If you’re running your business out of your home, you may face challenges separating your work life from your home life. It may be difficult concentrating on work when you’re looking at a stack of dirty dishes or a pile of laundry waiting to be washed. Furthermore, since you don’t have a “real job,” you may be the victim of friends and neighbors who think they can impose on your time just because you are at home. While there are more businesses run from the home today than ever before, for some people, it can be difficult to believe that one is actually working when they are at home.
Household Responsibilities
It won’t throw your whole day off if you throw a load of laundry into the washer or load the dishwasher but if you find yourself tempted to scrub the floor or mow the lawn, it might be a good idea to refrain from doing any household duties during working hours. You may find that even though you work at home, you’re more productive by sticking to a regular work schedule and doing household chores after hours, just as you would if you worked away from the home.
Friends and Neighbors
Whether you’re a beginning or seasoned Internet marketer, you’ll have to establish ground rules from the start when you work from home. If not, you’ll find that you are dodging almost constant interruptions from people who want to visit or want you to sign for their packages or watch their children after school. You’ll most likely find, though, that if you treat your business like the business it is that others will too. Time management skills are just as important whether you are working from home or from an office away from the home.
Don’t be afraid to accept a lunch date now and then. After all, if you were working outside the home, you would probably have lunch with a friend at least part of the time. You’ll be much more productive though, if you purposely schedule lunch dates instead of stopping your work every time someone wants your company. While you don’t have to be obsessed with time management, adhering to a regular schedule as often as possible will boost your productivity.
Unforeseen Interruptions
Of course, you can’t control everything. Sometimes there will be interruptions that you have to deal with immediately or at least sooner than you thought. You may be waiting on a service person who has a scheduled appointment to perform routine maintenance or repairs. When this happens, try to stay focused on your work until the person actually arrives, take the necessary time needed to handle the situation, and then get back to work.
It takes incredible discipline to work from home and stay focused and productive without giving in to every distraction that comes alone. The first order of business is to treat your business like the business it is and diligently guard against unnecessary distractions and interruptions. Then, when the necessary ones come along, you’ll be able to handle them without throwing your entire day or week off.
Even the best laid plans can go awry when you have children. The trick is to plan for everything and, whenever possible, stick to the plan. It can be hard for children, especially very young children, to understand that mommy or daddy are really working when they are at home and if you have very young children, you may need the support and assistance of your spouse or someone else to help you to reach your goals while tending to your children. Parents who work at home have to make time management a priority in order to be successful.
If Your Children are in School
If your children are in school then you most likely have a readymade schedule already. Take advantage of the time they are at school and make this time your workday. Resist the temptation to do household chores or other things and concentrate on the part of your business that demands your undivided attention during this time. There will always be mundane tasks that you can complete in the evening when your family is home but if you are developing products, writing, editing, chatting or talking with customers, or taking care of any number of things that require your undivided attention, strive to take care of these matters during the school day when you can focus all of your energy and attention on your business.
Children get Sick: Plan on It!
Deadlines are crucial and in order to obtain and maintain regular clients and customers, you’ll need to adhere to them religiously. That means, as a parent, you’ll have to work extra hard to avoid procrastination because just when you think you can finish that all important project the next day, just in the nick of time, you’re likely to be awoken in the middle of the night with a sick child. Plan for it. It will happen!
Clients and customers are people, too; many of them have children of their own and while they may not verbally assault you if you have to explain that you can’t deliver on time because of a sick child, it could cause them to look elsewhere the next time they need something. However, by regularly utilizing effective time management skills, you’ll be able to withstand the small emergencies without your business being adversely affected.
Get Support from Other Parents
There are a lot of aspiring as well as highly successful Internet marketers who have children. Many of them hang out at Internet forums and groups and offer support to each other. This is especially helpful to parents with young children, some of whom run their businesses during naptimes, before their children wake in the morning, and after they go to sleep at night. While working from home with young children demands a great deal of creativity and discipline, it can be done if you are organized and utilize effective time management strategies.
Don’t drive yourself or your children crazy by trying to focus all of your attention on important details of your business while your children are up and around and may need your attention. You can always conduct research and perform many administrative duties during this time and save the work that needs your undivided attention for naptime or bedtime. Set realistic goals and you’ll find that your roles as Internet marketer and parent will fit nicely into your schedule.
This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our Privacy Policy