Working from home running your own business can sound like a dream come true! Until you get a creative block and don’t have your coworkers to bounce ideas off of. Or you realise that you’re not as productive because you tell yourself, “I’ll get to that later,” and later never comes.
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“Learning how to navigate your own productivity is the key to success when operating a home based business. To many entrepreneurs, distractions and life can pull them off task, but with a few tricks, they can keep up the work-life balance.” says Olivia Starling, Founder and CEO of the rapidly growing jewelry brand Starlette Galleria.
Tips For Home-Based Business Owners To Be Successful
Olivia knows the struggle all to well, but has tips for helping other entrepreneurs succeed in making their dreams a reality. In the past year, we’ve seen a tremendous growth in home grown businesses as a new generation of entrepreneurs and everyday people decided that they wanted to pursue their passion! For those just getting started, or even seasoned vets, here are Olivia Starling’s top 5 tips for home-based business owners to be successful.
Tip #1: Find The Hours You Are Most Productive, And Work With Them
Some people are crazy productive first thing in the morning, and others are in the afternoon. Figure out the times that your brain is working, and how it is working to arrange your schedule. For me, first thing in the morning I love to move around, so I try to accomplish all of my tasks that require physical energy early on. In the afternoon, I like being social, so I always try to schedule meetings around and after lunchtime. In the late evenings 9pm-2am, I usually have more creative juices flowing, so I try to write, work on social media posts, and edit photos at those times. As much as I can, I work on what I want to work on at that moment. Everything will get done, but I don’t force a task that doesn’t feel right and that makes my work more quality than quantity.
Tip #2: Have A Buddy
I have a best friend that owns an ecommerce business. She lives in Idaho and I’m in Colorado, but that doesn’t stop us from helping to motivate and keep eachother on task. We use the voxer app and check in with each other constantly. First thing in the morning to make sure our workouts are complete. Then throughout the day we send messages like, “Hey, it’s 11am, I’m about to work on xyz. I will check in with you in an hour when it is complete.” Once you state your intentions and goals out loud to someone that will hold you accountable, you are more likely to get it done.
Tip #3: Sometimes You Just Have To Leave
It’s ok to feel distracted some days, or not to always be on your A-Game. Just make sure you have a plan for when that happens. Get up and go to a coffee shop and work from there. When other people around you seem like they are being productive, it will get your head back where you need to be so you can focus on accomplishing your tasks.
Tip #4: Be Flexible With Your Life And Your Business
When you work from home, your work and life should become fluid. Take breaks and unload the dishwasher, switch the laundry, or pull some weeds when you are frustrated over an email. The joy in working from home is that you can be ultra productive with every aspect of your life.
Tip #5: Do Intervals
I have some days where working from home feels like a huge battle. Even after all these years, I still get a little stir crazy. After one season of being very busy, I felt completely burnt out and getting myself to do anything productive in my business was a huge challenge, so I came up with a plan. I set 45 min timers on my phone, and kept my phone on airplane mode away from me. When the timer went off, I would get up from my computer and go for a walk, make my bed, or do anything that got my blood pumping again for 30 minutes. I would then return again to my computer and get 45 more minutes of work completed, with the excitement of knowing a 30 minute break would be around the corner.
