Time Management For IFAs - Newsletter

Oct 09 - Prioritising For Profit

Most of us are tightening our belts and being careful about how and where we spend our money, in the current economic climate.  How many of us are as careful about how and where we spend our time?

Time Management might not seem like a particularly exciting subject but when you think about where you spend your time and what it's actually costing you, it puts the importance of good time habits into perspective.

One of the most relevant quotes I found and use often, is:

The greatest saving of all is better utilisation of our time. This directly affects practically every phase of the business in terms of expense and profits. [Leo Burnett]

From a business perspective this makes a lot of sense - especially when you consider how much your and your staff's time is worth.

If you can maximise the amount of time you spend productively then it's going to affect your ability to earn more money and grow your business - especially if you are paid or charge by the hour.

A few numbers that might help put this into perspective:

- 90% of managers spend their time ineffectively
- Office distractions add up to nearly 2 hours a day
- A distraction is likely to occur every 11 minutes
- 80% of interruptions and distractions are trivial

Now using an average salary of around £25,000 a year, this works out at £15 an hour. So, wasting just an hour a day adds up to around £300 each month. More if you or your staff are paid or charge more than the average hourly rate.

Wasting time on emails, phone calls, being stuck in traffic, paperwork and meetings could be costing you around £1000 per year on top of this.

According to a recent Microsoft Survey, only 60% of an average week is productive - that's only three days a week. The other two are wasted on unproductive tasks, distractions and time wasters.

Add that into the mix and you can soon see the impact poor time habits could have on your profits, as well as your social life, stress levels and health. A few more related statistics I came across:

- 63% of IFAs with poor time skills have health issues.

- 48% of people feel their lives are more stressed.

- Nearly 50% say work/life balance is now even more important.

Planning your day, week and month effectively, enables you to focus on the right things. Reducing your distractions and interruptions and working more effectively gives you more time to spend with clients.

You'll avoid being busy but not feeling your achieving anything at the end of the day. You'll have more time to do what you want - whether that's time to work on your business, spending time with family and friends or just more time for yourself.

And for those of you back from your summer break:

- 60% of people check their work email over the weekend
- 50% of people check email on holiday

So if you'd like to be in the 40/50% that are able to leave their work in the office and enjoy a relaxing and stress free holiday or if you'd just like to learn more about how you can Prioritise For Profit - start developing good time habits and find ways to use your time more productively.

May 09 - Dealing With A Holiday Backlog

Something to think about when you return from a few days break as we're coming up to that time of year. To avoid spending the first week back dealing with all those emails, here are a few tips to get through them quicker.

Set aside an hour to go through your inbox. It's probably going to take longer than that but it's a start.

First scan - DON'T READ OR RESPOND TO ANY EMAILS ON THIS SCAN. Just go through quickly and eliminate the spam and any 'junk' emails you know you don't need to read. Use the sort function to sort by sender or subject, which makes it quicker and easier to delete.

Delete anything that doesn't require your attention or information you MUST have. Don't save it 'just in case'.

Second scan - pick out all the priority emails you need to respond to first and place them in a separate 'Action' folder or flag them.

Set aside time to respond to your 'Action' emails - either do this if you still have time left, or set aside more time later in the day.

Depending on the volume of emails, you should be able to complete these two scans in the first hour and clear the more urgent emails.

Do the third scan too if you still have time, otherwise leave that until the next time you're scheduled to work on your email.

Third scan - if your filters haven't already sorted out reading emails, now is the time to place emails into the appropriate folder(s). This is about sorting not about actioning or responding.

Allow yourself a few minutes to take a quick look at any new emails - in case there is anything important that needs attention, but I mean a 'few minutes'. Don't get distracted!

Fourth scan - deal with what's left. Deal with emails that need a quick response, 2-3 minutes, as you go through them. Schedule time to deal with any emails that need a longer response.

What's left? If it's not action or reading - it's probably not urgent so can be deleted.

Once you've safely dealt with the backlog that came in while you were away - only then, can you deal with applying the same process to the new emails that have come in.

I use a number of accounts to sort my email before it even gets to the Inbox and folders.

- Non-essential newsletters and recent Internet account sign-ups, go to one email address.

- Postings from discussion groups go to another account.

- Work related emails and the newsletters I really want to read, go to my main account and then I use filters to sort these into folders.

Before you go away - switch any email groups to special notices or admin only. This will reduce the volume coming through in the first place so you have less to deal with.

