As a mompreneur, I'm constantly engaging in the failing strategy of multi-tasking. Responding to emails while helping my daughter with a puzzle and answering a question from my husband. And then a twitter direct message pops up. And the UPS guy rings the doorbell. And the cat jumps up to knock over a drink on the table. Then the phone rings — it's my mom who wants to talk about my sister's upcoming wedding in September.

How is it possible to get work done in this environment? How can we be productive … when we're working at home, running a household, and taking care of our kids? Here are a few tips:

1. Separate your high-concentration tasks. I can answer emails, talk on twitter, IM my VA, edit a document, listen to a seminar recording, or create a to-do list with my daughter in the room. But writing a post/article/book, recording video, hosting the radio show, talking on the phone, and teaching teleclasses require a distraction-free environment. I work on those while Grace is napping, before she wakes up in the AM, or when she's at preschool.
2. Work somewhere else. When I can't concentrate, I take it outside, to the library or Starbucks, or even just into another room in the house. Even better — go somewhere WITHOUT internet access.
3. Get off the internet. Shut down your email program. Stop twittering. Turn your phone to vibrate. No small children or puppies will die if you don't answer email for the next 20 minutes.
4. No editing while writing. Right now I'm experimenting with WriteRoom, which is a program for Macs that flips your chaotic desktop into a typewriter-like black screen with a green cursor (remember old computer monitors?). It's how I'm writing this post right now — keeps me from checking email, editing while I write, or formatting the post. (but tweets still pop up from twhirl, so need to fix that…)
5. Set a timer. Set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes for concentrated, focused work on one task. No email or other junk during that time. You will be amazed at how much you can get done in just 15 minutes. I've had tasks that I had been procrastinating for weeks get completed in just 10 minutes of concentrated work.
6. Get a sitter. If you have a young child or homeschool your kids, you may not have any distraction-free time to yourself. Get a sitter once a week, or form a co-op with other moms to share babysitting of each other's kids, to get some concentrated work time.

BTW — using all of the above methods I wrote this blog post in 17 minutes, from conception to completed first draft. With a few minutes of editing & formatting, I'm done.