It's All About the Schedules

By Tamara Hancock

"How do you do it?"

I get asked this question daily by everyone from friends, to colleagues, to perfect strangers. When most people find out that I work from home, with children - they are impressed. When I let them know that I typically work around 40 hours per week - they are amazed. When they find out that I have five children...well, that's when they are blown away. Inevitably, the next phrase I hear - "Wow, you are my hero..."

There is absolutely nothing heroic about what I do from day to day. My time used to control me. I was tired, stressed out, and wondering what exactly about working from home was good for me and my family. After some time however, it became apparent to me that balancing family, home, and career simply comes down to one simple word. Are you ready? Schedules. I now know every minute of the day, what I am doing, and when I am doing it. Sound complicated? Not really, once you take a step back and look at your day, you'll realize you already live by a schedule for the most part.

So how do you create a schedule? I will share with you what I did. And no, it isn't an overnight process, but anything that is really worth it never is. But, you can trust me, follow these few simple steps, and you are well on your way to being organized - with your time anyway.
Before you can create a working schedule for yourself, you need to define the times you spend during the day doing certain tasks. The easiest and most practical first step to defining this time is to create your family schedule. Why? Because this is the schedule you already keep, without realizing it.

First, figure out what you do in a typical day for your family. Don't make any special effort to be scheduled or organized, just live your day the way you normally do, and take notes. What do you do through out the day? When do you do it? Are there typical things you do every day around the same time? If it helps, keep a notebook, and for the next few days jot down when you - and your kids - do certain things. For example, if your kids are anything like mine, you can set the clock by the time they wake up in the morning. For me, it's 6:30 AM. After they wake up, a chain of events is put into place...diaper changes, change of clothes, get dressed, and breakfast. Take a note of the time, when did you complete this chain of events? For me, it's around 7:30 AM. Track all repeating daily events, include nap time, lunch time, play time, and dinner.
Keep your notebook with you for the next few days; you'll be amazed at the similarities from day to day. Once you locate the similarities, you are going to start creating your schedule. I entered mine into an excel spreadsheet and color coded family events in green. For example, the block of time from 6:30 AM to 8:00 AM on my family schedule is blocked out in green. I know that every morning from 6:30 to 8:00, the kids and I are getting ready to start our day.

Next, you need to analyze the time you devote to your career. Repeat the same steps from above, only this time through, pay close attention to the tasks you complete each day to run your business. Don't necessarily pay attention to the times you do them, but rather WHAT you do. The whole purpose of working at home is to fit your career around your family, not the other way around. Look at your workload, what is it that you do? Are there client calls to be made? Do you spend a large amount of time returning emails, and written correspondence? Do you have your list? Good.

With the list in hand that you just created, look at the blocks of time in your schedule that are now reserved for family time. Do you see large blocks of time between events? On my schedule, between 8 AM and 10:15 AM there is a large block of time that does not have a daily repeated event. Now is the time to fill in your career duties. Let's look at scheduling time to make client phone calls. With your schedule in front of you, look for periods of time in your day when your house might be quiet enough to make a professional call. For me, it's between 10:30 AM and 12:00 Noon - why? This is when my two year old takes a nap, and my three year old has "quiet time". I blocked this time out on my schedule to make and receive calls. Continue through your working tasks, and identify times on your schedule that you can complete them. When can you return emails? What is a good time to research new projects? Do you see things falling into place?

Now, look at your schedule. There may be times left in there that are "free". If that's true, then you aren't done yet - and if it isn't true, you may want to take a second look at the tasks you do have scheduled. The "free" time is the most important time in your day. What is the "free" time for? This is time for your family, for your kids, for your home, and for you. We all made the choice to work from home so that we could be closer to our family. A lot of times it is difficult to draw the line between work and home, especially when they occupy the same space. This "free" time is the time you use to remind yourself why you decided to work from home in the first place. We use the time at our house to build play-dough creatures, color, and play Candy-Land. Sometimes we even go for a walk, or go to McDonalds. "Free" time is also used to clean house, go to the store, and impromptu visits to the library.

Finally, test your schedule out. The most important factor to making it work is to live by it. When your time is up on a certain task, you must move to the next. A schedule doesn't work unless you live by it. I am not saying that every day is going to fall into place, and every task is going to run smoothly every day. The fact of the matter is, we live in the real world and in the real world - things happen. However, when you have a schedule to go by when these "things" happen you will know what you have coming up, and figuring out a time to manage it won't be such a daunting task.

Like I said, I'm nobody's hero. I just took the time to figure out what others need of me, and when I have the time to do it. I now have control over my time, it doesn't control me - and that is an amazing feeling.

About the Author: Tamara Hancock, owns and operates her own small business, and also works as a Virtual Administrative Assistant from home. She designs and maintains several websites, enjoys baking, scrapbooking, and creative writing. She and her husband live in Phoenix, Arizona where they are raising their five children.