With the holidays around the corner,
you may find yourself struggling to keep your home-based business
and your home life separate and running smoothly. And you're not
alone.
Operating a home-based business has
many benefits as you already know, but its main drawback is that it
often causes the line between your work and your personal life to
become permanently blurred. Unlike those individuals who work
outside the home and who know their day at the office ends when they
get in their car and start the commute home, home business operators
do not usually have a definite end to their day.
The reverse situation is also
possible: they may not have a definite start to their day either. If
you have a hard time breaking free of your work responsibilities or
if you sometimes have trouble settling in to tackle them, these tips
will help you bring both aspects of your life into equilibrium.
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Separate Your Office From Your Home
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If your work computer is in the
living room where everyone in the family congregates, chances are
you are being bombarded by distractions. Plus, when it is time for
you to relax, you may find it difficult with the computer right
there as a constant reminder of all the work you still need to
finish and all of the communications you still need to respond to.
The answer is to set aside an area
of your home just for work. If you have an office or an extra
bedroom where you can set up your space, then you can block out the
distractions simply by shutting the door. Also avoid putting
anything in your home office that might prevent you from getting
your work done, such as a television.
If you don't have an entire room to
dedicate to your office, move your computer and materials into a
room that is rarely used or that is normally unoccupied when you
need to be working, such as a bedroom. Once you have separated your
home from your office, you will find it easier to stay focused on
your work but also to leave your work in its space so you can relax
and enjoy the remainder of your home.
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Create Specific Working Hours
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One of the best things about running
a home-based business is undoubtedly the flexible schedule, but it
can also have negative consequences. On the one hand, your schedule
may be so flexible that you only work 30 minutes a day or so hectic
that you find yourself working at all hours of the day without
taking a break.
The answer is to set your own office
hours. Creating your own schedule still has benefits. For one, you
can decide what time of the day you start, so if you're not a
morning person, you don't have to get up at the break of dawn. Also,
if you prefer to stop working when your children come home from
school, you can consider that when you decide when to stop for the
day.
Another benefit is that you provide
clients and customers with a specific times when you are available
to work with them. The most important thing to remember, however, is
to set hours for yourself that you can live with. Once you decide on
a schedule, you need to stick with it long-term, so be realistic
about how long you can work without taking a break and how much time
you'll need to accomplish everything that needs to get done.
And, no matter how much you may be
tempted to keep working, you need to stop when you say you are going
to stop. Taking a break allows you to come back refreshed and more
alert, so you can be more productive. An overworked, overly stressed
person simply is not an effective worker at home or in an office.
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Draw the Line Between Home and Work Communications
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Has this ever happened to you? You
and your family have just sat down for a dinner around the table
when a client calls to talk about your current project or a customer
phones with questions about a recent purchase.
The easiest way to prevent work from
interfering with your family is to keep communications separate.
Start by having a second phone line dedicated to your work and
attaching an answering machine or voice mail to the line.
When your work day ends, you can
turn on the machine and let it handle any after-hour calls. An extra
phone line also allows you to maintain professionalism. Imagine the
embarrassment of having your young child answer the phone when an
important customer calls.
You may also want to set up a post
office box for all of your business-related mail. Not only will this
prevent your important mail from accidentally getting thrown away
with the junk, but it will also offer you and your family a level of
privacy.
After all, you do not want to make
your home address available to everyone; it's just not safe. If you
use email or instant messaging as part of your business
communications, you'll also want to establish separate accounts for
those as well.
The key to running a home-based
business is balance. While it may be difficult to stop working on
that important project or to concentrate on work while your
preparing for the holidays, striking that balance is essential for
your well-being, your family's security, and your business's
success.
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