If the words “summer” and “productivity” seem like polar opposites to you, you are not alone. The sunny days and warm weather, paired with kids being out of school and social schedules being jam packed may cause conflicting feelings for many home-based professionals. On one hand you want to kick back and relax a little and do fun things with your family that you do not get to do in cooler weather or when school is in session. On the other hand, you have work to do and letting it sit while you take a day to go to the beach or pool can sometimes leave you more stressed than relaxed.
It is possible to have both a productive summer and an enjoyable summer but it does take some advance planning. The good news is that it is not too late to salvage your summer. There are plenty of sunny days still to come and there are things that you can do right now to reconcile your desire to have fun with your desire to get things done.
One thing that you can do is to prioritize your to-do lists. By keeping the most important items at the top of the list, you will get them done sooner. You can feel better about postponing some of the other things on your to-do list to make room for some summer fun if the most urgent and important things are already taken care of. Also, keep your expectations realistic. Think about the amount of time that you have available for work and plan out what activities you will do during your scheduled work hours (you DO have scheduled work hours, right?). Be careful to allow yourself enough time to get things done and avoid the temptation to overestimate how quickly you will be able to complete each task. When you plan ahead, you know what is in store for each work session and you can sit down and get right to work instead of wasting time deciding what to do. By incorporating these tips into your home-based business practices, you just may find yourself saying that this summer was the most fun summer ever and the most productive too. Keep the good feelings going all year long by turning these tips into habits. If you do, you will likely find that you enjoy both work and family life more.
Photo by elinluna on morguefile.com.