Carla warns about the dangers of fake-work projects, and what to do to avoid the same:

“When I first started working from home, I established basic productivity ground rules: no extended personal calls during office hours, no watching daytime TV and very limited time for personal tasks. Imagine my surprise when I realized that even though I stuck to the ground rules, I had put in a long day with very little billable time.

What went wrong? My suddenly-tidy desk told the story. It reminded me of how I decided that in order to be more productive I needed to get organized…right now! What I failed to acknowledge in my enthusiasm to gain more productive time was that I was also avoiding a particularly nasty project for a client I wasn’t enjoying working with.

I had created my very own (and rather convincing) fake-work project to avoid doing what I didn’t want to do. I was stuck between not really wanting to do the project and dreading firing that particular client, so I bailed on making a choice and found myself a convenient distraction.“

She suggests five strategies:
– set daily focus goals
– manage your day by calendar
– know your fake-work favorites
– understand the temptation
– handle less important tasks efficiently

Read more: Fake-Work Projects: How to Avoid the Ultimate Time Trap