any tips of time management when combining OS living, with working from home.

artichoke

hi all

i searched but could not find anything... but has anyone any tips on strategies for segmenting the day to fit in paid work at home, OS work eg batch cooking, etc and housework "flying" routines....

what works for people?

i try and do housework before the school run and then another hour of house stuff when i return. Now i am more on top of Housework than i ever have been i want to make sure the house is presentable every morning so that if someone pops by then i am not in chaos, and then try to do paid work during working hours until 3pm .....

but often it goes wrong and i end up batch cooking when i should be doing paid work etc..and people call round and sit and chat when i should be working etc..

DH works from home but he is much stricter than me - he goes and sits in his office from 9.15 until 3.15 (he does the school run) and then he goes back to his office until 5.30 and after tea most nights he goes back to his office until kids betime when he does help with bedtime but goes back to his office after that and works.

So both me and DH tend to work on the computer every evening until 9pm or so - i use this time to try and catch up on paid work as i feel i am not doing enough in the day as i am cooking and cleaning and feeding the kids etc...

has anyone got any work from home strategies that allow them to fit in OS work such as batch cooking, veg growing, cooking from scratch etc.... i know it must be easier working from home but at the moment i feel DH has his routine and goes off to work in his office and i just have to do everything else...which makes me feel i am not getting enough paid work done in the daytime - although the house does look better...

any tips?

art

ok - i know the first strategy is not to spend time posting on here !

Benson

I had the same issue, I worked from home and ended up tidying, cooking when I should have been working! I've now moved in to an office to give myself more structure! It's amazing how much work I now get done but unfortunately the house/cooking is chaos! I need to get organized in that respect! Just goes to show how much oft time was spent cleaning etc instead of working as it used to be spotless!!

caledonian_princess

Artichoke, do you have a proper work space like your DH. I find that actually having a room I go to work in invaluable, like your DH I close the door and I get on with my job. Perhaps you need to negotiate yourself a defined working area. Apart from that I have a timer on my pc and when I start work I start the stop watch - that helps in two ways, firstly I know what hours to charge people but secondly I can see when I'm slacking as I pause it every time I leave my desk or start browsing about on forums.

artichoke

yes, i suppose now i am supposed to be doing paid work i suddenly find the flylady list very appealing instead:o

part of my problem is that people drop round - so i am obsessed with making the downstairs of the house presentable -i am by no means obsessed with HW- it is not perfectly tidy at all - but i have to clean the table, sweep the floor, put toys away, put WM, DW on, tidy surfaces, bring in wood everyday before i can start work.

The kitchen - which is my office - is the heart of our home - everyone comments on the cosy farmhouse kitchen - and i feel i have to complete the look by always having something simmering away in the oven - and to have some HM biscuits to offer them (and i make them for the kids packed lunches) the people dropping in are often customers for eggs or lamb etc but they stay and chat...which is good as it is building a relationship with the customers etc - but i sometimes need to get on with work.

My business is promoting / retailing local foods, farming and local food producers - so doing the os cooking, baking etc is also part of the image of the business - but at the moment i am not having time to do any of the actual work...

i feel i need to zone things eg batch cooking on a monday afternoon, working on computer on a tuesday morning or whatever - and have strict time for housework eg stop HW at 10 and open the computer up...and do an hours HW or baking every evening - to make sure i do paid work in the day..

any advice appreciated

art

artichoke

caledonian_princess wrote: »

Artichoke, do you have a proper work space like your DH. I find that actually having a room I go to work in invaluable, like your DH I close the door and I get on with my job.

hi

No- the kitchen table and the work surface behind it is my office - everyone who comes to our house is used to walking round the back and can look through the window to see if i am about if they want eggs or anything else..

There is no other room for me to have an office at the moment - we are going to convert an outbuildng into an office space - divided into two - one for me and one for DHs businsess as he is in a bedroom at the moment..but we can not afford to do that work until my new business is up and running..


As the kitchen is my office - i can't sit down and work until it is tidy - and it is a through kitchen / living room - so i have to have it clean and tidy in case anyone calls in. The ironic thing is that before is started this business and the kids were at home (DS is only 5 so not been in school long) the house was a mess totally - but if people called by i used to hope that they could see i had 2 little kids and so excused the mess....

Also as my office is the kitchen I need to tell DH he has to come down and have lunch at an agreed time as he has started to come down to eat just when i have finished my lunch and want to get back on with work..

aghg - i am sure we will work this out - any more advice appreciated

art

Alwaysthebusybee

Hi Art,

I do not work at home but in the last few months I have found that I am feeling fed up with something else always needing doing - I found the easiest thing for me to have a balance was a to do list ... I start my to do list every morning and then allocate a 30 minute block to that job - whether it be ironing, cleaning the kitchen or cooking.

