Time is Money

I am great at doing all other things than what I am supposed to do. Just this past hour I have been on Facebook at least 3 times, on Gmail at least twice, folded some laundry, started a new machine of laundry, made myself a cup of coffee… And that is now even all of it.

The majority of my work, I do from home which is most of the time really great, but can also be really hard to do. The temptations of all other things around the house that needs to be done as well are sometimes really hard to fight off. When I worked at an office though, the temptations of other things were very different but still there: Coffee breaks, talking to your colleagues, surfing the net, etc. I think that no matter where we work or what we do, keeping the focus on what we have to do is really difficult to do.

Using my time the right is a big battle for me and something I really have to work on. I think I am getting better, but there is still a long way to go….

Here are some of the things that help me use my time better:

• Task Manager: (Almost) every day I make a list of the things I need to get done. Dear Husband has a fancy app for this but I have found that what works best for me is an old school paper calendar where I write the things on the designated day. And it gives me so much satisfaction to cross off the tasks once I finish them.

• Priorities: I try to prioritize my tasks according to what is most important or which one is most pressing time wise (Apparently I work best under pressure because somehow I always end up doing the things in the last minute!).

• Effective time: we all have a time of the day where our work is most effective. My best hours are in the morning until early afternoon, which is quite lucky since it is also the time where the kids are away in school and kindergarten.

• Work interval: When I work according to tasks I find it most effective to give the task a certain time limit on how long I want to work on that specific task. It makes me more effective when I know that I only have a specific time for it.

• Breaks: After each task I need a break but also these I set a time limit on – otherwise I could easily turn my day into one long break!

And now I think that it is time for another cup of coffee 😉