Avoid Time Vampires and be More Productive. Time-tested Strategies that work

How to get family, friends, co-workers and colleagues to respect your work time, as an entrepreneur and GET MORE STUFF DONE! This checklist assumes you have a life outside of work, or that you intend to have one.  Family, friends, vacations, and being present during those moments matter to you.  If that is the case, then you are working to live, not living to work.  In other words, your work finances your lifestyle; not your life and everyone in it, has to support your ability to go off to work.  If work supports your life rather than your life supporting your work, then that mindset will also drive your priority setting for your time.   Whether you have an office away from home or not, the following are all time-tested, effective strategies to help you manage how people interact with you that impact your time productivity. Because people will attempt to access your attention via multiple routes, some strategies may be specific to online, phone or in-person distractions. Without being a jerk, you must let people know that your time is valuable and it is up to you to establish that value.  Those who work-from-home will have the most challenging time with this because there are many who will assume you have nothing to do and treat your time as such.