How
to Work at Home and Keep Your Sanity!
© 2003 Terri Seymour
Working at home can be a blessing and/or a disaster
depending on how you are able to handle it. A home business or job
is not for all of us. I know a lot of people who much prefer to "get
out in the world" to work.
I absolutely love working at home. I did enjoy working
outside the home as well, but I am a homebody and much prefer working
at home. It does have disadvantages and problems though as well.
* Isolation - This can be a tough
one to deal with for some people. Sitting in your lonely little corner
or home office hour after hour can get you down. When you start feeling
isolated and lonely contact an online friend and chat awhile. If no
one is available, take a break and get outside. Take a walk to visit
a friend or family member. Just getting out in the fresh air can make
you feel rejuvenated and alive again. Even a phone call to an old
friend or your spouse, if possible, can do wonders.
* Self-discipline - This one can be a tuffy. Having
your own business can tend to make us lazy once in awhile. I know
it does me. ;-) What I do is go over my goals and the reasons I started
my business in the first place. I also think about all my readers/customers
who are counting on me. This helps me get back into focus and to get
motivated to go back to work. You need to train yourself to work when
it is work time because you have no boss to do it for you.
*Schedule Keeping - Making up a schedule is easy, sticking
to it is not. I try not to have too strict of a schedule because it
probably will need to be changed now and then. Try a daily schedule
instead of a hourly one. This will make it much easier to bend it
when you need to. Not being able to follow your schedule can be frustrating
to say the least, but preparing a flexible schedule makes it less
stressful on you and everyone else.
*Family Distractions - This is one of the main reasons
it is so hard to stick to our schedules! ;-) Make time for your family
and make sure they understand that work time is for work and family
time is for them. With me, my family comes first and I arrange my
schedule around them and it works out very well.
*Lack of Respect - Although we know how important our business
is, our family or friends may not. They think we are playing around
or just doing a hobby. You need to sit them down and explain that
this is your job and it is very important to you and they need to
respect that. Be firm. They will get the message. ;-)
*Organization - Although we might be very organized,
we just might not have the space when working at home. Some people
might have a office, but some of us have work stations or corners.
I have a corner. Although, I don't have much room, I am able to stay
fairly well organized. I have a shelf, a desk and a drawer - with
a file cabinet in another room and this is all I need. Most of the
organizing is on the computer so I don't need a lot of outside room.
I print out pertinent records and file them accordingly. I have a
4-story paper tray which holds all my "need now or soon"
papers. The shelf holds my printer, answering machine and phone. And
I also have a junk drawer ( we all need one of those)! ;-) This works
out with very few or no problems.
Although working at home does have some disadvantages,
I would not want to give it up for anything. I love the freedom of
it, the excitement of it, the pride of it, and all the wonderful people
I have met.
If you feel you are a candidate for a home business
or job, I say go for it, but I wish you much success inwhichever path
you choose!
Terri Seymour and her husband Terry offer a no-cost,
non-MLM home business opportunity. They strive to help you build a
successful home business. They also provide a website building service.
Take advantage of the gifts, resources & more provided for your
home and business at http://www.seymourproducts.com
FREE ecourse at: business-building-ecourse@getresponse.com
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