Articles – Page 14

How to Stay Productive When You Work from Home

Adam Riemer

I’ve been working from home for more than five years, and sometimes it becomes almost impossible to focus and get work done. Because of that, I had to come up with some creative ways to be able to motivate myself, stay focused and make sure that my work from home productivity stayed on task. Here are five of the ways I stay focused and ensure that my clients are happy and that my websites stay on track. 1. Wear dress clothing. One thing that everyone who wants to work at home dreams about is getting to be like a kid and work in his pajamas all day. Unfortunately, pajamas mean comfort and can distract you instead of help you focus. On days where I cannot concentrate and would rather watch TV or dose off, I get dressed like I am going to an office. By putting on a button- down shirt and slacks, or even a polo shirt and khaki pants, I am able to focus and accomplish more than I normally do when I work in my pajamas. When I was a kid, pajamas were great for things like coloring. As an adult, kids’ pajamas and coloring won’t cut it — so I get dressed up and am able to get more done. 2. Fake a commute to work. One thing that you eventually miss is leaving the house during the day. When your home also becomes work, you sometimes forget to leave. The way that I fix this is by faking a commute to work a few days a week. Instead of walking to an office, I walk to a grocery store, like Whole Foods, where I pick up breakfast and also stop at the cleaners, or other errands I need to do. This helps me to get out of the house and focus more. When you work from home, you have no reason to leave, which makes your days blend together. Making your fake commute actually helps to break it up and get you to concentrate. 3. Set up play dates. work from home productivityIf you are used to working in an office, you’ll find yourself craving human contact after you’ve started to work from home. One thing that I did was set up work dates once or twice a week with other local people who work for themselves. We meet at a coffee shop or all go to one person’s house and work from the same place. Not only do we get to have someone to talk to and interact with, but we also get to bounce ideas off people and get feedback, which helps better all of our work. 4. Find a way to break up your day. After years of sitting in front of a computer and forgetting to leave my apartment during the day, I gained a lot of weight. I also started craving daylight because my days blurred together. To help fix this and to get my endorphins going so I could focus better, I found classes like AntiGravity Yoga that keep me entertained, get me to work out, and help me get more work done because I come back focused and relaxed. (This is actually a picture from my second time ever taking the class.) 5. Create mindless background noise. Hearing noises outside or in the hallway becomes one of the biggest distractions. To help block those noises, I let the TV project mindless noise and colors on stations like Cartoon Network or the news. If you leave something on that you would watch, like the Food Network, that can become a bigger distraction, so find something that will act as background noise but not distract you. Working from home is something lots of people love. The problem is learning how to keep yourself focused. You’ll begin to miss day-to-day interactions with people at your office, and getting to work in your pajamas could actually make you less productive. By learning what helps keep you focused when you’re at home, and making sure you can keep focused by leaving your house for a break or setting up play dates, working from home becomes a lot easier and you can become a lot more productive. Working from home is great, but you have to learn how to stay focused and also get your work done. Visit Adam’s marketing blog for more tips and advice on marketing, organization and being an entrepreneur.

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Disaster Preparedness

NOT be one of those that never reopen. Plan your recovery before its needed. To see the supplies that Ready.gov recommends please visit http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit and look at the various kits with supplies needed. Common sense tells us, that businesses should keep copies of their most important files offsite. Personally, I use several methods personally, I use an external drive that is a complete copy and I can grab it and run if need be as well as online methods. There are numerous online backup options that are very good. . Carbonite, Backupmyinfo.com, and others as well as Box.com, DropBox.com and similar to drop in files you’ll need if working away from home. Also, I backup onto DVDs and store these in fireproof safes, and the really urgent information is easily grabbed as I’m running out the door. I use Nero BackItUp 12 for my backups to the external drive and to DVD. Be prepared. Your equipment should be insured. Don’t use a rider on your homeowner’s policy, you should have business insurance that covers your equipment. All of it. Make an inventory of all the software you have, whether its installed or not, list your peripherals List your books. If you have a radio in your office, list that! List EVERYTHING! Take pictures of your equipment, store your receipts with your inventory, OFF SITE (or in digital format offsite). My Office inventory is electronic, and is stored offsite, AND backed up regularly. Keep your inventory up to date. When you prepare your inventory, don’t forget about your various logins and account access codes and passwords. I have a book of key codes, kept in my fireproof safe. For my more sensitive logins, those are encrypted on a flash drive in the safe. Keep this list as up to date as possible. During severe weather, surges often cripple your equipment, which is why it is vital your equipment be protected with high quality surge protection, and if you lose power suddenly, having an uninteruptable power supply (UPS) can give you the time you need to save what you’re working on and shut your equipment down (or get out and start the generator). High quality UPS systems also include surge protection. Include your PHONES on the surge protection. Often, your telephone is one piece of equipment that is forgotten about when it comes to equipment protection. I use a cloud based telephone which I can access from anywhere, and easily forward calls to my cell from the office. Visit Ready.gov for more information about disaster preparedness for your home and your business. Become familiar with what you need to do, and what needs to be on hand. Stay alert to the news, and be prepared. Sending my thoughts and prayers to all effected by the destructive weather this season. Kathy McCabe]]>

Thomas Leonard Award

Kathy’s First Desk 1996[/caption] On Friday 5/17/13, I was honored to receive the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award. This is a pinnacle of my career and one I will always remember. The Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award is given by the Online International Virtual Assistant Conference. This award is to honor a Virtual Assistant who has been in business for at least 5 years and who has contributed to the industry in such a way that he or she has provided a positive impact on many others and helped them to build a successful business. Further, they may have led a VA organization or activity; written a book or other publication specifically to help other VAs; or any other impact that has helped the industry grow. Seventeen years ago (in June!) I sat at a tiny desk, with a small CRT monitor and second-hand computer. Through the last seventeen years my office has changed locations several times (including the last change to Pennsylvania!) and at times has grown smaller or larger depending on the location, and my computers have gotten much better :-). (I live for screen real estate!) Virtual assisting has been life altering for me. I tell people that virtual assisting saved my life, and there was a point in my life where I know it did. My virtual assistant friends gave me the courage I needed to change a bad situation, and in doing so, I found a peace and a sense of joy I’ve been wanting all my life. Now, being honored with this award, I have trouble conveying how amazing it is. I can hear my friends all saying, “Kathy at a loss for words????” I am at a loss for words. Perhaps it hasn’t completely sunk in yet. The most I can say is I’m honored, and thrilled (and I’m glad you can’t see me doing the happy dance all over my office!). Thank you to my husband Michael for always supporting me in everything I do and try, the OIVAC Awards Judging Panel, the Steering Committee, Sharon Williams for being such a great founder of the OIVAC, Janice Byer for always letting me run stuff by her (you’re my best bud Janice!), and to my three guardian angels: Fred, Janet and Clara.

~ Kathy McCabe kathymccabe2013

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