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Time Management for Work at Home Moms As any work at home mom can tell you, time management is one of the most difficult things about working at home. No matter what, you still only have 24 hours in the day, just like everyone else. When you are working at home, there are distractions all around you that you just don’t have when you are working in an office. There may be kids running around, demanding a snack or asking to play a game with you. The laundry calls your name, the dishes seem to multiply right in the sink and it never fails that the dog will get in the trash at the worst time. To top it off, people who don’t understand the importance of your job call or come by to visit during the day. One ill-timed interruption can easily throw off the entire day. Hopefully, these tips will help you manage your time in the most efficient way possible when working at home. 1. Don’t feel obligated to answer the phone/door every time. With the technology we have today, it’s easy to keep in touch with friends and family throughout the day without accidentally wasting time. If someone calls you and you don’t answer, send them a quick email to let them know you’ll call them back as soon as you get done working. 2. Don’t waste time with email. Don’t spend too much time reading and sending email that doesn’t have to do with your job. Conversational emails, newsletters and cute stuff that doesn’t affect your bottom line can wait until you are done working. 3. Schedule your work day. When scheduling your work day, take into account family obligations. After all, you probably chose working at home so that you could participate in school activities, etc. Sunday night, make a list of the following week’s games, appointments and other engagements. It might also help to plan meals around that’s week’s activities. A visual aid, like a time table can help you accomplish this. Depending on what you do for work, you may schedule 30 minutes for article research, an hour to touch base with business contacts, or 45 minutes to update your website. It will all depend on the field in which you work. I also recommend scheduling times for the kids. 15 minutes to read a story or have a snack with them, for example. For people who do the same thing all day every day, like transcription and data entry, I recommend scheduling breaks to keep from going crazy. After a set amount of time spent working, schedule a 5 or 10 minute break to grab a glass of water and a quick trip outside to get some sunshine! A timer may help if you have a hard time quitting after the allotted time. Put the timer where you can’t reach it and will have to get up to shut it off. (I use my stove’s time because it’s loud and will not stop until I get up to turn it off.) 4. Make lists of daily goals, both work-related and personal. That way, you’ll have an idea of how much time you can allow for each item. I recommend that you get up earlier than everyone else in the household to wake up, have your coffee/breakfast and get your thoughts together. This is a good time to make these lists. 5. Be wary of counter-productive activities. In the last 15 minutes I spent writing this article, I checked the weather radar and had to resist reading the news stories. I saw a Netflix ad and had to resist updating my queue. When you’re sitting in front of computer, especially if you need to browse the internet to do research, it’s very easy to get sidetracked. Instead, write down the non-work things you are tempted to do and do them when you get done working. Keep work time separate from play time, period. 6. Set limits! Remember that you can’t do it all. Try not to commit to tasks that you cannot reasonably accomplish during your day. Make sure that you are drinking enough water and are getting enough sleep. This will help keep your mind clear and your body healthy.