A Daily Routine

Establishing a daily routine is a critical factor when you work from home. I would even go so far as to say without it you will accomplish much less and be prone to distractions. Distractions can absolutely keep you from never moving forward in your business.

When I first started working from home setting a daily routine was a huge challenge. I had just launched my second child off to college and my day was unstructured for the first time in years.

As a stay at home mom I had spent countless hours with my kids activities inside and out of school, worked part time at the school office, sold books on Ebay and did plenty of volunteer work.

Being a full time mom is a job and once you move beyond the infant years life gets fairly structured. But now I was footloose and fancy free and wanted to start a business.

I thought…how cool. I can wake up when I want, stay in my pajamas, fiddle around on Facebook and email and then get to work. Well, that didn’t work out well.

Entrepreneurs Struggle with Setting A Daily Routine

Most entrepreneurs I know who work from home fell victim to lack of a daily routine initially. Some were so happy to get out of the rat race of a regular daily 9-5 job or longer hours that they threw away the good parts of having that job.

That would be the discipline, deadlines and structure that comes with working for someone else. It is so easy to get caught up in reading emails, tweeting and spending excess time on Facebook and other social media sites. Or perhaps spending countless hours learning something that doesn’t move your business forward. These are all distractions.

A daily routine will get you back on track and eliminate most of your distractions because you are going to respect the routine. It gives you the basic structure you need to get things done. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t ever change it if something important comes up. Remember, the only boss you answer to is yourself.

Create a Flexible Routine

What worked for me several months ago has been adjusted because I have a new grandbaby in the home. My mornings have been rearranged to accommodate cuddling time with her.

This won’t last as she grows out of the infant stage. She will need more structure and routine herself. But I wouldn’t trade this time with her now for anything! So I created a flexible routine.

I now get up an hour earlier, cut my ritual of reading, journaling and meditation to 20 minutes and then jump into my online business while the house is still quiet. If this gets disrupted I am flexible and get back to work immediately afterwards. I have also added late night hours to get things done.

As any parent knows a small infant must be tended to and I want to be that extra pair of hands so my daughter-in-law can get some extra sleep if needed.

Having a daily routine will keep you focused on achieving your goals and taking the next steps in your business. Without it you will find yourself overwhelmed, scattered and wasting precious time on the non- essentials.

You can view a previous post I made about getting the most out of your life and suggest a book that will help you get focused here.

What’s key is deciding what daily routine you want and sticking to it! You design what works for you. This is your life and your business. There is no right or wrong way as long as what you decide for yourself works. Others can give you great suggestions but ultimately you design this yourself.

Have you had to readjust your daily routine before? Comment below on what worked for you. 🙂