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Poor Time Management
Poor time management often translates into "no time management" which can lead to unnecessary stress and chaos. For
the work at home mom to be successful, she has to be the master of her time and plan, plan, plan!
The work at home mom not only has to plan and schedule her work routine but all the things concerning her family as
well. Poor time management will ensure that neither her professional life nor her personal life run smoothly.
Obviously, for any mother the well-being of her kids is of paramount importance and this must be taken into
consideration when making the decision to work at home.
Consider this: With proper time management, the work at home mom will be able to attend all the school functions,
read to the kids, take them to the park and still have time left over for hubby and work. Even though all of that
sounds like enough to bring on a dizzy spell, poor time management will make that only an elusive dream while
proper time management will make that dream a reality.
Everyone has their own time management techniques that work for them but the most important one of all simply lies
in the planning. Poor time management may involve writing everything on the calendar but then never looking at it.
Whether you use software or a wall or purse calendar, it is absolutely imperative to plan ahead for everything.
Even though you have the ability to have a flexible work schedule as a work at home mom, it is important to keep it
as streamlined as possible and only deviate for those special occasions.
Proper time management actually leaves you feeling more energized because you have such a sense of accomplishment
while poor time management leaves you feeling tired and stressed and feeling like there's not enough time in the
day to get everything done. You know what? There's not! But there is enough time for you to get the important
things done. It's up to you to decide ahead of time what is important.
It's important to follow up once you decide what is important and what kind of schedule you will have. Not that
every minute has to be scheduled but if your work schedule is from 9 to 3 Monday through Friday, for example, live
that schedule and only deviate for the really important things. Poor time management robs you of precious time
spent looking for things that were never put away while proper time management ensures you have those extra few
minutes for yourself.
Caller ID will prevent you from taking unwanted calls during working hours and if chatty Kathy comes to visit, head
her off at the door with "I'd love to visit when I'm not working. How about Tuesday after 3?" Poor time management
allows any deviation to take over our plans while proper time management carries the discipline required to see our
plans through.
It may take a little while before you discover what your most productive work hours are and what days you'll be
off. If you have kids in school, you'll have to plan around school vacations and holidays and the sooner you commit
that schedule to paper the better. Just as important as keeping your work schedule is being faithful to your days
off. Your family will be expecting you to be off on those days and while everyone has an unexpected "emergency" for
the most part it will be better to stick to the schedule. Poor time management techniques or none at all will have
you constantly rushing to finish things while planning ahead will have you finishing things on time with time to
spare.
Proper time management will not only help you to be more productive, but it will help you to feel your best
physically while poor time management will contribute to just the opposite.
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