Working at Home with Success

I am frequently asked what I do to make my working at home a success for my business and family.

My answer is always: “it depends”.  It depends on my children, my parents and my husband’s parents, my clients, and the weather. Why the weather? You may ask. Because I tend to get what I call a heavy head when the barometer changes and my work effort slows down.

In other words there is no finite answer. It depends on where you are in life with your children and what they require. Are you one of your parent’ caregivers? That takes lots of time. Are you training for a marathon? That also takes up a good junk of the day.

The beauty of working at home, for me, is that I can fit my work around what is required in my life.

I can give you some of the steps I take when I have a new client and writing assignment.

Research is the first thing I fit in. It may be research about the client or research about the topic he wants me to focus on. Keep in mind, however, that research is not productive work. I don’t get paid for research. However, I need to do the research if the content I write for the client is valid.

I usually find time for research after I’ve completed a project.  And I usually set aside that part of any particular day when I know I may be interrupted or I need to other things in-between the research. This way when it’s time to write an article I don’t have to stop and look up something because I’ve done the research.

I schedule my writing time on those days when I have blocks of time and won’t be interrupted. I like to set aside between 2 and 3 hours for any writing project.

On the other hand, if I need to interview someone I opt for contacting them either on Monday afternoon or on Tuesday. Monday mornings are usually devoted to cleaning up left over work from the previous week and going thru e-mails and mail.

I only contribute to my own blogs and write my own articles for distribution when my assignments for clients are completed.  I come in last.
Following writing for my own blogs and distribution centers I start exploring what else I can learn from attending a network session or an online program.

By Tuesday I have a fairly good idea what my week is going to look like. That’s when I call colleagues and do some networking.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to focus because I’d rather be outside walking or playing bridge.  So I use that which I love to do as my motivation. I tell myself I can’t go for that second walk (the first walk is part of my daily exercise plan which is a must) until I complete the tasks I’ve scheduled.

I’m sure my way of getting things done isn’t going to work for everyone but bits and pieces my. Good luck in your endeavors.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Content Creator
Business Writer
Health Writer