Working from home can make it tough for a person to create and stick with a successful business schedule.

I am guilty of setting my home business hours and then letting other things take control. I am going to help YOU regain control of YOUR time.

Let me begin by saying everything I write in this blog post is from personal experiences and techniques I have used and found to work for me, I am not a professional time management person.

Setting a business schedule allows you:

• To have less stress.
• To have more family time.
• To be less apt to work into the late hours of the night.

First step in setting a business schedule is to decide the following:

• Will you work days or nights?
• How many days a week will you work?
• Do you have previous family commitments such as sports, musicals, events, etc?

Second step in setting a business schedule is to figure out the actual time in the day you will be working. If you have children in the household you should take into consideration when you have daycare for them. You may have school age children and wish to work during their school hours. Set your business work hours and days of week based on your needs as a business owner and parent.

Third step is to ensure that your clients know your hours of operation, and that their needs will be met during those hours. If for some reason you have a prospect that is interested in hiring you, yet requires a different working schedule, it is completely up to you to accept or deny. If you accept please be sure that you go through all the steps listed above to ensure you will stick to this schedule and still allow time for family.

Fourth step is to type up a document with your hours of operation and have it placed by your desk, in the kitchen, wherever you and your family will clearly see it. This is to serve as a reminder to your family and yourself that you are to be working, and have no interruptions.

If you work from your home office please be sure to put a note on the door that you are working, to deter anyone from knocking on the door. If you can, put your house phone on silent mode so that you are not disturbed by any personal phone calls.

The best way to stick to your schedule is to tell your family and friends what your hours of operation are and enlist them to help out with other household chores so that you can be successful and fully commit to your new business schedule.