Take Charge Of Your Time, Take Charge Of Your Business - Budgeting Your Time To Be More Successful
Running a One-Man Show Transitioning from working in the corporate world to working from home requires a lot of adjustments, but the biggest one is probably organizing your time. Because, in a very real sense, it is your time now. It�s not your boss� time or the companies� time�you answer to yourself. That�s a tremendous amount of freedom, but it�s also a great deal of responsibility. You�re now in charge of every aspect of your business. It�s your job to find your clients, as well as to deliver your services to them. It�s your job to collect the money, pay the bills and make the office run. You�re not only your boss, you�re also your secretary, your marketing department, your tech support, your accountant, and the list goes on. Without a support staff backing you up, time-management becomes critical to your business success. 5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Time It�s imperative that you have a plan and that you follow through with it: 1. Schedule your days, and stick to your schedule. Assign certain times for certain activities and projects. If you don�t put yourself on a schedule, it�s very easy to find yourself wandering aimlessly and waste the entire day without really accomplishing anything. Or to forget some important task until it�s too late. 2. Make a to-do list each day and be diligent about crossing everything off. If you don�t get something on today�s list done, it should go right back to the top of tomorrow�s list. Rosalind Resnick, founder of Axxess Business Centers (http://ABCbizhelp.net), says, �That�s one very good way to stay focused�otherwise 5 o�clock rolls around and it�s time for dinner, and [you�ve] got nothing done.� 3. Set aside time to market yourself. Promoting your business is essential, so schedule time for whatever it is that you do to bring in new customers. � Consider using the first hour of the day to make phone calls to potential clients, send out emails, etc., before you get busy with all your other business. � Resnick recommends using lunch as an opportunity for networking: �Everybody has to eat, so� have lunch with either a client, or a potential client, or a consultant, or professional services provider who could provide [you] with leads to the client, at least three out of five days a week.� 4. Have a place in your house designated for business purposes only, whether it�s the spare room, the den, or the basement. There�ll never be a shortage of distractions when you�re working from home�the kids, the fridge, the TV, even the solitude�to pull your attention from the work at hand. If possible, set up your office somewhere that has a door you can close. Make sure your family understands that your workspace is separate from your home space and when you are �at work,� you�re unavailable for non-emergencies. Just being good at what you do doesn�t guarantee you a profitable home business. If you want to be successful, you�re going to have to take control of your time. If you discipline yourself and organize your time according to your needs, you�ll really put yourself in a position to achieve your goals.
