Do you have a home-based business or work from home? Does work time blend seamlessly and unnervingly into home time?
If this is a problem for you, Simon Mackie at Web Worker Daily has some tips for how to Mark the End of the Day and Finish on Time:
1. ‘Have a clearly defined end time and stick to it’
Mackie suggests that having a time goal to aim for makes him more productive.
2. ‘If you need to use the Internet after the work day is finished, don’t open your work email’
This one helps avoid the dreaded now-I’ve-seen-it-I-HAVE-to-do-something-about-it work email scenario.
3. ‘If possible, have a home office in separate room designated for… working’
or ‘Use a drop leaf-table as a desk and fold it away at the end of the day’
Physical separation helps mental separation.
4. ‘Towards the end of the day, try to get out of the house and work at a coffee shop’
That way, you can leave and ‘go home’ when you’re done.
Have home-office productivity or work-life balance tips to share?
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Image by Nathan Searles
It’s a shame that other small business owners I deal with also work odd hours! I set myself up at home so that I have the flexibility to be involved in school activities and to stop sending my boys to after school care. But to juggle that, I do have to work at night sometimes. I guess balance is also about compromise – and if I work at night I don’t get to spend an hour reading before I go to bed.
nice and simple tips. i think tip no. 1 is very true and often forgotten. Thanks!
nice and simple tips. i think tip no. 1 is very true and often forgotten. Thanks!
good tips, will try and be stricter this year… i just find it is so easy to keep working into the evening, which unfortunately really annoys my husband.
good tips, will try and be stricter this year… i just find it is so easy to keep working into the evening, which unfortunately really annoys my husband.