Work from home?
Choosing the time management style
that makes you happy.

By Jim Bradley for Work-from-Home.org

Even if you work from home you need a schedule for your busy day, but you must know under what kind of schedule you work best. Do you like to jump straight into your work or ease your way in slowly and smoothly?

Fortunately, when you work from home you can choose the life and work style you’re happiest with.

Many work from home people have a personal way to start and end their working day. These little idiosyncrasies can replace the commute between home and the work place, which not only helps to motivate you, but also serves as a way to relax after a hectic day.

A flexible schedule allows the person who works from home to carry out their work or business around child care needs and the necessities of housework during the day, then they can prioritize more of the work at night when their spouse is around to help with the children. This schedule basically means you work as much or little and when you can or wish and then make up the time later. It is important however to make sure you do stick to the schedule.

A consolidated work week schedule means that the person who works at home to do 'power shifts' when their children are being supervised and they have no or fewer distractions to their business or work.

A few work from home business people work the traditional eight-to-five day with evenings and weekends off (emergencies excluded). Those who work from home in this group tend to have child care set up with a relative or friend and there is no housework during work hours allowed.

Some people who work from home use a flexible schedule. This means, for instance that they can work a traditional eight hour day or more over three days perhaps, and then take two days off along with the evenings and weekends. This allows for housework to be scheduled in and the days worked can be rotated later too.

If you really absolutely hate schedules and prefer to work from home because you’re not bound to anyone else’s schedule then perhaps you would be suited to having no set routine? This means you can work when you feel like it, or not, as the case may be. Most people who work from home and prefer this way of working often find that their hours vary from day-to-day.

After all the work and household chores are penciled in, it is important to remember to take time out for yourself. There are neither points nor thanks for running yourself into the ground with the demands of the children, the house and your work from home business or job, so don’t forget to schedule some down time for yourself.

Here’s to getting to choose our own lifestyles.

Jim is a Scottish writer now living in Pennsylvania with his wife, whom he refers to as his main inspiration, motivation and support for all his writing work and his life. Jim has been a full time freelance writer since 2005. You can see more of his work here.