There is never enough time in the day to keep up with the constant barrage of social media. Take Twitter, for example. Almost daily I have clients and colleagues ask me “Isn’t Twitter really a waste of time?” and “I hear Twitter is losing users faster than they’re gaining them, so why should I join?” The rest of us who are on Twitter — even those of us who have been using it for years — are still figuring out how to best fit Twitter into our overall communications toolkit.
So how do you keep from “wasting” time on Twitter? Here’s my advice on how to spend no more than 15 minutes a day on your Twitter account but still reap the rewards, particularly for your work. This is not a good tactic for everyone, but if you or someone you know is very resistant to Twitter and simply needs a manageable plan for tweeting, you can try this at work or home. Read the rest of this entry »
With all the noise from the Internet, our computers and our environment, some folks struggle to work and focus even for 10 minutes straight. In this post, I’m going to offer some ways you can stop the distractions so you can get your tasks done. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes it seems like the world is divided up into two camps: the people who neatly arrange every file, folder, report and receipt — and can find them at the snap of a finger — and the pile people. You can tell a pile person by the 3-foot-high stack of paperwork on their desktop and the masses of magazines shoved into the corner of their office. I’m sure you know at least a few of these pack rats. You may even be one.
But regardless of which end of the clutter spectrum you fall on, too much clutter can cause your productivity to take a powder. No, really; it’s true. According to one poll conducted by About.com, over a third of respondents avoid going home because of the overwhelming mess. So if you work from home full-time or telecommute part-time, clutter can have a noticeable impact on your productivity. Another research project from Pricewaterhouse Coopers found that businesses spend 150 hours a year looking for incorrectly filed documents. Read the rest of this entry »
In my school district, kids get out of school as early as 2:45 pm and as late as 4:15 pm. If you start working after the kids leave for school, you can usually get around six or seven hours of work done. Most people tend to work at least eight hours per day — so how do you deal with the after-school time, when work still needs to be done?
You may need to help the younger ones with homework or teach them study skills. You may need to switch into chauffeur mode to get the kids to sports, music lessons or club activities. Everyone has different needs and situations. With that in mind, I’ve come up with a list of suggestions of things that you can do to keep your kids happy and meet your deadlines: Read the rest of this entry »
Many web workers welcome August and September because their kids head back to school, making work a little easier. But some web workers are excited about the fall for another reason: because they’re heading to school themselves.
Advancing your education can often make sense: you can learn new skills, earn more money and even add a couple of important-sounding letters after your name. But it also requires an ability to balance your responsibilities at school and at work. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently came across a video by Jon Larkowski entitled, “The Way I Get Things Done,” in which he outlines his personal productivity system. He offered several useful tips for increasing productivity, but the two phrases that really stuck out to me were that you need to firewall your time and guard your attention.
Time is our most precious resource, and how we spend it ultimately determines how successful we are in life and business. Read the rest of this entry »
Most of us are accustomed to making New Year’s resolutions. We’ve been programmed to believe that because we turn a page on the calendar, that we can and should try to change ourselves and our lives for the better. Oftentimes, these resolutions are work-related: to be more productive, to manage our time better, or to meet professional goals. Yet research shows that 80 to 90 percent of those New Year’s changes fail to be permanent.
Would making our resolutions at a different time give us a better chance to create real change in our lives?
What if we made our resolutions to change at times when, instead of being comfortably settled into our usual routine, we were already in a state of change, so that our resolutions didn’t feel so out of place and had a better chance of getting traction?
I raise this question because for many of us, this may be the perfect time of year to make some positive changes and try to them permanent. Web workers who are home-based, and who have children, usually have their routine changed pretty significantly when their children return to school in the fall. Read the rest of this entry »
In an earlier post, I mentioned using a virtual assistant (VA) to help with my work so that I could free myself to focus on more important tasks, including taking much-needed time off. Many readers asked who I used for virtual assistant services, and one reader asked for an post on how I use VAs. So I thought I’d share my experience, as it might help you in your own business.
VAs have been very effective in helping me get things done, while freeing me to focus on other, more important, areas of my life and business. Here are a few things to ask yourself before hiring a VA. Read the rest of this entry »
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
