Office Management: Focus Your Work Time

Every one of us has the same amount of time in our lives, from a stay at home mom, to a corporate executive, to the baker down the street. Balancing work and home life is challenging for almost everyone. Managing a corporate office for over ten years has taught me to be a smart organizer of my time at work.

Everyone wears different "hats" in life - the mom hat, the employee hat, the spouse hat. One of the tricks to organizing your time at work is to keep your focus on the work hat while you're at the office. Remove any distractions that will pull you away from work - a cell phone (unless used for emergencies from home) or your home bills.

Realize that you're being paid to be at work, and your goal is to do the job you've been hired to do. If you organize your time efficiently, you can leave each "hat" in its proper place. If you're at work, you focus on your work and complete your tasks. When you're at home, you focus on family and leave the office behind you.

One of the biggest threats against focus in the office is the internet. Many employers have strict policies regarding their employee's use of internet access for personal reasons. Although most of us feel more relaxed after a few short games of computer Solitaire, it's best to stay away from on-line internet games, which can gobble up our time.

Limit your visits to chat-rooms and forums, as they can literally suck hours away from your work life. The internet can be a great tool (both personally and professionally), especially if you're chained to your desk all day long. Learn to know your weaknesses, and how to stay focused on your tasks and hand, and not being consumed by internet surfing. If you're consumed with finding your great-great grandmother's birth certificate records on-line, limit your searches to your home computer.