How Do You Stay On Schedule When Working From Home?

Ever have problems sticking to your schedule when you work from home? Family wants your attention (especially in the summer when many of them are around), friends think you must be playing since you don't have a "job" to go to, and sometimes you are your own worst enemy because you don't set a schedule and then stick to it.

Hey… not perfect here, either, but here are some things I've found that help:

• Years ago when I was writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a major musical (I did the book and lyrics and music was by New York composer, Neil Radisch), I traveled to NYC to see a friend from college days: David Zippel. (He had been an undergrad at Penn while I was getting my masters at Wharton.) David is a Tony Award-winning lyricist and Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin, and Michael Bolton sold millions of records with his songs. I went for advice about putting our show together and he told me one thing about scheduling that really stuck: Always tell people you are On A Deadline. It sounds so important. And truth be told, you ARE. If you keep letting your projects slip until tomorrow, next week, next month, you will never get anywhere. So… you are on a DEADLINE!
• My family is deeply important to me. Spending quality time with each one of them is very important. But each of us has to set bounds for ourselves and for them. When holidays roll around and I'm "on a deadline," I let them know what times I'm available "to play" and when I need to work. I have my own office upstairs (where I have three computers, can see the driveway when UPS or FedEx shows up with a package I'm anticipating, and I have all my tools close by) and it's my "cave" (if that term is new to you, others have written miles of materials about men and their caves)… this one is mine. And I have a recording area set up in a corner of the recreation room - this room isn't used much these days since only Pam and I live here, but it's where I go when recording my audio books. Set boundaries, have your own place to work, and then when you share time with your family, be totally connected!
• And now to having a schedule: For ME, I have a long-range schedule (things I want to get to and dates connected to them), a This Week schedule (which I adjust at least once a week at my DPS times (Dreaming, Planning, Scheming)), and a Daily Schedule (things I do each day that isn't dependent on my other activities of the day - things like writing in this blog or dictating chapters to my latest book, or time to record my audio books). You will know at the end of the day if you accomplished all you set out to do, because you'll see if everything is checked off on your Daily Schedule. Oh… one more thing: set up the Daily Schedule the night before. Let your unconscious mind work on what you'll be doing while you sleep and then you'll be ready to jump to your work first thing in the AM.

This works for me… hope I have given you some things to think about!

Charlie Seymour Jr.
Charlie@RaisingGreatFamilies.com

Charlie Seymour Jr is the founder of RaisingGreatFamilies.com, FathersAndTheDaughtersTheyLove.com, and ILearnedItAllFromMyKids.com. He is also working with his daughter, Liz, as she publishes her own website and releases her first solo CD: LizSeymour.com. Charlie is a Social Marketer and Community Builder and often consults about marketing through his site, GetThemOffTheRaftMarketing.com. He's a prolific writer, including blogs on each of these sites, his book Dream Inc (32 Philadelphia-area Entrepreneurs and their Million Dollar Secrets For Success), and articles about Social Marketing for national and regional publications including NSA Magazine (for the National Speakers Association) and Spotlight (for the American Association of Community Theatre). He's the father of two daughters and lives in Wallingford, PA with his wife, Pam.