Working Effectively from Home

I have been working from home for quite some time, but I have always asked myself if I have been working effectively. As a homeschooling mother of two, pet owner of three and wife of one (of course), some days I feel as if I accomplished nothing. Often my feelings were right.

Today has been an experiment of sorts. I asked myself, self, could I meet an ambitious goal today while still taking care of my family, without going crazy. I got close. I set my goal today at writing 10 articles for Associated Content, and spending an hour on my website. I am now on article number nine, and have not touched the website today. I think I have accomplished at least 85% of my set goals.

I am sure my goals were over ambitious, but I really wanted to see how hard I could push myself in one day. I give myself a passing grade. Here are the things I got accomplished today as a work from home mom and writer.

1. Wrote two articles before getting out of bed.
2. Had my son’s tutor come and consulted with her after the lesson.
3. Washed all of the dirty laundry (but did not get it folded).
4. Encourage the children to eat breakfast and lunch
5. Wrote 4 more articles in between
6. cooked and served dinner
7. struggled with coming up with more ideas for articles
8. Struggled through a few more hours of writing which was much very difficult because my wanted my full attention.
9. Finally, and rudely made it clear that I wanted to be left alone.
10. Writing this final article number nine.

Here are some steps I could have and should have taken to be more effective.

1. Letting the family know that I have ambitious goals for the day
2. Getting them to pitch in and help with the laundry and possibly even dinner
3. Write down articles ideas and thoughts in a small notebook as they come to mind to keep the creative juices flowing
4. Using a timer to help me focus. This could help to keep my research time for an article down to a specific amount of time and then moving on the writing stage.
5. Getting as much writing work as possible done before my husband gets home

While my day may have been less than perfect, I do have to admit that it has been effective. My writing goals for the day were very ambitious. In fact, they were double my maximum accomplishments. I not only broke my own record, but also far surpassed it. I know that by getting buy-in from my family, keeping an idea book, and watching my time to prevent wasting it, I will definitely have a more effective work from home experience on Wednesday, when I hope to attempt these ambitious goals again.