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There’s a secret to this work from home thing.
If you aren’t in on the loop just yet, stick around for a while. Make a cup of coffee and come back – this post will still be here, patiently awaiting your return.
So far, the two things that have proven to be the most effective in keeping my life together while I work from home:
Organizing ahead of time
Understanding motivation vs. discipline
The former is what we will be discussing here. The latter will be discussed in a different blog post.
Organization ahead of schedule is crucial when it comes to working from home. This especially applies when you work from home as a freelancer (hey, hi, that’s me).
So, as a freelancer, how do I do it? How do I get it together each week, how do I keep it together and prevent the boat from sinking below the surface?
I’m so glad you asked, dear reader, because today I am going SPILL EVERYTHING.
Okay so maybe not everything. Some secrets stay on the inside.
But mostly everything. The fun stuff, anyways.
How I structure my work week as a blogger:
I start out with an absolutely scrambled mess of a brain dump. I empty the contents of my brain out until I feel like all of my internal chaos has made it out onto the page in front of me.
Before I knew how to design templates to help keep me organized, I used a good old-fashioned notebook. And truthfully, I still do on occassion. I keep a notebook handy to jot down important thoughts or reminders as needed. As far as the organization goes, though, I use a self-designed template.
This template breaks my week down into sections and then helps me break each day down even further.
Now. Dear reader. If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, you may already be familiar with this outline. As you’re welcomed into the world of the iamparisgiles newsletter, you are actually ambushed on day 4 with a link to download the exact template that I use FOR FREE.
That being said, maybe you’re like me and you need the shiny new template immediately. Maybe you don’t want to wait the 4 days.
I’ve got good news for you: you do have the option to access this printable template today!
Follow this link –> HERE, which will take you to the order form. For a small $5 donation, you’ll have access to this printable right away so you can start getting your week together even sooner.
Back to the post, yeah?
So I bust out this template.
The first page is blank. It was specifically designed for a brain dump. A word-vomit. Whatever you wanna call it. It was designed to contain all of the chaos at once with no rhyme or reason.
Page 2 is where I divide my topics and general notes into two sections. I have problem areas that require attention immediately, and then I have back-burner pots.
My back-burner pots are fairly self-explanatory. These can be left to simmer on the back of the stove without much direct attention and I don’t have to worry about them boiling over at all. I can tend to them as I need to, usually later on in the week.
Once I’ve successfully divided everything into their respective piles, I break things down by day. My problem areas have to be addressed right away, and that’s why they go into the earlier portion of my week.
Because of my personal schedule outside of work, I end up breaking my week down into 3 sections:
Day 1 is my organization day. I meal prep and bag up snacks and write down what needs to be on paper. I try to set the foundation for a successful week.
Days 2-4 are problem area days. These are the days where I focus on primary problems. I prioritize the essentials and these are the days that I use to handle them.
Days 5-7 are back burner days. I address anything that was fine waiting until later. Later has arrived at this point and those things need handled.
Okay so let’s recap:
So far we’ve got everything we need to do out onto a page that only makes sense to us. Perfect.
We took that madness from page 1 and we divided it into what needs to be taken care of now and what can be taken care of later.
The things that need attention now are allocated to the first half of the week.
The things that don’t go to the 2nd.
Everyone following? Good? Good.
BECAUSE NOW. NOW, FRIENDS. NOW WE BREAK IT DOWN EVEN FURTHER MUAH AH HA !
ok I’m done being weird. for a moment.
The daily breakdown is a whole post by itself. It can be found here.