This morning instead of waking up and relaxing on this nice Sunday, I ended up by writing this post, probably not the most common way to start a Sunday, but it was that or preparing my fantasy football team for this weekend matchup, in either case not the common choices for a Sunday (I think).
What happened was that as soon as I opened my tweetdeck, I saw this post and it reminded me of all the adjustments that I did a few years ago when I started.
Working at home has major advantages, like having more time, working your own hours, don’t need to report to anybody (maybe to some clients every now and then), and many others. The problem with all this sweetness is that people think that it is all freedom, no rules, and enjoying the lifestyle.
It’s not quite like that, at least if you want your business to be moving forward.
In case that you were looking to start a home business, I’m sorry for ruining your dream of a great lifestyle, but don’t worry, it isn’t that bad. I’ll pay you a drink next time we are together.
Your business isn’t your hobby
What happens with most home business is that people treat them as part time or a hobby and after a while doing it that way, they don’t get any progress for many reasons. If you want your business to generate some money, it’s time for you to treat it like a business. That’s the only way to really go forward with your venture and that’s why the post that I read this morning has important tips to follow.
All those details make the big difference between spending all day working and succeeding, or wasting all day talking with grandma or playing with the dog.
Following the tips in this post will not hurt your dream lifestyle, but sticking to it can improve the way you work at home and can improve your internet endeavor.
In my own experience, it isn’t that difficult. What it takes is a little dedication, some motivation and if you really want it, you will put enough effort into it and in no time you will get used to the routine.
By the way, a routine doesn’t mean living a monotonous life (I heard this once and I thought in sharing), monotony will kill you with boredom and nobody wants a boring life.
Well, that’s all the rambling for this Sunday. So, what about you? Have you done any adjustments in your life to be able to do your work in your business (or your job)?
Photo By Claus Rebler
I don’t actually work from home, at least not yet. But I am adjusting. I have been writing a novel (my first one) and I have been writing it from home, and I had a leave witout pay from my work for two months. Now, I do it two days a week, and I work at a college three times a week.
So, I understand what you’re talking about. My biggest obstacle is still that other people, friends and family don’t quite understand that I’m actually working (it might be different because I’m writing a novel, not actually running my own company). People would call me, they would show up in the middle of the day and they wanted to hang out. I really had to tell them that I was busy.
I had to be very focused. In the beginning I felt like I was on a surreal vacation. My breakfast was a lot different than when I wasn’t working from home, and the TV was suddenly showing all my favorite TV shows (and I felt that I had the time to watch them all – I had the DVDs), and the Internet with all the interesting blogs, news, videos etc… it was hard to stay focused.
Now it’s different. Probably because I’m only working from home two days a week. I’m not sure, but I think that maybe if I was working from home 100%, I would have to be more outside, or talk to people (everything should of course be related to work), because staying at home working feels very lonely.
How do you do it? Are you all alone all day?
I had a lot of problems to handle everything in the beginning.
I’m alone at my office, but I’m still in touch in skype and there’s always people at home. They know that I’m working and although they interrupt me sometimes, is not that bad.
There’s many things to take in consideration when you start working at home. The time to start in the morning, time to finish at night, the breaks, the noise, the breaks again 🙂 etc.
I start at 9am every day and I’m done at 6pm. Some days I’ve to work at night. The good thing, is that I can choose. Also, I do what I love and I don’t see it as many hours working.
I discovered that late in the day, I do a lot more work in less time and I can focus more. So when I need to do something important that I can’t do during the day for any reason, I know at late late in the afternoon or at night I can handle it.
Other problem was the phone, I receive emails from people asking something and because I don’t answer immediately they try to call you. That gets annoying after a while.