As many of us know, working from home has loads of perks, from the increased freedom to no daily commute, to the flexibility of tasks. But as many of us quickly learned over the past year, working from home is not without its own set of challenges. The lines between work and home can easily blur, leaving us wondering where the day went and what we accomplished. If this sounds familiar, read on to hear some tips on how to be more efficient in your day to help you live a more successful work-life balance. 

1. Clearly define your workspace — set up a home office, ensuring it has everything you need to be comfortable and relaxed (desk, computer, chair, printer, candles, etc.). Before you sit down to work, do a quick check for anything that pulls your attention, like unfinished tasks or clutter. If so, remove or tuck them away for later. Remember, your office is a space to be productive, creative and is your sanctuary, so treated it as such. 
2. Make a schedule and stick to it! — yes, this can be a challenge, but this will assist you in being constructive and able to meet your goals. The important thing with creating a schedule is to make sure it suits you, is reasonable and is simple to continue. If you spend more time creating your schedule for the week or month than you do on your work, it defeats the purpose of working within a schedule.  
3. Deal with distractions — let’s be honest, distractions are a part of life and show up no matter what we do, so it becomes a matter of learning to manage and reduce them where ever we can. If you know that your kids need your attention when they come home, then book it in as a work break, allowing you to focus on their needs and avoid the guilt of not being present with work or them. 
4. Set boundaries — this can be difficult, as it is not just the boundaries with others but also the boundaries we need for ourselves. It is ok to say ‘no’ and not feel obligated to do and be everything to everyone. Knowing what we can manage and what our limits are will help. Also, be flexible; sometimes ‘fires’ arise needing attention, the ability to go with the flow and adapt quickly will serve you well.  
5. Manage your stress levels — at the end of the day, whether you work in the office, from home, or both, stress can cause an added layer to our life that can lead to other issues. Find out what techniques work best for you in reducing your stress levels. This may be done through exercise, mediation, taking more breaks, music, dance, etc. Also, instilling healthy eating habits and a goodnight’s sleep will aid in overall health and wellbeing. 

 
To dive in further on finding the ‘right’ work-life balance for you, visit the link below from the Government of Canada. https://www.csps-efpc.gc.ca/tools/jobaids/finding-work-life-balance-eng.aspx
 
Happy balancing! 

Effortlessly, 
Theresa

​I don’t know about you but when it comes to email, I seem to have a love-hate relationship! I love it for the convenience and almost simultaneous delivery of content. But because it’s so favourable and timely, it’s used by all, leaving us bombarded with hundreds of emails a week or day.

And as a business owner, it can be difficult to manage and follow up regularly. So how do we bring balance and manage our inboxes? By learning some simple tricks that can make all the difference.

Here are 3 useful tips to get you back on track!

1. Purge (unsubscribe to unnecessary or outdated mailing lists) — I know this may feel painful, but I can assure you you'll feel so much lighter after spending a bit of time unsubscribing to anything non-relevant or unnecessary. This can be tricky if you love the business, but not the hundreds of emails sent or if you enjoy reading some of the information. For times like these, you’ll find using filters very handy. Filters will streamline your inbox and keep things organized. You may also want to consider having a separate email address specifically for newsletter sign-ups. This way you can simply take a few minutes every other day or once a week to quickly glance over anything that may be of interest. Once you’ve weeded out what you want, delete the rest with confidence.
2. Filters & Labels (manage & structure incoming emails) — As mentioned, filters can be fairly handy. If you’re not already using filters and labels, you’ll quickly find how handy they can be and you’ll wonder how you ever survived without them. Filters can be used to manage and sort incoming emails and even allow you to weed out spam and unwanted information. Next labels (also known as folders) can be used to structure your inbox into more organized categories and provide quick access to info. Start with the main heading (label) for a project or item and then create subheadings (labels) under it to break things down into more detailed categories. For example: Leads (main label)> Follow Up (sub-label) > Sign-Ups (sub-label). These labels will help your filters work more efficiently. Or if you'd like you may simply move the emails into the designated labels for later review once it’s been handled.
3. Batch Process (block off time to review email) — Now that your filters and labels are working to manage your incoming mail and you have eliminated what is unnecessary, sitting down to check your email will be more effective and productive. But, if you are frequently checking your email throughout the day, this may drastically reduce your productivity. This is where batch processing is useful. Simply schedule some time during the day to respond to your emails. This helps to keep you focused on the task at hand because you are not pulled in other directions. It’s best to schedule chunks of time throughout your week to respond and review important but not urgent emails. It’s good to monitor how much time you spend replying to one email, keeping this to about 1 minute per email (templates work wonders here), spend your time on value / prior emails (like lead generating items, customer care, partnerships, networking opportunities, speaking engagements, or good friends). Remember that while your batch processing and working through your priority emails, you’ll also want to schedule some time for reviewing your less important emails. This could be once every 2 – 3 days or once a week or bi-monthly. *For urgent items, turn email notifications on, so you can quickly look to see who it’s from and determine if it’s necessary to respond, or have it in place with your team to text you for anything urgent. 

Don’t miss out on important opportunities again. Enjoy these tips and allow them to improve and dare I say, make your inboxes a thing of beauty!

Please share below how these worked for you! 

Effortlessly, 
​Theresa