May 08 - Saying No

Here is the main article from the May newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Saying No

When you want to get better control of your time start saying no more often.

Many busy or naturally helpful people say yes to everything and then wonder why they have no time for themselves or to focus on the more important aspects of their business.

If you keep saying yes, you take on more and more and in the end something has to give and you’ll end up letting someone down or won’t be able to spend the time and effort that a particular piece of work deserves because you’ve got too much to do.

It can be easier to say yes, as it saves having to give a reason as to why you can’t do something or avoid any awkwardness or guilt in saying no.

What is the consequence of saying yes all the time?

• You end up working late just to get everything done.
• You miss out on something you’d rather be doing or have to put things off.
• You have no free time because you’ve filled every minute with things you’ve said yes to.
• You end up stressed out, overworked and ill.

Be more selective – avoid saying yes unless you know what’s really involved. What might appear to be just a five minute job or just an hourly commitment once a month can end up being a lot more.

How long will it really take, what’s involved, do you have capacity, interest and motivation to take it on?

• What are you saying yes to?
• What are you saying no to?

While you don’t necessarily want to say no to clients, sometimes you need to. Are they the right fit for you and your business? Reluctant or difficult clients can be a drain on your time, resources and energy if you let them.

If you say yes to everything you won’t have the time available when the right opportunity or the ideal client does come along. You’ll be so busy working on lower value projects that you won’t have time for anything else.

What other situations or requests come up every day that you could say no to?

Don’t say yes immediately, especially when you don’t know what you’re taking on. If you take something extra on, something has to go, whether it’s your free-time, time with family, friends or another piece of work – is that what you want?

Say no before you say yes or find other ways of saying no without being harsh, abrupt or feeling guilty.

“I’m too busy to do that at the moment”
“Can I get back to you when I have checked my diary?”
“That’s not something that interests me.”
“I can’t help you but perhaps … can.”
“I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Say no when you’re interrupted by phone calls, email or other people and it’s not a convenient time. Don’t answer the phone if you’re busy.

Be clear when you say no and don’t replace it with maybe, that’s neither yes nor no and just means you’re putting off the decision.

Apply this to both your business and personal life – demands on our personal time mean that you often end up with no time for yourself in the evening and at weekends.

It’s your time, it’s your choice as to how you spend it and if you want to be more productive, be more selective about what you’re saying yes to.

Get your time under control. Call me for a free, no-obligation 30-minute focus session.

April 08 - 2D Communication

Here is the main article from the April newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

2D Communication

Communication these days is all too often via the 2D method of email and text messages (also blogs and chat). While not ideal, they provide a quick and easy way to connect and keep in touch but be careful what you say and how you say it.

You might think you know what you’ve said, but have you? The message you write isn’t necessarily the message that gets read. What you intended to say it isn’t necessarily what comes across.

A simple statement can be interpreted in a number of different ways just by changing the emphasis on a particular word. Using a different tone would give it a totally different meaning. We make assumptions based on our own perspective and may not take into account what the other person may be feeling or thinking.

Email Etiquette

Use email for simple, short communication. Long emails are hard to read and more likely to be ignored.

Be clear if you are expecting a response or specific action from your email.

Don’t use complex formatting which will be unreadable. Not everyone receives HTML email – some people only receive plain text messages.

DON’T SHOUT – using capitals is seen as shouting in the online world.

Be as professional in your 2D communication as you are in any area of your business, don’t use inappropriate language, shortening acronyms like BTW (by the way) or emoticons.

Read through the message before you send it to make sure it makes sense and check your spelling, punctuation and grammar. Read it with fresh eyes not reading what you think you wrote.

When replying to a message – only include the relevant part of the previous message if it’s useful to the flow of the communication. Don’t automatically tag on all of the previous messages if they’re not needed.

When sending a mailing to multiple users – use the bcc field – this way the email addresses aren’t automatically viewable by others on the list or could be forwarded to third parties.

Only cc relevant people on emails. Don’t blanket copy everyone unless they really need to see what you’ve said.

Not everyone has high-speed connections or endless space in their mail systems – keep attachments as small as possible.

NEVER forward virus warnings and chain-letters however convincing they are – www.breakthechain.org

If something important needs to be communicated – don’t leave it just to email. With spam filters getting more and more rigorous an important email can easily be missed or never arrive. Even if you request a ‘read receipt’, don’t assume that just because you’ve hit the send button the email is going to end up in someone’s Inbox.

