Time Management Tips

Planning Your Time to Avoid Burnout
in the Home Office

by Susan Bellows

"You teach best what you need to learn the most." That's an old saw that holds true, for this home-office time management consultant and author at least. Here it is Sunday, a day that I've scheduled as work-free, and I'm writing this article. You see, I know what to do. It's just a question of practicing what I preach.

I'm not that different from a lot of small-business people. They, too, need to make some decisions if they really want to keep their business and personal lives separate, but under the same roof.

To keep work and play in correct proportions, you need to:

• decide you're willing to change your behavior to achieve a more balanced life;
• take a time management course or read a book like "First Things First" by Stephen Covey; and
• use a time-management planning system on a daily basis.

Each of these is critical to your success in having a balanced life.

Now, it's time to get down to work.

Plan and prioritize what you do

No matter how rich, smart, or clever you are, time can't be managed -- we all get the same 24 hours each day. We can, however, manage projects and activities. And we can assign priorities to each project and activity. Planning is the key to leveraging time and energy. Planning gives us perspective and provides a road map for what's ahead. Sunday night and nightly before leaving the office are especially good times for planning. Whatever time you pick, be consistent. Make planning an "A" priority.

Do what you plan

Select one thing to do each day and do it -- no matter what. Don't say that you'll do something that you aren't totally committed to doing. Find an "accountability partner,' a coach, or a support group to help you stay on track. The likelihood of keeping our word to ourselves is fairly low. My name for this is the "Sleaze Factor," which can be counteracted by establishing an agreement for accountability with another person or group.

Utilize "book-ending"

When faced with commitments that take you out of your comfort zone, or when you find yourself procrastinating, simply call someone you respect (perhaps your accountability partner) before you begin the task.

Once the task is done, call that person back to say that you have accomplished the goal. This simple technique, called "book-ending," makes difficult situations easier, counters the Sleaze Factor, and builds self-esteem.

Use rewards to motivate yourself

Reward yourself for doing what you commit to do. Examples of rewards include going away for a weekend, playing golf on a Friday, or buying that new software that you want.

Part of rewarding yourself is to "feed your soul," so it might include listening to music, spending time outdoors, or watching a video with your child. Rewards can be as simple as affixing gold stars to a list of To Do's that you've completed. The key is just to acknowledge yourself for sticking to your new behavior.

Commit to a schedule

Set boundaries for yourself by committing to a specific schedule. Decide the number of hours, times of day, and days of the week that you will work. For example, you may decide to stop work each day no later than 9:00 p.m. and to take Sundays off.

Whatever schedule you decide on, stick to it. A schedule is a major part of creating a framework, and a framework gives you freedom. Try it for one week and see how you feel.

Recreation for re-creation

Think about it. Recreation does help re-create us. Even though work is fun, it's critical to find enjoyable activities that are not work-related. Flying a kite, for example, gets us outside, is playful, and may even result in some new insight about business.

Getting away from work, even if it's to take a 20-minute nap or meditate, recharges our batteries for the next round of work. When our lives are out of balance, it affects our attitude, judgement, energy, and how others treat to us. To help justify taking time off, remember that "it's for the good of the business."

How to begin?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. But it takes just 21 to 45 days of doing the new behavior consistently to change a habit or to develop a new habit.

In order to achieve balance and avoid burnout, we need to commit to new behavior and do it day after day after day. The sanity of developing behavior that promotes a balanced life stops the insanity of doing the same self-defeating thing over and over.