You think working from home means watching Star Trek in your underwear? Grab your bat’leth, because those are fighting words.
In the feast-or-famine cycle of self-employment, I’ve recently put on my Fat Guy Pants and pulled up to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It’ll last as long as most turkey dinners do, but I’m going gorge myself until it’s over.
Managing it requires paper, pens and a plan. I typically do a weekly review of all my open projects, but tonight the David Allen Angel on my shoulder was pestering me. “Dave,” he said. “You’ve got to get this out of your head. Don’t wait until Sunday. Remember the anxiety dream you had the other night? Who do you think sent that to you?”
He’s right, of course.
David Seah creates amazing files for this very purpose. The Progress Tracker is an awesome project manager. Use one sheet per project, with the associated actions listed below. Track how long each action step takes in 15 minute increments and use the notes section for reference info. I keep each one in a labeled manila envelope.
Now I’ve got each project broken down into small, observable action steps. The most pressing go into my notebook, sorted by importance (the 3 Most Important Tasks of the Day go on top) and context (@computer, @phone, @errands, etc.). Now I can feel I’m in a state of relaxed control even though there are many people waiting for me to fulfill commitments I’ve made (Please don’t stop writing me checks!). There’s a lot to do, and some discipline and organization can make it all happen.
If there’s time to watch TNG (Skin of Evil is the best episode ever. EVER!) while wearing a pair of boxers and my Cooper’s Seafood House T-shirt, I haven’t found it.
(Pay no mind to the fact that I wrote this in running pants and a hoodie).
