Home Based Business – Heaven or Hell?

Working from home can be heaven or hell. If you follow a few simple rules you can ensure it does not deteriorate into hell. The fact is, there are a lot of us out there. We're in the midst of a ‘working from home’ revolution, and you should be excited to be a part of it.

The truth is, working from home offers you plenty of opportunity. But you need self discipline and motivation to make the most of it. You also need to be aware of your time management and prioritization skills. Here are some simple rules which will help you get the most from working your business from home.

Some home workers like to create a schedule -- and then stick to it. In the home office by nine, and out at five. Others are flexible, having to fit in household or other commitments. There are no set rules, only those which work for you.

Essentially, working from home successfully seems to mean being able to manage the many distractions, but also taking the time to appreciate the pleasure such distractions can bring.

Probably the most effective rule is to make a daily plan. Or at least, have goals on a daily basis. This is an essential aid to staying focused. Try to allocate some quiet time at the start of the day when you set out in your mind your goals for the day. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to get done? Establishing goals will help with providing some routine to the day also, and should also help stimulate productivity.

It is definitely more conducive to have an entirely separate office, rather than a space in your home which has several purposes, one of which is it acts as an office. Perhaps you have a spare bedroom? Or a guestroom which is rarely used? Maybe you can buy a sofa/bed to replace the sofa in your living room and use that as a guest room when the need arises, thus releasing the guestroom for your office. Or how about the basement?

Another rule -- don’t weigh yourself down with guilt. If you take half an hour here or there during the day, does it really matter? It is all part of the balance. No doubt you will be spending many evenings at your desk, which will probably more than compensate for any snatched time during the ‘working day’.

The whole act of working at home is a giant juggling act, between family, household and work. Don’t be surprised when you work different hours at home than you would in an outside office environment. I suffer from insomnia, and decided some time ago, instead of tossing and turning for hours, I would put that time to good use. I am sometimes in the office at three or four in the morning. I still have very productive days, but I am just working odd hours.

Another lifesaver for the home worker is setting boundaries. Learn how to shut the door. You need to create a healthy degree of separation between your working day, and your home life. If you are lucky enough to enjoy what you are working at from home, then there will always be the temptation to go into the office and check if that email you have been waiting for has arrived. It is probably one of the most difficult things to learn, but you need to give your family time too.

Don’t feel tied to your office, however organized and streamlined it is. You could give yourself a massive burst of productivity by taking your work into the backyard or sitting around the swimming pool answering those emails. Or perhaps just swinging in the hammock while checking files might mean you get more done than ever before.

Get used to the fact that generally people who are office based, think those who are working from home, are actually just ‘goofing off’. That really you spend a large part of your day watching daytime TV, and you generally are not ‘really working’. This attitude is annoying and frustrating to say the least. Try to educate people like this; explain diplomatically that you are working, but in a different setting than them.

Unless you are lucky enough to have your family or your partner or both at home with you, you may start to feel slightly isolated. When the opportunity presents itself, talk to people, neighbors, mailmen, delivery drivers. Some small social interaction in each day is beneficial to your productivity and well being.

Think of this -- if you had a traditional job, you too could be one of the people who get to spend six months of their lives in a traffic jam. Recognize that by working from home you are receiving the most precious gift, time. You get time to be with your family, personal time, time to cook dinner, work out, and see your children grow. You really should appreciate that you have the very best of both worlds. Long live the working from home Revolution.

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