This week’s motivation is about planning and productivity in your home office – a good topic to start off the new year!
Do you make big plans, goals or resolutions every new year? I usually don’t do too well with a long list of resolutions…setting a few main goals is a better way for me to be successful in planning the new year.
I love the quote shown here because it really makes such a simple statement about productivity – but one that a lot of us probably struggle with. We all have days when we don’t feel productive in our home office and wonder where the day went; but we’d probably get more done if we had a better plan.
A few tips for planning:
1.Schedule every hour – If you have a long To-Do list, plan your day (hour by hour) instead of just waking up with a goal to “get it all done today”.
2. Get a few things done early – On days when you know family commitments will take you away from your home office, have a plan to get a few, short tasks completed early in the day so you won’t feel torn when family time starts.
3. Set up an accountability system – Share your plans or goals with a supportive friend, colleague or virtual group to help with accountability. You will be more likely to stick to a plan you’ve shared with others.
One example of how better planning has made a big difference in my home office is the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’m taking part in the Challenge, which I’ve done 4-5 times now, and one thing I’ve learned is that participating in the challenge has made me a better planner.
Because the goal is to write 31 posts for the month, I know that the only way I can hope to complete the challenge is to plan my entire month of blogging. I choose topics, schedule publishing days, block out time for blogging every day and focus on only the writing during that time – no multi-tasking!
When I first started blogging, Ultimate Blog Challenge months were the only times I’d plan my blog posts for an entire month, (before that, I’d blog when I could fit it into my weekly schedule) …and guess what? Those Ultimate Blog Challenge months were the only ones when I blogged consistently!
Now I start every month with a blogging plan (editorial calendar), whether it is an Ultimate Bloging Challenge month or not (some months I don’t blog as often as others, but I still create a plan, choose my topics and schedule posts).
Taking the time to create a better plan for your home office, whether it’s for blogging or some other part of your business, pays off in the long run, when you are bound to see an increase in your productivity.
Have a great example of how better planning has made a difference in your home office? Share in a comment – I’d love to hear it!
Sign up for the Ultimate Blog Challenge – there’s no deadline, it’s free and I highly recommend it. Go to the website www.ultimateblogchallenge.com for details. *The Ultimate Blog Challenge months are January, April, July and October.*
The quote image was created using quozio.com – a great, free tool for creating and sharing quotes.