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Working From Home: How To Make Working From
Home Enjoyable and Productive
For many people
the ultimate dream is to escape from the rat race and work from home. To
some people who have achieved this dream it has turned into the ultimate
nightmare!
With the every day stresses of life, work and commuting, working from home
can appear to be the way out, but it is not as easy and idyllic as it
sounds. If you are seriously thinking about setting up in business on your
own and working from home, what are the pitfalls and what can you do to
avoid them?
Understanding Your Motivation
It can be too tempting to stay in bed for a little longer when you are
working at home. The need to get up and beat the early morning traffic or to
be at your desk by 8.30am is missing when you only have a short walk to your
new place of work.
If you are to be effective in your new work environment you have to find a
motivator which is sufficiently strong enough to get you up and about and at
your desk by your appointed time. To find out what your motivator is cast
your mind back to why you wanted to work from home in the first place. Was
it to spend more time with the family? Was it to give you freedom to pursue
other interests?
If you don’t find these strong enough to get you out of bed, find a
financial reason. Visualise you and your family being thrown out of your
house because you couldn't up the mortgage payment! Keep this image in mind
and the next time you find yourself staring at the bedroom ceiling raise
this image and you'll quickly find yourself at your desk!
Establish a Routine
We are all creatures of habit and a set routine can help keep us motivated
and focused on the job in hand. Set yourself a starting time, a tea break
and lunch break etc. A set routine can help you settle into your new role
much more quickly than a 'let's see what happens today' approach. Without a
working schedule, which includes a finite finishing time to the day, your
working day will be unfocused and could stretch late into the night, ending
what ever social life you may have.
You're All Alone
Working from home can be a lonely existence. As human beings we are born to
seek out contact with other humans. In an office environment there is daily
contact, quick 10 minute chats at the coffee machine finding out what
colleagues did the night before, and someone to celebrate a big sale with.
All of this is essential to making our lives feel complete and yet this is
missing from a home-based business.
To overcome this feeling of isolation, which will be especially pronounced
during your early months, you must establish a network of people who are in
the same position as you. Agree that you will talk on the phone at least
twice a week, and arrange to have lunch or a quick coffee once every 2
weeks. Your family may not be the right people to talk over a business
problem with, so you have to find someone who can relate to your successes
and problems.
Get Out of The House
Staying in the house Monday to Friday without seeing the light of day is
certainly not good for your health or state of mind. You may be so focused
on your work that you convince yourself you cannot afford the time to leave
the house. But this is a false economy. You have to schedule time to move
out and experience a different environment.
As well meeting your fellow home workers for a regular get together, join a
health club, go for a swim once or twice a week, go to the cinema, check out
your local Business Link to see what seminars they are running - anything to
get you out of the house! Don't get trapped into only working, eating and
sleeping in your home.
Be Mobile
These days you can do most work-related tasks away from your home desk. Once
your business is established invest in a laptop, PDA and a good mobile
phone. Armed with these devices you can take your office with you and work
from your garden, the local park, or even the library. It doesn't matter
where, just as long as you are out of the house and being around the rest of
the human race.
Create an Office
If you have been used to working in a formal office environment all your
working life, then switching to the kitchen table or the spare room can be
an unwelcome distraction. To give you that discipline and focus designate a
part of the house as your office. If you have a spare room or study then
even better. Buy a desk and office chair, filing cabinets and other
office-style stationery. Remove all family and home-related items so this
tells your mind that you are at work and not home.
Get Organised
In any office you have too many colleagues and clients visiting you to allow
your work area to get cluttered. At home it's different. Unless you are
expecting clients on a regular basis then it's too easy to allow your
paperwork and filing to get out of hand. The saying that a cluttered desk
leads to a cluttered mind is true. Your efficiency and productivity will
suffer unless you are organised. Buy filing cabinets, box files, waste paper
bin, put up shelves, so that everything is in place.
Getting organised and being efficient also includes setting the ground rules
with the family. They need to understand that you are at work and not at
their beck and call for every little job that needs doing. Be firm and say
no unless it is very urgent and requires immediate attention. Allow nothing
to get in the way of your business.
Working from home can be a liberating experience, yet at the same time it
can be dangerous unless properly handled. Before embarking on your home
business, take time to plan and prepare how you are going to deal with the
transition. Done correctly, working from home can be a very attractive
alternative to the daily grind of the office.
Robert Warlow
© Small Business Success
http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz
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