You can’t communicate feelings or humour in an email or a text. You need to know someone reasonably well to know whether a comment they’ve made is genuine, sarcastic or insulting. I’ve seen many an email or text discussion being totally misinterpreted because it’s been taken out of context and without the underlying feelings being known.

Avoid using email or text for a topic or discussion where emotion is an important part of the communication or where it’s likely to stir up a strong reaction. Pick up the phone or arrange for a face-to-face discussion.

Get your email under control. Call me for a free, no-obligation 30-minute focus session.

March 08 - Remembering Names

Here is the main article from the March newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Remembering Names

Do you have problems remembering names or are you really lucky and never forget a face ... or a name?

If like many of us you go to network meetings or social events where you will be meeting a large number of people, how do you remember all those names?

Get Ready
Prepare yourself mentally.  Make a conscious decision to remember the names of the people you are to meet.

Listen
When you’re introduced to someone, listen carefully and CONCENTRATE!  Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other because you’re not listening or your thoughts are elsewhere?

Repeat
If you miss it, ask them to repeat it.  When you first hear someone’s name, repeat it straight away, “Good to meet you John” and try to use it three times during your conversation.  This will help reinforce their name in your mind.  If it’s an unusual name ask how it’s spelled.

Association
The easiest way to remember someone’s name is by association.

Do they remind you of anyone?  A friend, relative, work colleague, actor or well-known person?

Do they have the same first name as someone you know?  Does their name create an image in your mind?

What type of person do they look like – a lawyer, an accountant, a typical …salesman, teacher …

Does their name link directly to an occupation – Baker, Gardner, Porter etc.

Another obvious association is a physical feature or trait.  The shape of their face, a distinguishing part such as eyes, ears, chin, nose, hair colour etc.

The first thing you think of is the strongest association – use this, it will make it easier to recall later.

Create a picture
Create an image with as many of these elements as possible.  Make it as visual, colourful, bizarre and as detailed as possible.

For example Michael White – reminds you of an accountant, visualise him with a massive ‘white’ calculator, pouring over a pile of papers and account books, surrounded by large, colourful numbers.

Don’t link the image to their clothing or something they are wearing.  They are highly unlikely to be wearing the same thing when you next meet them.

Practice
The more you practice, the faster you will get at making associations and the easier it will become.  The brain works more effectively with images and the more bizarre they are the more likely you are to recall the information.

If you get introduced to more than one person at a time, for instance in a group, take your time, scan each face and find the association.  The more you do it the faster you’ll become and the easier the associations will be to find.

Review
Another important key to remembering names and faces is to review them regularly.  When you’re at a meeting or social event, you can briefly scan the faces in the room and recall the names.  The more often you do this, the more likely you are to remember them.

When you get home, recall the faces.  If you have their business card, recall their face linked to their card and if possible do the same the following day and a week later to get it into longer-term memory.

The more often you associate the face with the name, the more likely you are to remember them the next time you meet them.  You know how good it feels when someone actually remembers your name and people are always flattered when you do.

Use these ideas and with a little practice you need never forget a name again.

You can find out more, call me for a free, no-obligation 30-minute session.

February 08 - Procrastination

Here is the main article from the February newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Procrastination

Procrastinate: to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.

One of the key challenges that people raise more often than most with me is procrastination. If it’s something you’d like to deal with better, here are a few strategies to help you deal with it.

The main reasons for procrastination.

- Leaving tasks until the last minute
- Don't want to think about it right now
- Hoping it will go away

- Put off more important tasks for the easier tasks

- Not ready to make the decision

First, understand the reason behind your procrastination. Why are you putting off a particular task?  What is it that you’re resisting - lack of knowledge or skills, poor planning, overwhelm, fear?

Planning. Spending just a few minutes each day planning what needs to be done will make a real difference to how productive you are with the rest of the day. What’s the most important thing you need to do today – do that first.

Break It Down. Break a larger project down into smaller tasks. What’s the first thing you need to do – write some notes, make a plan, set a completion date, make a phone call, send an email, book a venue, sketch an outline, learn a new skill …? Get down to the smallest, simplest step – switch on your computer, open up your email, get the phone number.

Quick Bites. The easiest way I have found to tackle many things is by spending just 5 or 10 minutes on a task. You’ll increase your productivity when you give yourself a time limit and it’s less daunting than needing to spend an hour or more on it and less excuse to procrastinate.

Putting off that pile of filing? Spend 10 minutes tackling the top of the pile or start to reduce the pile by sorting out all the papers that go into the same file or relate to the same subject. Repeat this in short bursts throughout the day and it will quickly disappear.

