Photo credit Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash
How do you keep on task when you work from home? Do you have “to do” lists? Do you keep to a schedule that will ensure you accomplish all you need to? Co-working is another tool that can help us stay on task, at least for a dedicated time period.
My daughter called me today. That wasn’t unusual. We did a video call so I could see the grandbabies, and they could see me.
As my daughter and I were chatting, I set the phone down on the counter, trying to prop it up so that she could see me, and started peeling apples for the apple pie I needed to make. She started to make dinner for her family, too. We worked and chatted, talking about everything and nothing, the dishes we were preparing, and things we had tried in the past. It was a fun time! It was ALMOST as good as working side-by-side in the kitchen.
This reminded me of co-working with my VA friends.
If you work from home, you know the temptation to do other things that are not building your business, kind of like making that apple pie (although it really did need to be done).
Co-working helps by having a time set aside to accomplish something and knowing that you will have to report back to your co-workers what you achieved. We meet online at a certain time, tell what we want to work on, then turn our cameras off and get busy. At the appointed time, we return to report our progress.
This does not require a group to do, either. A friend from my VA professional group lives in another country on the other side of the world. Since she cannot make our group sessions, she and I meet. The time we meet is later in the day for me which keeps me productive for another hour when I would normally call it quits for the day.
Some networking groups also offer this as an option for their members.
The accountability and the support are phenomenal for accomplishing big or little tasks in a set time.
What about you? Have you done something similar to keep on track and accomplish your tasks? I’d like to hear about it.