GTD and working at home

[Red Molly]

Hello all,

I'm a GTD newbie but very enthusiastic about the potential for the system. I'm a full-time freelance writer with several trade and corporate clients; I also have two young children, multiple volunteer commitments, etc., etc., you've heard it all before.

Does anyone else who works wholly or primarily at home have any suggestions for adapting GTD to a non-traditional office setting? For example: where do you keep a large filing cabinet when you have a small living space? How do you reconcile professional and personal demands and NAs? How do you give up the beloved but underfunctional Franklin Covey 365 planner and transition to something better? How do you ignore those persistent houseworky tasks and focus on brainwork instead?

Thanks for any help you can provide. I appreciate it!

 

[pageta]

I work at home and am SAHM to a toddler. I use a paper planner (Franklin Covey Simplicity in weekly format). I set up my planner a bit differently than DA says on his site. Rather than a section for next actions, another for Projects and still another for Someday/Maybe, I have a section for each context and the next actions, projects, and someday/maybes that pertain to that context. So my contexts are:
Home
Business (clients)
Business (office)
Errands
etc.

Of the above categories, all but Errands are done at home, but separating things out helps me focus.

I'm a fan of the Flylady for keeping the house in order. When my house is in order, I am able to focus. I only spend about 20 minutes a day doing domestic stuff (aka cleaning and laundry), but that is enough to keep on top of it so I can think.

So there's some advice to get you started.

 

[Denver Dave]

I work from home as a webmaster for small businesses. I don't have children at home, but things are different than a work environment for me. Tasks tend to be "things to be done" and not always separate from work vs personal. What was time-off again?

One of my initial challenges was getting enought stuff out of the office area so that I could work. Definitely had to utilize storage boxes in the basement for achives. I purchased a large 2 drawer file cabinet and don't really have space for another, but bumping into space limitations.

Somedays I wonder what possessed me to work from home and then I'll cross a bridge over the gridlocked freeway and wonder what the heck all those people are doing down there. No more wasted time commuting for me.

Best wishes.

 

[DeveloperMCT]

Computer Programmer, web guy. I have a wife and four kids.

I work 3rd shift when the house is nice and quiet.

I've been on the system for about a year now...off and on...I'm still trying.