Many people with small or home businesses work at them around another job.  They may have a full or parttime job working for someone else.  How do they combine the two efficiently and productively?

Set down a business plan for your business.
Decide how you can get it started parttime, utilizing the hours when you’re not at another job.
If it’s an online business, it’s much easier to juggle your activities, fitting your business into the time slots you’re not at your “away” job.
If you’ve opened a business in your home, decide what hours you’ll be open…in other words, when you’re not away …read more

The challenge – organizing your work so you’re productive when the weather outside lures you away from the keyboard, sewing machine, easel, billing, bookkeeping…or other necessary tasks to keep your business on track.
How can you take advantage of everything?

Get up extra early so that you can get the absolutely necessary work done before breakfast.
Organize your “to do” list so that the priority items are on top.  When those are done, you can play, then get to the not so important items afterward.
Before being lured away from work, make a commitment to stay up later that evening to make sure everything …read more

In response to my post, How Do You Organize When the Internet Is Down?, Jessica left the following comment:
I try and do as much as I can “offline” first, like get the emails all composed in outlook, the blog posts typed up, and THEN go the coffee shop or library to hit send on everything. I find I’m more productive at home when working, so I try to take advantage of that, and save the easy part for when I’m out.
I think this is good advice from Jessica and probably is something many of you do.  Unfortunately, neither of the …read more

As I write more and more blogs, plus newspaper columns, I find I must become better organized. 
I have a habit of jotting down ideas on whatever pieces of paper I have handy and putting them all in a folder, on a pad of paper, or on my desk.
This had become unmanageable chaos until I began separating and categorizing.  Why didn’t I do this before?  Because I was working at only one or two blogs and one column.  I was able to keep them compartmentalized in my mind.
Suddenly the situation esculated…in a good way because now I am writing many blogs.  So …read more

I have a number of family memory related projects, so must organize or prioritize them so I can get the most   These include:

Developing Memory Scrapbooking Kits for nursing homes, senior center or individuals.
Teaching classes at these locations.
Teaching more workshops on Writing Your Family Stories, such as I did at the Pease Public Library.
Blogging at My One-Room School Heritage blog and seeing what spinoffs I can create from it.
Writing my memoirs.  I hadn’t thought people would be interested in this, but a writing colleague keeps insisting I get it going.

Another friend urges me to create a brand for these memory related …read more

Instead of cold, black containers for pencils, pens, folders, sticky notes and such, why not personalize them? 
Yes, it depends on the look you want to achieve.  Some offices may give a more professional message if you use the efficient office supply items.
However, home offices and those with less formal appearance may benefit from personalized containers.  Also, your attitude may be affected positively with these items around you.
Take cans or jars and personalize with artistic designs.  Use mixed media techniques or simply cover with paper, photos or art work.  Some of this might reflect work that you do in your business.  …read more

“Mary, you must be so well organized,” people often comment when they learn I have two outside-the-home jobs, have a writing home business and another business with my husband, along with being a mom and grandmother.
Sometimes I don’t feel organized as I go from task to task.  But I try to make every moment count, even those when I relax and read.  Basically I enjoy all my jobs, so that helps me keep working at them.
To fit all into my schedule:

I make “to do” lists for the various areas of my life
I carry notebook and pen with me to jot …read more

My husband and I are frequent business travelers, generally going by plane but sometimes by auto.  I’ve had to become adept at packing quickly and organizing so I can get the most into our suitcases in a small space.
One of the main things I’ve learned is that I always packed more clothes than I needed, especially for myself.  So I’ve tried to become more efficient.

I color coordinate, so everything can be mixed and matched…skirt, slacks, tops and jacket.  I began to realize my husband needed fewer clothes because his were coordinated already.
I now take one pair of shoes that will …read more

After my notebook computer crashed, I began using my husband’s desktop and sitting in his office chair.  I noticed, after several days, that my lower back began to ache.  (I’d broken it in an accident several years ago, but hardly have any trouble with it.)  Finally the ache grew into pain, so I hauled out my back brace.
“What’s causing this?” I wondered.  Then I realized when I sat in various positions the discomfort was worse than in others.  “Is it Jim’s chair?”
So I exchanged his for the chair I had been using and immediately felt better.  My chair placed me in a more upright …read more

Since the invention of sticky notes, I’ve discovered many uses for them and love to find all types and colors.  I consider that they help me keep organized.  Some people may think I make too frequent use of a good thing!
I like to use them in the little notebooks for organizing my blog writing.  I list the posts I’ve published, then use a sticky note on the page to jot down ideas for future posts.  As I use the ideas, I cross them off.
I have an outside-the-home job, and work different hours and days each week.  So I jot my schedule …read more