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Step 1
Clear your mind and your home office space. Make a giant to-do list and write down every little thing you need to get done, both personal and professional. Clean out your closets, desk drawers, bookshelves and filing cabinets. Throw away things you haven't used in a year or place them in storage if you think you might need them again.
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Step 2
Create four workstations in your home office: telephone center, mail center, financial center and filing center. Place everything you'll need to carry out specific tasks in the proper center and make sure they don't wander around your office. You get better time management by defining a space for each of these major business tasks.
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Step 3
Pay attention to the noises you get in your home office. Even a wheezing radiator can disturb your concentration. Fix or replace whatever makes a constant noise, even if it's low volume. Carpeting and barriers such as curtains or dividers can help keep noisy office equipment from affecting your productivity.
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Step 4
Use a personal organizer, either paper or digital. Make sure it has a place to write your goals, your everything list, daily to-do lists and appointments on a calendar. Every Sunday night, look at what the coming week has to offer.
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Step 5
Plan the following day's activities the night before. Wait until you've had dinner and spent time with your family before making the next day's to-do list, when your mind is distanced from work. Include personal activities in your daily planner so you get some downtime.
