Success in Sweatpants

Being a vpreneur usually means working at home, which can be blissful–or at least a blissful idea. I love having my personal and professional lives closely intertwined. It lets me take time out whenever I want to play with the dogs, go for a walk, or watch a particularly interesting TV show. It also lets me go to work at 6 a.m. or work until past midnight if I’m the groove and really cooking.

But I have to admit that Sweatpants Discipline comes hard for me at times. The truth is that if money was plentiful, I’d be a lot more slothful. Well, for a while at least…I think I would reach a equilibrium between work and play, but the work would be stuff that I love that doesn’t necessarily have any commercial value. Like writing books, essays, and other prose pieces. Leading creative fiction workshops and spending time online pondering the meaning of life, the universe, and everything else.

I am a terrible procrastinator. In school, I was a chronic  "putter-offer," writing papers at the last minute, cramming feverishly the night before the exam. I’ve brought those habits forward, and I’m not proud of it.

I have a proposal due  in two days  for what could be a long term strategic client relationship. I’ve had two weeks to do it. Is it done? No. The most I have done is think about it (!) and make some general notes. Will I do it today? Last night, my answer to that question was yes….but here I am, blogging, reading my social network pages, and watching interesting shows on the National Geographic channel. If I’m true to form, I will do it tomorrow, under pressure.

Probably the worst part of this procrastination is the lack of discrete off-time. I lolligag too much during the week, which then requires me to work on the weekend. As a result, every day is a work day to some degree.

This is not good. My brain never gets the chance to just let go for one or two whole days. So I don’t get the benefits of fully relaxing, and I also don’t get the creative benefit of having inspirations and solutions hit me when I’m not paying attention. Plus, my sweetheart doesn’t get to have my undivided attention for more than a few hours–he doesn’t complain, but still…

My office is chaotic. I haven’t completely unpacked everything from my move, and every time I try I get overwhelmed. Even though I know that having my space clean helps my energy and productivity, I haven’t taken care of it.

I tell myself that I am going to chunk out the hours of my workday and devote each chunk to a specific activity. That I am going to structure my work to ensure that I get at least two days completely off every week. But old habits are staying put.

Oh, I get all my work done. And my non-billable tasks–the ones upon which my business depend to grow–also get done, eventually.

Hard to believe that I taught time management back in my corporate life, eh???

Here is my current plan:

• Make progress one inch at a time. If I can’t chunk out the whole day, chunk out an hour (or even 15 minutes) at the same time every day for the same task. Once I master that,  add another chunk/task.
• Adhere to my official office hours as much as possible. This doesn’t mean I can’t still play with the dogs or take a walk–I just need to come back to work right after. It does mean I should tape the interesting TV show for watching after hours.
• Get my office in shape. Honestly–there’s just no excuse!!
• Get back in the habit of maintaining a proactive to do list. This includes planning ahead for meeting deadlines, not just noting the deadline on the list.

That’s all I’m signing up for right now. Stay tuned to see how I do!!!

Any words of encouragement are welcome….