Delegate. If you hate cleaning, filing, admin, doing your books, mowing the lawn, you're probably going to put these tasks off until you absolutely have to do them.  Get a bookkeeper to do your books once a month, hire a cleaner, rope in the family.  Is it better use of your time to do the task yourself or to pay someone else to do it?

Just do it! Putting off making a phone call or writing an email? Instead of saying to yourself, ‘I’ll do it in a minute, or I’ll do it later … do it now. Get it out of the way and then you can move on and stop worrying about it. Catch yourself putting something off and just do it.

Dump It. Is the energy your putting into procrastinating worth the effort and benefit of completing the task. If not, forget it – move on to something more important.

Delay.  Sometimes we put things off because something doesn’t ‘feel right’. How many times have you had a decision to make or something that needs doing and by delaying the need disappears? That’s not an excuse to procrastinate, just an indication to look at where the resistance is coming from and why. It might be the right thing to do for the moment.

Systems. Create systems to make life easier and remove the excuse for procrastination.  Organise paperwork as it comes in. Do your filing on a regular basis.  Keep your work/living space clear and uncluttered, so other things that ‘need doing’ don’t distract you.

Share It. Make yourself accountable – tell someone else – friend, colleague or mentor and you're more likely to get it done. It will keep you motivated and they can help to keep you on track.

When you procrastinate, what are you resisting? The more you resist, the harder it becomes, so assuming the task is worthy of your attention in the first place, take action sooner rather than later.

If it’s worth doing – do it! If it’s not, then just let it go and stop worrying about it.

You can find out more call me for a free, no-obligation 30-minute session.

January 08 - Business Planning

Here is the main article from the January newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Business Planning

Every business needs to have an idea of where it’s headed and it’s purpose.  For that reason, you need a Business Plan.It doesn’t have to be a long, detailed business plan,   It can be as short or as long as you like and in whatever format you prefer, to capture the essence of your business and what you plan to achieve in the coming year.

Businesses that actually write down their plan with specific goals, objectives, strategies and tasks, are more likely to achieve their goals and be successful.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”

You need to know the why, what, when, where, who and how for your business.  While this might seem daunting when you’re just starting out  or if you haven’t updated yours for a while, your document is dynamic and will grow and evolve as your business grows.

Don’t write it, stick it on a shelf and never refer to it again.  It will help you to plan and schedule to create a successful business.

Review it monthly.  How are you doing in working towards your goals, what changes from month to month, year to year?

Use the following basic elements to create a business plan in one day.

1. Your Vision, Purpose, Mission.

Vision – an overall statement of what is possible for your business.

Purpose – What is the purpose of your business and why does it exist?

Mission – How do you plan to achieve your vision and purpose?

2. Your objectives.  What are your business objectives and how will you succeed?  Your goals for the business and different ways you will create income.

3. Your Customers.  Who is your target market?  How many do you need for your business?What do you know about them?How do they perceive your services?What is the growth rate of this market?

4. Your Barriers.  Are there any current legal, ethical issues?How will the current economic climate affect you?

5. Your Competition. Who are your competitors?How does your business compare to your competitors?On what basis are you competing?How do you differ from your competitors?How will your customers see the difference?

6. Your Prospective Clients. How will you market yourself?  How will you deliver your service?  How will you differentiate yourself in the market?  Do you have a brand?  What makes you unique?

7. Your success.  Why will you be successful in your business?What skills, experience and attitude do you have to enable you to succeed?

8. Tools and Technology. What tools and technology will you use to make your business successful?  Newsletter, blogs, website, articlesService delivery – contact management, database information, telephone, email

9. Financial projection.   How will the financial flow of your business take place.  What revenue do you need in order to cover your expenses and achieve a profitable margin.

10.   Long-term view. What will your business look like in three-five years time?  How will you respond to changes in the market, trends etc?

What other products or services might impact you?

How will your financial forecast change – improve or reduce?How is your business structured to allow you to adapt and change?

You can find out more about creating and keeping to your business plan call me for a free, no-obligation 30-minute session.

December 07 - Setting Your Goals For 2008

Here is the main article from the December newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Setting Your Goals For 2008

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a good time to think about your goals for the year but you do this any time you need to get focused. First take a look at what you’ve achieved so far. What did you learn, what were the highs and lows?

