Thursday, October 27, 2011

Meet My Boss...ME :)

Now that we've gotten back into the swing of another school year, I am looking forward to FINALLY getting back into a regular work schedule . Work schedule??  Many ask why I have one when I work from home. Don't I sit around all day eating bon-bons and watching soap operas??? (ok, I do, but don't tell anyone!)
I think my "friends" in Salem would agree with my bon-Bon choice. He-he!
[ source]


Finding the motivation to work for yourself can be difficult at times, but here are a  few things that work for me:



Work hard, but also remember your REAL job, your family.
Most people think that since I work from home, I have a lot of "free" time.  I have had to learn to tell people that I am working. I have set myself regular work hours, and I try to schedule appointments, and even fun things around my work schedule. In that schedule, I allow myself one hour in the morning, after my daughters are off to school to get my house in order. (I hate coming up after working all day to a crazy, messy house!) I usually work until my kids get home. I also try really hard to adhere to "off" hours. When my whole family is home, I limit my computer time, my sewing time, even my phone time. I try to be as available to my family as I can. This allows me a balance of being Gathered and Sown by day, Mom and wife by night.




This, doesn't become...

...this, without a little discipline.




Acknowledge that your business is your job.
When you work from home, it is very easy to get sidetracked. I get those tempting "wanna go shopping" or "come on, you can work later calls" from well meaning friends. I also tend to get recognized as "that girl who is always home" who gets frequent calls  babysit/drive carpool/volunteer at EVERYTHING.  You have to learn to tell people that you are working. Then they naturally begin to realize that you are not sitting around eating bon bons and watching soaps all day long :)  


I have learned that while I want to be everywhere for everyone, if I don't work, the work doesn't get done.  Which brings me to point two...


Set your schedule
Such a cute way to stay on top of your schedule!
[source: http://jengrantmorris.blogspot.com]
I love what I do but I don't want to have my business be my entire life! I know when my standing commitments are, so I made myself a work schedule that is consistent from week to week. I know that I work best when I am home alone, so weekday mornings, when Ryan is at work, and the girls are at school, I WORK, WORK, WORK!  I am terribly unproductive on weekends, so I count those as my days off. If I so happen to feel like getting some work done while the family is busy, it turns out to be bonus time, which is always low pressure and relaxing.



Divide your time wisely
Over the last 4 months or so, I have realized the huge potential of marketing my business online. What I didn't expect was the insane amount of HOURS I would have to spend in front of my computer. That could be a problem, since my whole business is based on the bags that I create! I have learned to schedule a period of time to do my computer work. When that time is up, I have to turn it off until another scheduled time. That means I have to exercise an insane amount of self control. It is so tempting to just "check" my email or my blog stats... what I intend to be a minute will ALWAYS turn into 15 or 20. I've also started a list things I want to look up. That way, I can factor the web surfing in my computer time, and not allow it to take over my production time.
Here is the computer where I am sitting right now,
typing this post.
 I wish I were in the picture, so it could be like one of those
super cool infinity mirrors :D


Remember to LOVE what you do
When you are your own boss, if you don't feel passionate about what you are doing, it will be evident in your work. So let yourself have some fun! Take a few hours off to make a cool craft for your work space. Have a good friend over to chat while you  while you work. Take an afternoon to check out the competition and get inspired. Whatever it takes to keep you sharp, focused and in love with your job.  After all, isn't that what makes us "self employed geniuses " go to work each and every day?
Pinned Image
[source: work is not a job via ashappyaskings]

8 comments:

  1. Angie, what great advice! I love that you are so committed. I've been thinking about starting an Etsy business, but I wonder if I can keep up with all my commitments. Just blogging seems to take up so much of my time. You've inspired me. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't wait to see what you have, Sallie! Make sure you drop in and leave your etsy shop address in my comments...now you HAVE to do it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Angie!

    This is such an awesome post and something I really needed to read; I have such a difficult time finding balance in my life (and we don't even have kids!) and can stand to do a better job at managing my time better. Breaking things down - as you have explained in your post - makes the task seem less daunting and so much more do-able. I find the biggest chalenge I have is controlling how much time I spend online reading other blogs!

    Congratulations on being your own boss...that is my dream. :)

    Visiting you from We Encourage...happy to meet ya! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm happy to meet you, too, fellow Angie! Thanks so much for your kind comments. I hope you are able to organize your day, make yourself a little more productive, and therfore able to enjoy a few bonbons ;) Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good advice! When my children were very young I ran part of my antique business out of my home where I would store, clean and catalogue everything before it went off to the shop.

    It is so tricky to find a balance when you know that you could spend another hour working on your business but your kids just want you to be mom when they come home from school.

    Could I have made more money if I had spent more time on the business? Of course, but I have amazing memories of the time I spent with my sweeties when they were little and we are a very close family.

    My son is in university now and my daughter will be next year, time passes fast. I am glad I made the choice to hold my children in my arms rather than dollar bills.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ingrid, if there were a like button, I would be hitting it now! Thanks so much for the insight, I really appreciate it:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is awesome advice! I am going to take some of these tips and run with them. I work a full time job and run my own blog and business. I often sneak and check email here and there, do a little blogging etc. I could be much more productive and get more done if I have an hour set aside for those activities.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so much for this. i've just become my own boss and with 3 young kids, and 2 of them at home in the day can be difficult to get anything done

    Would Love it if you could share this on my linky party - Serenity Saturday -
    www.serenityyou.blogspot.com

    Natasha xx

    ReplyDelete

You took the time to hear from us, we'd LOVE to hear from you :)