Productivity Tip: Assess, Focus, and Just Do It!

HomeBizNotes.com

Today’s guest post on productivity comes from experienced freelance writer, Jeanne Dininni. Jeanne has a successful home based writing business.

Guest Post

By Jeanne Dininni

Often we face unpleasant tasks in the course of running our home businesses. As a freelance and contract writer, it’s very easy for me to become scattered and lose my focus, due to the number of options available for submitting my freelance work. It’s also easy to become bogged down or feel trapped by the incessant requirements and ongoing deadlines of contract writing.

Assess: Look at the Big Picture
During such times, I need to stop, take a deep breath, and look at the big picture. Then, I need to ask myself a few questions: What must I accomplish today to meet my commitments? What should I accomplish today to move my business forward? What do I want to accomplish today to satisfy my own creativity and give me a sense of fulfillment?

All three of the above areas—meeting commitments, seeking new opportunities to advance the business, and satisfying our own creativity—are important to a healthy home-based enterprise. But every home-based businessperson must decide for herself in which order to address them each day for the smoothest work flow and most productive outcome.

Focus, Then Do It: The Quest for Balance
To succeed in achieving a balance between the three areas, I focus my energies on just one thing at a time, and then do it. When it’s difficult to motivate myself to write an article, I just start anywhere—even if it’s just finding and listing a source. The key is to begin. Once I’ve done that, I’ve built momentum and can then progress to the place where I can enter into the subject matter of the piece and let my interest—as well as the challenge of writing a good article—motivate me and propel me forward.

I then try to do at least one thing—send out an article, seek a new market, network with other writers, generate a new article idea, or begin writing a new piece—to help my business progress.

And last but not least, I always try to take some time to do something creative that I enjoy (i.e., writing my blog, reading and commenting on other blogs, visiting new websites, googling topics that interest me, e-mailing a friend or family member to catch up, or just writing something that interests or moves me). This helps keep me inspired so I can continue to be productive day after day.

Your business may not be writing, but you can still take the three ideas above and adapt them to your own profession—and become more productive in the process.

Jeanne Dininni is an independent writer and blogger whose works appear in various online and print venues, including Work.com and Absolute Write. She also authors the Writer’s Notes blog, designed to inspire, encourage, and provide tools and resources for writers to help them succeed.

© Productivity image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com