Monday, January 28, 2008

coping with working from home

Working from home is definitely wonderful for most people, but it is not always easy, and everyone is not cut out to work from home.

Working from home will have its distractions. The phone will be ringing. The kids will be playing, screaming, and calling for you. The dishes will need to be done. Supper will need to be cooked. Your spouse will need your help with this or that. You really have to set some ground rules if you are working from home. Set your working hours, and stick to them. Ask your children and spouse not to bother you during these hours, barring an emergency of course. Ask for help with chores. It is like working any other job. You cannot be expected to do everything if you have a family. You need help with the cooking and cleaning. You can still do some of it yourself. Hopefully, working from home will allow you to work fewer hours, but you will still need help on some days. Turn on your answering machine or let the voicemail pickup your personal line if no one is available to take messages for you.

Unfortunately, when some people find out that you are working from home, they assume that you are sitting on the couch, eating bonbons, and watching soap operas all day. They are unaware of your working world. Therefore, they assume it does not exist. They will ask you to do things for them during your workday. Trust me. I definitely know about this one from personal experience. You will be asked to babysit children, pick up children from school, sign for packages, drive people to the doctor, act as the friend's or family's technical support, and SO MANY other things. You just have to learn to say no. This is something that I have struggled with, but I am finally getting the hang of it. I don’t feel like I have to explain my job to people. If they think I am lazing around all day, so be it, but I must politely decline from taking care of their errands. I am not trying to be rude, but if I am going to run a successful business, I must treat it as such.

Finally, make your work environment one that is easy and comfortable to work in everyday. Make sure you have all of your necessary equipment: computer, printer/scanner/copier/fax, second phone line if necessary (I will blog about your other options in another blog in the future), billing software, filing cabinets, and more and more and more! Make sure you have a quiet work area. Make sure you have good lighting. Make sure you are able to heat and cool as necessary. Just make the best possible work environment. Make yourself feel like you did leave the house to go to work.

Does it sound like a lot? Well, it is a lot to consider, but don’t get stressed. Hopefully, it will all be worth it. Get a pen and paper. Now, sit back and make a list of everything you need for your office.