(This post is dedicated to my kick-ass entrepreneur Mom, because it’s her birthday and she has been known to put in some pretty crazy hours. Mom, if you’re reading this at work, go home, for God’s sake. By the way, you don’t look a day over 52.)

What hat are you wearing right now?

The customer schmooze hat? The Accounts Receivable hat? The creative hat? The actually-doing-what-it-says-you-get-paid-to-do-on-your-business-card hat?

As a home business owner, you wear a lot of hats. Sometimes you wear them in rapid succession. Sometimes you wear them all at once. Sometimes you slack off and sit there, hatless, staring at your computer screen.

How are you supposed to get it all done while still sleeping, eating reasonably, watching an occasional movie?

Make certain periods sacrosanct.

Plan certain activities throughout your day, and make those times inviolable. For me, Jack is with his nanny from 9-12 in the morning. That’s when I work. There could be an insect infestation in my kitchen and I would just close the door and deal with it during nap time.

Have a plan for every hour.

You don’t have to stick to the plan, but you need to have one in mind. In my house, between 12 and Jack’s nap, we all hang out and play. That’s it. We read board books and roll around on the floor and see what happens when you try to roll a square block. Yes, if my deadline is insane or somebody died or my stove is on fire, we might not do this. We probably stick to this plan more than 9 days out of 10.

The same thing applies for work. Before Jack gets up, I catch up on my RSS feeds. Once he’s out, the first two hours are for freelance work and the third hour is for blogging. If I’m not done my freelance work by 11, I move on to blogging anyway and the freelance stuff has to wait till Jack’s in bed. That way if I’m behind on one thing, I’m not behind on everything.

Let go.

You know when someone’s in a job interview and they’re asked what their biggest weakness is, and they think they’re all sneaky by saying it’s perfectionism because they think that’s really a positive trait? Um, it’s not. It’s a time sucker. If you can’t do your job well without being a perfectionist, you’re doing the wrong job. Getting an A+ isn’t much better than getting an A and it usually takes three times as long. Go find something better to do with your time than nitpicking about your latest project. Everyone in the world but you knows it’s fine the way it is.

Bookend your day.

When you’re done, you’re done. Turn off the computer. Stop checking your e-mails. Do something that is definitively not work.

Burnout is ugly. You must avoid it.

When you structure your day properly and create a workable, likeable system, you’ll get hours of your day back. You’ll be a more effective worker. You’ll be less stressed. You’ll probably be a nicer person. (Not that my Mom isn’t a nice person. She’s lovely. She’s just been known to work too hard.)

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