I have a huge white board in my home office, about 4ft x 3ft..my friends laugh when they come over due to the size of it. Here is where I plan my days. I'll be honest, my memory is not as great as it used to be as I tend to forget things that would never slip me before. Along with my huge white board I also have about 4 dry erase markers..blue - red - green and black. here's how I used my board ..
Every day I make a do to list (a section is also reserved for a monthly to-do list - big projects)
I try to break up the board into 4 sections...
1. My personal websites - stuff that needs to get done. (www.genuinejobs.com / www.basichomebusiness.com / www.easyebayprofits.com ..and others in development)
2. The sites that I offer support and consulting for. (Ilovemlm.com / Bigmoneyfreetime.com)
3. Things that I give myself the month to accomplish.
4. Stuff I need to do around the house..like change filters, small repairs etc..
Everyday I make a list of the things that needs to get done for each of the 3 main categories using the 4 markers I mentioned earlier..
Here's how that works..
- black is used to make the list
- red is used to check mark those that are completed
- green are those that I'm currently working on
- blue is used to highlight items that may have carried over from one day to another
Why the different coulours? It makes it easy for me to see where I'm at, at the end of the day..it's a great feeling seeing tons of red check marks ...gives me a sense of accomplishment. If you have children as I do, it also allows them to take a peek into all that I have to do....so when they come into my office the very first thing they do before asking me to drop them off at the mall is look at the board. If they see a lot of black without and red check marks they know I'm busy. Mind you it does work against me at times.. when my wife or kids comes in and sees that I have little on my schedule, it's like a green light for them to come up with something to do.
Make a to do list, it's a great way to keep on top of things.
All the best!
Chris De La Rosa is a work from home dad who manages Genuinejobs.com where users have free access to vacant work from home, telecommute, freelance and contract jobs You can also get help with your resume, cover letter and tips on a successful job interview. You can also read my daily entries at my blog, A work from home dad's story.
