Karla’s Online System Blog

The key to success working from home or online is not just to work harder, it is to work smarter. It is important to work hard, but the person who is working smarter AND harder is the one who will reach their goals the fastest.  Here are three highly effective tips that will help you to stay on task and that can help you to work smarter and accomplish more.

1.    Take Breaks

One thing that can really help people become more effective is to take short breaks throughout your work day. This is recommended for a regular job, but it is especially helpful when working from home. Every two hours, give yourself a 10-15 minute mini break to relax, breathe and maybe get something done around the house before you start working again.

This will help you work a whole better once you get back into things. People who work and work and work and work and never stop are not going to be nearly as effective as the person who works hard for a while, takes a break and then starts back up again. It doesn’t seem to make sense, but it really does make a huge difference. I know for me, when I fail to stop for a while, I fine myself floundering around and not accomplishing much.

2.     Make a To Do List

To be more efficient, make a list of everything that you want to accomplish that day. After doing this, prioritize the list, so that you do the most important things first. The thing about owning your own business from home is that you have nobody telling you what is expected of you. Some people find it hard to make that transition from employee to business owner. Now you are the boss, so make it work for you.

When you write down everything that you want to get done that day, it will help you feel more accomplished because you can be checking things off the list all day long. You will be able to look at the finished checklist that evening and feel like you’ve really done something. You do not have to accomplish everything on your list, but you will have done the most important things and what is left can either go on tomorrow’s list, or cross it off as unimportant. This will just make you an all around more effective person!

3.     Set A Work Schedule

This does not have to be rigid, but you must have time to work.  Let everyone in the house that you are going to be working during certain hours. This can vary from day to day, or even hour to hour. Working for yourself allows you to not have to work 9 to 5.

Obviously you cannot leave your small children unattended, but older kids can learn to respect your work hours and your spouse can also help by watching the kids while you are working.

This saves so much time and helps you get much more done when you are not being interrupted by a husband, wife, roommate or children while you are trying to get things finished.  Many people post their “work hours” on their home office door and that lets others in the house know that they are working.  A white board is great for this, as it can be erased and changed.

Just doing these few things can help you become much more effective working from home. Remember working hard is important, but always work smarter first!

Tags: tips on how to work smarter, working harder, Working in a home business, working smarter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 8:13 am and is filed under Online business, home Based Business, working smarter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.