Then think about what you would like to achieve in the coming year? Do you have one BIG goal that you would like to achieve, or perhaps three or four goals that you would like to complete next year – and no, I don’t mean those New Year ‘resolutions’ which rapidly fade from view by about the middle of February.

I mean some specific goals that you really want to achieve next year and to which you’re going to make a commitment to yourself and preferably someone else that you’re going to do them. Perhaps you do want to give up smoking, lose weight or get fit – that’s fine but give it some purpose and put a plan in place so that you can actually achieve it.

Here are a few key steps to enable you to turn your goals into reality.

- What is your big goal or dream? Whether it’s a small hill or high mountain - what do you want to change in your life? Where do you want to be – physically, mentally or emotionally by the end of the coming year? Write your goals down and pin them up where you’ll see them every day.

- Think about what will it look and feel like to have achieved your goal. Why do you want it – what will it mean to you? How much do you really want it and what impact will it have on your life? This step is important, as if you have a solid underlying reason for doing something and can see the benefits of doing it, you’re more likely to achieve it.

To make more sense of your goals, make them S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Specific – don’t set a goal to ‘lose weight’ – set a goal to lose 10lbs or if you want to get fit – set a goal to walk or run a certain distance without getting out of breath or complete a sponsored walk or run a 10k.

Measurable – give your goal a series of targets that you can measure as you go – 10lbs so you can check off each pound on a weekly basis, or if you want to save or earn a specific amount of money or rate your goal on a scale of 1-10.

Achievable – don’t decide to climb Everest if it’s so way beyond your skills and ability that you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Think about the time, resources and skills available. Stretch yourself but be realistic otherwise you won’t commit to it.

Relevant/Realistic – make sure your goals fits with your bigger vision for your life or business. Don’t make them so easy that it isn’t a challenge but not so difficult that you’ll never achieve them either.

Time-bound – set a date for when you plan to achieve this goal. This stops it drifting off into something indefinite and gives you a target to aim for.

It also helps if you make yourself accountable to someone. If you tell someone else about your goal not only will this keep you motivated but they can help to keep you on track. This could be your partner, friend, colleague, a mentor or a coach.

Break up your big goal into smaller, more achievable steps. What information or skills do you need? Perhaps there are some additional training courses you need to book yourself onto. Who could you talk to, what do you need to know first?

What do you need to do within the next 6-12 months towards your goal? Put a plan in place with smaller goals, actions and stepping stones along the way to help you achieve it.

What do you need to do this month?

What can you do this week?

What can you do today?

Now that you’ve set your goals, go do it!

You can find out more about creating and keeping to your goals in a free, no-obligation 30-minute session with me.

November 07 - Creating A Newsletter

Here is the main article from this month's monthly newsletter for financial advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Creating A Newsletter

Part of any successful business is building a relationship with your existing and prospective clients.  For many Financial Advisers a newsletter can be a useful way to keep in touch and add value.

1.  Purpose.  Firstly - What's it's purpose? Who is your audience?  Are you planning to gain clients, grow your reputation or just keep in touch?

2. Be authentic, be yourself - this will distinguish you from all the other 1000s of newsletters out there and helps your subscribers to get to know you better.

3. Ideas for topics. Start a notebook, open up a file for ideas as you come up with them or come across something you think might be useful.  Use seasonal triggers for relevant topics - the end of the tax year, holidays etc.

4. Sign up to other people's newsletters.  Subscribe to other newsletters that you know or respect and see how they do it - content, quality, format and frequency.  See what you like and dislike, what would work for you?

5. Start writing.  Book out time in your schedule to write your newsletter.  Start with whatever comes to mind around your main topic. Leave it a day or so then do some more.  It doesn't have to be perfect, it's going to evolve and change as your business grows so the important thing is to get it out there!

6. Set yourself a deadline.  Decide on a frequency and plan time to write it on a weekly/ monthly or quarterly basis.  A longer newsletter once a month or quarterly may be better for your business and your potential audience.  It can be a useful reminder for tax and investment deadlines.

7. Format and layout.   Keep it simple.   Avoid tables, columns and large images.  Formatting and automation becomes more important as your distribution list grows.  Use the same branding as in your other business material - colour, logo, format.  Create a template that you can re-use.  Some people will prefer plain text to HTML.

8. Avoiding the spam filters.  Filters look for certain words within the title and content and filter out suspect emails as spam.  Some subscribers may not even realise that your email isn't reaching them.  Lots of images and different fonts styles and sizes will also affect filters.  Keep it simple.  Use a utility like Spam Assassin to check the text of your newsletter before you send it to avoid it being filtered out by spam filters.

