Guest Post - How to Get the Most Out of Time Tracking to Improve Your Productivity

Time tracking apps are an excellent, vital tool for anyone who works from home, especially if they’re self-employed. At the same time, they’re like any productivity software in that they’re only as effective as you make them. If you don’t know what you’re doing, they aren’t likely to be of much use. 

Working from home can get pretty rough, especially if you’re your own boss. The odd conference call and digital meeting aside, you don’t usually have a set schedule of any kind. 

This can lead to some incredibly bad habits: Working late. Cramming all your work in at odd hours of the day. Failing to take any time off, or hardly working at all. 

That’s one of the reasons I love time tracking apps. They introduce structure into your day-to-day. They allow you to more effectively block out your day into a collection of distinctive tasks, which helps you feel more accomplished and gives you a better idea of how much, how hard, and how frequently you work. 

But as noted by Quartz’s Corinne Purtill, this can be a double-edged sword. In an email reportedly sent to a time tracker’s customer support staff, she recounts how distracting and disruptive Toggl ended up being in the context of her workplace. She found herself unhappily dwelling on how much time she wasted on grunt work, and on how frequently she had to return to the app as a result of constantly switching between tasks and projects. 

The issue, Purtill acknowledges, is that time tracking doesn’t really mesh with how she approaches her workday. She used the app not because she felt motivated, but because she felt obligated. Because that’s just what you’re supposed to do when optimizing your productivity.

The thing is, the way you work is deeply personal. If you’re going to use any time tracking app, you need to consider how you’ll adapt it to your unique workflows. More importantly, you can’t just mindlessly track your hours - you need to manage them as well.

To that end, there are a few things you can do. 

• Consider what tasks or projects you most frequently work on during the day. It may be worthwhile creating premade categories for each. I’d also advise creating one for general work, as well, such as small jobs that don’t really fit anywhere else. 

• Go in with specific goals. Consider why you’re tracking your hours. Do you want to optimize how much time you spend on each project? Do you want a better work/life balance? Are you simply curious about how your day looks? 

• Prioritize and learn when to say no. Remember, not all tasks are created equal. Always take care of your most important, most time-sensitive jobs first. And more importantly, learn to recognize when you’re overwhelmed or when your attention needs to be directed elsewhere. In other words, learn how to set healthy boundaries where your workload is concerned. 

• Work to be less distracted. We are surrounded by distractions, and none of us are as good at multitasking as we’d like to think. The final and most important piece of advice is to be smart about where and how you direct your focus. Cut out as many unnecessary distractions from your workday as possible and you might be surprised at how much more you get done. 

Ironically, time tracking can end up being both distracting and time-consuming. But it doesn’t have to be. As long as you’re smart, focused, and strategic about it, it’s an incredible addition to just about any workday. 

Author Bio

About the Author: Brad Wayland is the Chief Strategy Officer at BlueCotton, a site with high-quality, easy-to-design custom t-shirts.

Guest Post - 5 Ways to Save Money When Buying Your Next Home

For most people, a home is the highest-value asset you’ll ever purchase. That can make the process pretty intimidating — after all, you’ll want to ensure that you’re getting a good deal, that the company you work with to finance the mortgage is honest, and that your home is likely to appreciate over time. 

There’s no simple method that works for everyone. However, there are plenty of tips and tricks that you can use to help make sure that you get the best deal possible when buying your next home. Below, you’ll find 5 of our favorite methods for saving money during the homebuying process. 

Check them out, and be sure to share with your friends to help them get the deals they deserve the next time they’re in the search for a mortgage. 

Start by saving for a down payment

Your down payment is the sum of money that you pay before you start making regular mortgage payments. Ideally, a down payment should be around 20% of the price of the home, but these days, many banks and lending agencies will allow you to make a down payment of less than that amount. 
While that may seem tempting, there are some good reasons to wait a while and ensure that you have the full 20% before committing to purchasing a home. Here are a few of the benefits:

• A bigger down payment often means a lower interest rate. Your interest rate is part of the cost of your mortgage, and by having a large down payment, you can often lower that rate — which means paying less over the long-term.

• A full 20% down payment also means you’ll likely avoid paying mortgage insurance. Private mortgage insurance (or PMI) is an amount you pay on top of your mortgage that helps your lender feel more secure if you have a low down payment. If your down payment is high, you can often avoid PMI.

• Sellers may be more willing to close at a lower price if they know they will be getting a larger amount up front. Having a full down payment is a huge help in the negotiating and haggling process (more on that in a later section). 

It’s frustrating: you want to purchase your home and move in right away, and the idea of waiting another year or two to grow your savings so you can hit 20% doesn’t sound great. But trust us, it’s worth the savings in the long run. 