It must be really hard being interrupted all the time - could you possibly give the kitchen / living room a quick clean before bed so you are not doing so much on a morning? I find just having my lunch and work clothes ready means as I am not as stressed in the morning.

I have a list of OS things I want to start doing and I am adding them in gradually so it doesn't seem as daunting.

Atbb x

HariboJunkie

It is just a matter of discipline I'm afraid.

I work from home (for my husband). We have an office but don't use it every day (to save on petrol as we have to take both cars as I leave early to collect the children). OH is disciplined but then he doesn't have to do housework anyway so is hapy to concentrate on work.

I try to set aside days to work parts of days. I do alot of housework on a Monday and Friday so do no paid work at all those days. The days in between I try to be more disciplined and get basic housework out of the way early in the morning and then stop at school time. I do alos work in the evenings sometimes when the children are in bed as OH works late into every evening too.

I don't arrange to have friends round on the days I work and keep all my voluntary committments (I have 4 of them) to times that suit my paid work.

I realise that my situation I different as I effectively work for myself but just wanted to say that being disciplined is the only answer Ican see.

ChocClare

artichoke wrote: »

DH works from home but he is much stricter than me - he goes and sits in his office from 9.15 until 3.15 (he does the school run) and then he goes back to his office until 5.30 and after tea most nights he goes back to his office until kids betime when he does help with bedtime but goes back to his office after that and works.
.... i know it must be easier working from home but at the moment i feel DH has his routine and goes off to work in his office and i just have to do everything else...which makes me feel i am not getting enough paid work done in the daytime - although the house does look better...

I think men are much better at compartmentalising things and also, he has the right attitude - he needs to work and he does. Unfortunately, we women also feel we need to be doing everything else - so we do!

I know he does help with the school run, but could he be doing anything else?

Secondly, I work away from home and pick up my daughter and am home by about 4pm most days. I have enough time between 4pm and 6.30pm to do my housework and cook. Could you compartmentalize your day like that for example?

As interruptions are a problem (and I work in a service industry so believe me, I know all about not being able to turn people away even though you've got mountains of work to do), could you put an open and closed sign on the door with hours of business? Could you meet people at the door and not invite them in? Could you keep a mobile in your pocket pre-programmed to your home number so that you can press the button and make your phone ring, allowing you to excuse yourself after, say, 5 minutes? :rotfl:

Sorry, I don't feel I'm being specially helpful! The only thing I can think of is to do what your DH does and treat it as if you were going OUT to work, so that you do any house-y-type work before 9am and after 3.30pm. Hope you get it sorted!

artichoke

thanks everyone

yes, i need to be more disciplined and stricter with myself and with the customers who drop in..

I am self employed - well it is a workers co-op - so i do need to motivate myself as no boss is going to hassle me to work harder.

I am quite organised and do have a to do list every day - it is just some days no work items get done - but other things not on the list do get done.

I do tidy the kitchen and living room every evening before i go to bed but the kids and me and DH are up from 5.30 onwards and quite a lot of mess gets made in the 3 hours until they go off to school at 8.40 - kitchen mess, toys out, clothes dropped on floor, books fallen out of bookcases. Mud all over floor from going out and back in to feed animals etc etc

eg today i have not got on with anything on my work to do list - but have had one farmer sitting here at the kitchen table with me whilst we sorted out some marketing (which was not on my urgent list for today but was on a list somewhere next week), i sorted out a software problem on the new business website, i flyed a bit eg done dailes, WM, DW, washing out, and posted too much on here:o:o

so tonight i will compartmentalize my working hours. I already do that a bit in that i do not arrange meetings for mondays and fridays as they are my main housework days refinding the house under all the debri on a monday and friday, so i need to slot in some baking time, and batch cooking time, and veg growing time, and some strict work time when i can not be interrupted.

Earlier this week when i had an urgent task i HAD to get done on the computer i went off to a local cafe and sat there for 2 hours working on laptop - although 3 people i knew did pop in by chance and sit down to chat with me about our new business as lots of people are interested - which is a good thing:D. The people popping into the kitchen are not friends (well some are) but they are also customers and that is why they are knocking as they want eggs or meat... but maybe i do need to have set times when i am not disturbed..

I need to adjust my life - but i am sure i will work it out... i just need to loose my forum habits for a while:o and be more disciplined - i do like routine - i just need to make time to create one..

right off the think about what is for tea and i have not had chance to make what i had planned to make tonight:o

art

JillS_2

Could you get DH to stay downstairs after lunch and work there - and deal with customers while you went and did your paid work for a couple of hours (in his office)?

craftdaft

Could you have the eggs and an honesty box at your door and a sign saying to knock if any queries or want meat/anything else (worded a bit better to indicate you welcome queries). By having it a self serve system you may get less interruptions but are on hand to keep an eye on things.

As to the time-keeping I'm afraid my skills need a lot of developing so am reading and learning