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Balancing Home & Work: The
Challenge of the
Home-Based Business
By
Vishal P. Rao
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.
Separate Your Office From Your
Home
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.
Create Specific Working
Hours
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.
Draw
the Line Between Home and Work
Communications
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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Vishal P. Rao is the owner of Home Based Business
Opportunities - One of Internet's leading
website dedicated to starting, managing and
marketing a home based
business.
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