Help for you if you work alone from home or small office

One of the great challenges that face the solo worker is that of actually getting through the day having done all that we intended, without going off on some wild journey of distraction.
Most people (especially me) are familiar with the feeling of excitement and determination that greets each new day. However, something — and I’m still not sure exactly what — often knocks us right off course. The result? Well, we usually end up with an entertaining, interesting hour or two (or usually more) with nothing to show for our time. But, as we all know, time is money; do we ever put a value on these wanderings, these self-indulgent activities? An hour spent looking for that elusive CD on Amazon or eBay and trying to save a couple of pounds, costs us a great deal more.
What is your favourite distraction: aimless internet exploration? Sandwich making? Daytime TV? (please,no). Reading that unputdownable book? Nattering to friends on the phone? Or good old fashioned daydreaming? My favourite is picking up a guitar and even searching the web for chords for a song I’ve just heard on the radio.
If you dare, keep a distraction diary, or rather, a working diary. When (if) you start your working day, write the time in a diary (not your usual appointments diary). When you stop, for whatever reason, even a comfort break, write the time again. When (eventually) you resume work, write the time down again and also what you were doing.
Be honest, it’s no good writing that you were planning your business trip when you were actually planning your weekend of golf in the sun — yes, I know, they can be the same thing. Do this throughout the day, and at the end of your day — make it the second to last thing you do before you pack up — do some simple addition and put the total work and total play (because that’s what is usually is) at the foot of each page. I started off this paragraph with the statement ‘if you dare’ for good reason. This is a very revealing exercise, a brilliant habit to get in to, but also a real statement of intent; you won’t look back. I won’t be the first or the last person to have been completely amazed by the outcome of this: the realisation that you could be putting so much more money in the bank if you cracked the whip a little more.
I said that the totalling should be the penultimate thing you do before you finish work. So what is the last? It is simply a list for the next working day: things you must accomplish the following day. This list can be written in your new distraction diary (ok, we’ll call it a working diary), at the top of each day. If a task is too big for a day then still list it and detail the progress you must make on it that day. For example if you are writing a book, determine the quantity you’ll do (words, chapters) or if you prefer the time you’ll spend writing (honestly). Those items on your list must be ticked, carried over to the next day (if unavoidable), or removed (deemed unnecessary), but never ignored.
The very act of analysing and planning your days like this will increase your performance without you doing anything else. However, when you see what you’re really doing during the day, you’ll also want to be more proactive in making changes. There might be a pattern of behaviour that you’ll expose, and the likelihood is that you’ll have to spend a while to break the habit; remember it takes about 3 weeks to make or break a habit (no, smoking is not a habit, not in the typical sense anyway).
To recap (with a list).

• Get a new diary, a day per page is best.
• Each day write down the time you start work and each time you break off or get distracted.
• When you’ve finished for the day total your times: working and distractions.
• Write your list of must dos at the top of the following day.
• Address any behaviour patterns that you are unhappy about.