Work on your credit score

The next way to save money is by having a solid credit score. If you don’t know, your credit score is basically big financial institutions’ way of measuring how trustworthy of a borrower you are. If you have a great track record of borrowing money and paying it back on time and in full, you’ll have an awesome score. If not, then your score might need some work. 

If you do find that your credit score is a little rough around the edges, don’t panic. There are always ways to repair your credit, like consolidating and repaying debts, for example. 

What does this have to do with buying a home? Well, the higher your credit score is, the lower your interest rate is likely to be. The strategy here is pretty similar to having a high down payment: basically, if you’re a trustworthy borrower, companies are more likely to let you borrow money at a lower rate. 

Always shop around for financing

home

If you’re new to homebuying, you might not realize that the first place you get a quote is not always the best place where you’re likely to find financing. While heading down to a trusted credit union or local bank is always a good idea, it’s still smart to get multiple quotes and compare rates from different agencies before signing anything. 

It’s always smart to have multiple options on-hand. Some places might offer low rates, but you might not realize that the rate isn’t fixed; they could hike it up after a couple of years. Other banks might have high closing costs or fees associated with their mortgages that you’d rather avoid. 

Plus, if you get a quote from one institution, then take that quote back to another one you’re more interested in working with, the second one might actually lower their rate to match the better quote. That brings us to the next strategy. 

Don’t be afraid to haggle

People get nervous about haggling — they think it’s rude, or that it may wind up with them getting a worse deal. While it’s important to be polite, it’s equally important that you make sure you get a fair deal, and often, haggling is an important part of that. 

As mentioned before, there are ways to make it easier. For instance, if you already have financing in-hand, and you’ve saved up for a full 20% down payment, the sellers may be willing to shave a few thousand (or even tens of thousands) off the asking price. 

The key is to offer, hear their counter-offer, assess whether you’re willing to take that, and then offer again. One risk that’s worth noting, however, is that if someone is willing to pay at or above asking price, you may lose out. Ultimately this will depend on how competitive the market you’re buying in might be.

Additionally, if the home needs work, you can always haggle on the cost of labor, having the seller pay the repair costs, etc. Don’t be afraid to haggle to get exactly what you want, within reason of course.

Invest in growth

Lastly, something many people might not realize is that one way to save money is to make money. How does that apply here? Think about it this way: if you purchase a house for a low price in an area where prices are falling, your equity will be low. It’s smarter to purchase a slightly pricier house in an area where housing costs are increasing, which will mean that, over time, your equity will increase too. 

The higher cost now ultimately means you’ll have more money in your pocket later on — which is the goal of savings, after all. Remember, before purchasing your next home, be sure to use these 5 tips and help lower the cost of your mortgage. 

Author Bio

Samantha Rupp holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She is the managing editor for 365 Business Tips as well as runs a personal blog, Mixed Bits Media. She lives in San Diego, California and enjoys spending time on the beach, reading up on current industry trends, and traveling.

Interior Home Issues That Can Affect the Outside of Your House

Although the interior and exterior of your home are separate, they are also quite closely connected. This means that problems on the inside of your home can cause problems on your home's exterior and vice-versa. Since you likely spend more time on the inside of your home, it's important to be on the lookout for the following interior problems so that they can be contained before they can cause issues with your home's exterior.

Excess Weight

When you install new elements in your home, it's important to ensure that your home can handle the weight of those new elements. For example, if you're planning on installing a new jacuzzi tub in your bathroom or an aquarium in your living room, you need to make sure that the subfloor and supports can handle the extra weight of the water. If your home isn't strong enough to support this extra weight, you can discover significant cracking on the exterior of your home as it compresses under the excess weight.

Excess Humidity

If you find that you have too much moisture in your home, your problems could extend beyond your home's interior. In fact, this excess moisture could rise to your attic and remain there for quite some time. This could cause your roof sheathing to become soft to the point that the sheathing between the trusses begins to sag. When you utilize residential roofing services, make sure that they check the sheathing for proper structural integrity.

Poor Planning

Renovating your home can be a great way to increase its value and comfort. However, you must plan properly for any interior renovations to ensure that they don't ruin the exterior of your home. One big problem you might run across is the routing of new plumbing and electrical lines. If you don't have a good plan ahead of time, you may need to run these lines outside, which can significantly detract from your home's appearance. Plus, since the lines will be running through your exterior walls, it puts your home at an increased risk of water damage.

Poor HVAC Maintenance

Your HVAC system has components both inside and outside your home. You must take care of the interior components to ensure that the exterior components don't suffer. One important step you must take is to replace your system's air filter regularly. If you don't, your system may not be able to push enough air through, which can cause the refrigerant lines on the exterior of your home to freeze.

