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Last Updated on March 17, 2016 by Work In My Pajamas
Working on your small business out of your home office is great, but staying productive, alert, and up to date can be incredibly difficult. While there is always something to do, stopping to do the laundry or finding yourself deep cleaning the bathroom, will not push your company towards the end goal. Increase productivity, overcome challenges, and stay alert with your work.
Increasing your Productivity
Increasing your productivity is a huge part of your success. Whether you are looking into environmental changes that will decrease the pressing matter of daytime television or some habitual changes that will take your business to the next level.
Environmental Changes
While escaping to the top of the mountain might give you the most pristine focus, it’s not often that the mountain top as a solid wifi connection that is easily accessible from home. Creating your own place to work can mean the difference between quiet productive hours, and an army of procrastination tasks bugging your brain. Environmental changes could mean anything from separating your office from the rest of the house, to preparing your workspace so you have no excuse to leave for tea, to do laundry, or just check the fridge one more time. Isolation with all of the tools you need, is one of the best ways to get everything done.
Habitual
Sometimes you can get into a bad groove, and once it becomes habitual it can really be truly dangerous. You can break these habits by setting aside ‘screen only time’ or using some free apps to monitor your onscreen time. Free ones like Forest will encourage you to stay focused on the task at hand, and off facebook, or your phone. Positive work habits are hard to form when in a home environment, especially in the first few months.
Overcoming Challenges without feeling trapped
When working from home, especially if you are working alone, it’s incredibly difficult to remain calm, or come up with the best plan of action when there isn’t something to bounce ideas off of. Whether you need to seek out the cat, or some patience, adjusting just a little can move you forward quickly.
Patience
Stopping for a moment to evaluate the challenge in front of you will give you time to find the best opportunity. While moving fast is great, taking the time to plan your next step is even better, whether it’s a difficult customer’s email, or a range of issues that have suddenly arisen, take some time to sit.
Sometimes there is too much time to spare, and sitting will drive you nuts. Find a fun thing that helps your business in that time. It might be writing on your niche in relevant blogs, or taking your organizational skills to the next level, while waiting is boring, continue moving forward where you can.
Keep moving
That constant improvement is more than busy work, it’s getting your business where it needs to be. While guest writing for blogs in your niche, and double checking your onsite are all superb things to do, you should also be improving your company. When your slow season hits, try expanding your horizons, looking into what will make your site rank higher in the SERPS, exploring the depth of your 404 logs, or just discovering what marketing trends are working now will help you grow in the long run. Constant improvement will push you towards the brink of success.
Staying Alert
But staying keen on your field will send you over the edge into the grand depth of success. Go to conferences, get out, and find what works for your company. Focusing on who your customer is and what you mean to them is the difference between ‘two-thousand-late’ online strategies and cultivating a strong, loyal consumer base. Addressing your client’s current needs reduces customer turn-over, so when competing online look into what can make you better (or even what you can offer over your competitors). Perhaps you sell primarily to the elderly, and have a stronger phone customer service, pushing your phone number to the top of the page would be one way to push growth. Or perhaps you are finding a small portion of your users on mobile platforms that have a high bounce rate, look into your analytics to see who your client truly is.
Staying on-the-ball can be hard for anyone trying to transition into working from home. Whether it’s problems with your personal productivity, trying to find a way to manage work inconsistencies, or staying up to date in the field, you can do it if you give yourself the time, space, and tools to do so. Take a breath, and dive in.
