Get It Done Tip – How Work at Home Entrepreneurs Can Conquer Procrastination

images It’s National Procrastination Week (March 1 – 7, 2010) so it’s a good time as busy entrepreneurs to think about how to conquer procrastination. When you work at home it’s so easy to procrastinate. Why? Because you’re always busy.

You can confuse being busy with being productive. They are not the same thing.

For me, having three children and a home-based business make for a very busy day (as I’m sure you can relate to). There are lunches to pack, carpools to run, emails to answer, and calls to make. While all these tasks are necessary for me to run a household, and care for my children, I can use them as an excuse to procrastinate important projects that will help me grow my business.

It’s too easy, and as work at home entrepreneurs we’re all guilty of getting caught up in activities that take our time but get us nowhere in our business. I call these “time vampires” because they literally take the life out of our business.

Some Examples of Time Vampires (during business hours) Include:

• Checking emails constantly throughout the day
• Answering your personal phone line (except if it’s an emergency)
• Doing household chores and errands

The solutions is to vanquish these time vampires and intentionally set aside dedicated time and focus on activities that directly impact our bottom line.

Here are some practical ways to get moving on a project you’ve been procrastinating:

• Chunk out times of the day for particular revenue-generating activities.

• Focus on only one task at a time.

• Close applications on your computer to prevent distraction.

Instead of procrastinating you’ll start using your work time more efficiently. As a result you’ll be able to enjoy your personal time—knowing you’ve already engaged in activities that are moving your business forward.

Got any tips that help you work efficiently from home? Please share them!

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  • A timely word. I am transitioning from home business to an office, and I find myself struggling with moving forward in the transition. This was very helpful...
  • metromom
    Hi there,
    I'm so glad this was helpful for you.
    Take care,
    Kim
  • Great tips! I had no idea that it was National Procrastination Week. I'd rather they call it "National Overcoming Procrastination Week"! Great timing though as I am teaching this very topic tonight in my Dialing for Dollars Workshop. We identify the top 10 reasons people procrastinate and then create an Action Plan to eliminate it as an issue forever. A problem well identified is a problem half solved! One of the things I teach is to accomplish Mission Critical Activities (ROI) first rather than letting the day erode away with minutia
  • metromom
    Hi Tracy,

    Isn't it funny how there's a holiday for almost everything these days? I agree with you about the better title name. I'd love to hear more about your talk, that could be a great call to offer to the Metromom community.

    Take care
  • tracymonteforte
    Hi Kim!

    Sure! I'd be happy to do a talk on overcoming procrastination. Call me if you'd like to chat about it! Also, I have a new friend that I met at a BNI meeting that I'd like to introduce to you. Do you ever feature men? His site is http://becomeabetterfather.com...

    :-) Tracy
  • metromom
    Hi Tracy,

    Isn't it funny how there's a holiday for almost everything these days? I agree with you about the better title name. I'd love to hear more about your talk, that could be a great call to offer to the Metromom community.

    Take careType your reply...
  • barbaragips
    I also make a list in the morning of what I want to accomplish each day. It helps me to stay focused and it feels good when I check something off the list. Thanks for the tips. I'd better stop commenting and get back to work. (oops!)
  • metromom
    You're funny about stopping your commenting so you can work. I get caught in the same situation - I want to browse around but then I can fall into an endless pit of blogs, tweets etc.
  • Christina_Christner
    Great tips. It's easy to get caught up in doing all the little things that don't seem to take too much time (emails, phone calls, errands, laundry, etc) and at the end of the day feel like I have not accomplished much. I find that making a list in the beginning of my day which consist of the top 3 important tasks that need to be done (the ones I'm procrastinating on) and directing my attention and energy on completing those 3 tasks keeps me focused and productive. Ultimately, I complete my list feeling a sense of guilt-free accomplishment and get excited about getting things done instead of dreading it.
  • metromom
    Type your reply...
  • metromom
    It sounds like you've got it all figured out. Good for you. :)
  • Great tips, Kim! The most effective one for me is sticking to one task at a time, no multitasking. When I do that, I can accomplish a lot more, and do a better job of it, too!
  • metromom
    Hi Melissa,
    Not multi-tasking is also the biggest challenge for me. Something I'm experimenting with that may be helpful for you as well is each time I want to multi-task is to write the task down. This way I don't forget what it is, but I can get back to the project at hand. Simple but pretty effective.
    Take care
  • This is such a great reminder, Kim, thank you! I'm starting to make smaller lists (for daily tasks) that I feel confident I'll be able to complete. This will help me from over committing, thus less tendency to try to multitask.
  • metromom
    One of the best pieces of advice I ever got about planning on what I do for the day, is to prepare the night before. I often note the top 3 things I want to accomplish at night, then when I sit down to work in the morning, I'm focused.
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