9.  Contact Information.  Always include your contact information and your brief business message or tagline and of course, provide a link to your website if you have one.

10.  Subscribe/unsubscribe options. People often forward my newsletters, so give new subscribers a way to contact you and get added for the next one.  Always give people the option to unsubscribe from your newsletter.  This is a legal requirement in some countries and is good practice.

11. Your distribution.  Who are you going to send it to? Use your current address book - friends, family, colleagues, people you've met networking.  Capture people's email addresses when they visit your website. If you make a new contact - send them your newsletter as an example of who you are and what you do and invite them to subscribe.

12.  Test.  Send it to a couple of colleagues to test it out - they can give you feedback on it.  Also send it to yourself if you have various email accounts with different providers to see that they get through the filters and any formatting comes across correctly.

Tip: Use an auto responder service like Aweber or Constant Contact to simplify the process and manage your subscribers.  They have sample templates, inbuilt spam checking and send as text or HTML.

The most important thing is to get started.

If you'd like a boost to get started with your first newsletter, just give me a call or send an email to info@clareevans.co.uk

You can find out more about coaching and how it could work for you here or contact me to arrange for a no-obligation 30-minute session to make a real and lasting change.

 

October 07 - Organising Your Home Office

Here is the main article from the October newsletter for Financial Advisers.  If you'd like to read the full newsletter or to receive it automatically each month, you can register by entering your email in the box on the left.

Organising Your Home Office

Balancing work within the home environment can often be difficult.

If you're a Mum, you may be juggling children, family commitments, running a household and working on your business.  Make life easier with these few simple guidelines.

If you're a Dad, you have the distractions of wanting to spend time with your family while keeping the focus on your business and maybe you also take on some of the household, child-care duties too.

It's good to have a structure in which to work which creates a balance between ensuring that work gets done and enjoying the flexibility of working from home without getting overwhelmed.

Create an "office". If you don't have one already - clear a space that you can truly call your office.  Maybe you currently work from the kitchen table or a corner of your living room.   Is there a space you can clear which can be your office?

If you run your entire business from home, it's more than likely that you'll have a specific room that is your office.

- Does it look like your office?
- Does it reflect your business?
- Do you have everything you need to hand?

Perhaps your office also double as a spare room, junk room or storage area. Is it neatly arranged or are you surrounded by boxes and other clutter?

What could you do to improve the environment in which you work?  Keep papers in files and folders that you can put away at the end of the day. Have clear space around you as you work.

Keep to your office hours. You can be flexible with your working day but don't be tempted to blur the lines between your work life and your home life too much.  By all means take breaks during the day to have some 'home' life, or time to get chores done.  But place a time limit around these.  Set a fixed start time and  finish time to your working day.

Think about why you have chosen to work from home instead of working in an office.  If you want to have a day or half day a week when you don't work, then do that.  Book it out in your diary at the beginning of the week or month.

You should be enjoying your time not struggling to juggle home life with work life.  And that applies even if you do work in an office.

Set boundaries around your time. Have an answer machine you switch on outside of office hours.

Just because the phone rings - you don't have to answer it immediately.

Just because an email arrives in your inbox - you don't have to reply to it immediately.

At least not straight away.  Schedule time each day to attend to these tasks and you'll be using your time more effectively.

Don't allow yourself to get into the habit of working all hours - late into the evening or on weekends just because your office is at home, only a few feet away and you can just 'pop in' to check emails.

Set boundaries with other people in your life.  If you're in your office - you are working.  If you get distracted, take a complete break and then get back into work mode.  Be mindful of other people around you - if you're at home, they may expect you to be more involved.  Explain when you can and when you need space, time or some peace and quiet.

Set the boundaries in the beginning and it will make it easier for everyone.

Working from home can bring a certain amount of guilt - you either feel guilty because you should be working when you are spending time with your family or you feel guilty when your working that you should be with your family.

Working for yourself is hard enough - don't be your own worst enemy and feel that you have to work all hours.  You don't.  Give yourself a break and keep some perspective on your work life balance.  If you want to work four days a week, so you get to spend more time with your family, then do that!  What's stopping you?  Probably yourself.

Enjoy working at home and don't let it become a burden.

If you'd like to find out more then just give me a call or send an email to info@clareevans.co.uk

You can find out more about coaching and how it could work for you here or contact me to arrange for a no-obligation 30-minute session to make a real and lasting change.