 Comments

4 Ways to Stay On Task Working From Home

 

Working from home can really free up a lot of time in your schedule and allow you more time with family.  It’s an unconventional method of working that has many benefits, but it’s still work – and work still needs to get done in your day.

 

Without the structure of an office environment, it can be more difficult to stay on task and keep productivity flowing. Although this can be a challenge to figure out at first, staying on task while working from home can be attained in a few simple steps.

 

Separate Your Space

 

We hear it time and time again, but having a separate work space is truly a big key in a less distracting home based career.

 

Set up a desk and workspace that allows you time to be quiet, work with limited distractions, and is comfortable. This also allows you to separate work from home life, which is another important part of staying on task when it is working hours.

 

Take Breaks

 

Breaks are an overlooked important part of our workdays.  When we don’t take breaks, we tend to veer off course and start surfing Facebook, Instagram, and Googling random items online.

 

Taking breaks gets your blood moving, rests your eyes from the computer screen, and gives you something to come back to with full attention.  Taking 5-minute walking breaks, getting some fresh air, or just going out in the yard with your dog can be the mental break you need to stay on task throughout the afternoon.

 

Remove Distractions

 

Distractions are the #1 issue with working from home and staying on task.  Whether TV or radio stations distract you, first you have to learn what gets you off track and remove them.  While some people can work just as effectively with the TV going in the background, others would find themselves watching a movie marathon in no time. Know what your distractions are and eliminate them!

 

While you can’t always have a child-free or pet-free home to work, you can schedule babysitters for important meetings or schedule the important stuff around nap times or play dates.  Staying on task requires a bit of effort in removing any distractions, but it’s worth it for the work that needs your undivided attention.

 

What’s Important?

 

Determine the most important tasks and do them first! When you work from home, and especially if you’re also responsible for childcare, your days can take different turns than expected.


When you complete the important items and check them off your list early in the day, you free up the rest of your time for variable time schedules and happenings.  Prioritize with a list, calendar alerts, or by scheduling meetings at times when you’re least likely to have a distraction or something come up.

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