How to Organize Your Life to Work From Home

You’ve decided to work from home, it feels like bliss, but then you wonder how you are going to fit everything in. You already have to juggle the cooking, cleaning, childcare, spouse, etc,. How are you going to fit in your work at home too? The key is organization and scheduling.

Here are some suggestions on how to make working at home work for you

Schedule your time

Have a time when you are working and a time when you are not. In my house I deal with children from 8am to 6pm, anything before 8am and after 6pm is my time to work. Don’t spend the day thinking that you should be working, but really you are not. Have peace that a certain time of the day is work time and a certain time of the day is family time. If you have older children you can explain that mom is busy between 7pm and 8pm for instance and must not be disturbed.

You can also schedule your other chores to make your life more productive. Schedule your household chores for certain days and don’t get carried away and do more.

Don’t forget to schedule fun time with your family, just because your work hours are flexible, doesn’t mean you have to always be working.

Have an area where you work

Have a desk or a room or a dedicated place where you work. Then when you are in that room or at that desk you are doing nothing but work. Then you won’t be tempted to browse the Internet or check facebook while you are meant to be working. I have a work computer and a laptop. When I’m on the laptop it’s leisure but when I’m at the work computer then I’m doing nothing but work.

Organize Childcare

Don’t try and work with little children around you. If you plan on working then hire a babysitter. If your children are in school then you have time to work, but you have to arrange babysitting during school vacations. Consider swapping children with a friend, using relatives as babysitters or getting older children to watch the younger ones.

Tell friends and relations you are working

People think that if you are at home you are free and they can drop by and socialize. Tell your friends and relations that you are working and not available at certain hours. If you are working, don’t answer the phone, let the voice mail pick it up.

Household cleaning chores

If your rate of pay is more than that of a housekeeper, consider hiring a housekeeper to free up some of your time to work. Train your children to do housework chores or convince your spouse to lend a hand now that you are working. Also, ask your spouse to cook a meal or two each week.

Grocery Shopping

I order my groceries online and they are delivered to me. That saves me a trip to the store every week, and I think an extra hour each week. They often offer free delivery, and when they do charge, it’s not much.

Consider a Laptop

I can take my children swimming, take my laptop and sit and work for an hour or two while they swim. You can’t do that with a desktop PC.

Get rid of Stuff

Reduce the stuff in your house and there will be less to look after. Declutter, donate, trash regularly.