For the most part, it takes a while for interior problems to cause problems on the outside of your home. Therefore, if you're performing ongoing maintenance to your home, you should be able to catch any issues so that you're not left with a big mess. The upside is that ongoing maintenance can help improve your home's efficiency so that you can enjoy lower costs overall.

9 Decluttering Habits to Adopt for the New Year

Decluttering your home has many benefits. Not only will the space feel cleaner, but so will your mind! As 2021 gets started, it’s important to develop these decluttering habits now so you can continue them throughout the rest of the year. Here are some of the best decluttering habits you can start now as the new year kicks off. 

1. Avoid replacing items you get rid of. Your home will never truly be decluttered if you just replace the items you’ve gotten rid of with newer versions. You should seriously consider each item you’re looking at before putting it in your shopping cart. If you already have one or two of the items, do you really need another one? By doing this, you’ll keep your home from staying cluttered and overwhelming. 

2. Take inventory every season. Each season, take inventory of your home. Go through all your closets, drawers and even your bathroom cabinets. No stone should remain unturned. Make a list of items you have and how often you use them. Be honest with yourself. Don’t try to make an item more important than it actually is. If you find items that you haven’t used at all that season, consider donating or tossing them. There really are some items that are seasonal (i.e., seasonal holiday decorations), but other items are usable all year, such as mixing bowls or cleaning products. If you haven’t used certain items at all over two seasons, then you should definitely consider donating them. 

3. Declutter before organizing. You can’t organize things if you have too much of them. Before you tackle organizing any spaces, desks or cabinets, you’ll want to completely declutter. An organized home is a decluttered one – not a home that has organized clutter. In fact, decluttered spaces increase productivity, making it easier for you to organize your space efficiently because you’ve removed all the clutter around you. It will also help you be more productive in your work life and personal life because your space isn’t overwhelming. 

4. Only take on one or two small projects at a time. When you take on too many home improvement projects at once, your home becomes easily cluttered and disorganized. Suddenly, halls are filled with tools, hardware and boxes that wouldn’t be there otherwise and you get overwhelmed just looking at it. To eliminate clutter in your home during projects, only take on one or two at a time, such as installing RTA cabinets. You’ll feel much better in the long run, and your home will stay decluttered.

5. Take stock of your sentimental items. Getting rid of sentimental items – photos, diaries, letters and other keepsakes – can be a very difficult thing to do. Those items were important to you at some point, and some of them still are. That’s why you need to take stock of them. There are some key signs that you should let go of that sentimental item: it’s been packed away for awhile, you’re only keeping it out of guilt or it annoys you to look at it. You should keep the things that still bring you joy or have a purpose for you. For items such as photos or letters, you can scan them into an external hard drive to have as digital copies and clear up space.

6. Minimize the amount of planners you have. Some people have a planner for every aspect of their life. While it’s important to keep everything compartmentalized, consider switching to a full day planner instead of using a different weekly/monthly planner for work, personal and health aspects of your life. You can also keep a small pocket calendar with you or use your phone calendar and reminder app to keep track of events and tasks on-the-go. Using one planner will keep everything together and ensure you don’t miss anything. Use a variety of pens, stickers and highlighters to organize your planner. Draw a helpful key on the front page of your planner to remind you how to set up your events.

7. Write a to-do list. To-do lists aren’t just for your mom anymore. Decluttering your space also means decluttering your mind. You can’t do this unless you have a plan for the day-to-day. In your planner or on a designated notepad, keep a to-do list. You can have multiple ones – one for monthly, weekly and daily. Some tasks you’ll do daily (checking your email, writing in your journal) and others you’ll do monthly (wiping the baseboards). Your weekly to-do list should include tasks such as cleaning the shower, going grocery shopping and vacuuming or mopping. You can set reminders on your phone to keep track, or you can create these to-do lists by hand after each round. 

8. Invest in storage and organizing tools. Traditional plastic storage containers and even decorative ones are great ways to keep track of items. Don’t be afraid to break out the label maker, either. Some Etsy stores even have label decals that you can have customized to match specific items in your home. Things don’t have to look drab. You can use patterned canvas storage totes on your coffee table shelves and leave the traditional plastic storage totes for your hall closet. You’ll want to get clear storage totes, though, so you can easily see what’s inside. That way, you don’t have to worry about purchasing multiples of something.

9. Give your items to a good cause. Instead of just trashing your items as you declutter, consider giving them to a local charity. Some organizations that typically need donations are domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters and addiction recovery programs. When you know your items are going to a good cause, you won’t feel as upset about getting rid of them. It’ll also be easier for you to get through the decluttering process.