The idea of working from home, whether for a company or for yourself, is a great and attractive prospect for many people. The idea of the freedom to earn your own income from the comfort of your own living space is very attractive.
Set your own time, make your own schedule, and set your own pace because it's the easiest and best thing in the world. It's the best thing in the world, but it's definitely not easy.
Working from home has a high failure rate because many people trying to make a living working from home lack the discipline needed to succeed.
Your home is one of the most stressful places for you, and adding the need to be productive to anything other than domestic affairs is a recipe for failure.
There are always clothes in the hanger or dirty dishes in the sink, groceries, food preparation, or thousands of other things that contribute to the organization of your home. You must be fully focused on the task at hand, or you will not be able to sustain the effort for long.
Time management is one of the most important skills a housewife should know. Sitting in your living room and working on a project is a great place to get distracted and possibly meet a deadline.
Keeping a regular daily work schedule can help you avoid the possibility of missing your delivery needs. A good way to keep yourself on schedule is to create a "timesheet" that you fill out each day.
This practice gives your mind a measure of accountability for your work hours and helps you distinguish "work time" from "home time." Creating a detailed timeline can also be a great tool for your billing process.
Exercising in your pajamas may seem like the best thing in the world, but there's a big problem. Your pajamas are what you sleep in, and your brain associates them with sleep time, not productivity time. Must be "ready" for work every morning. Wake up, take a quick shower, and start the day in your work clothes.
You don't have to sit at your desk at home in your formal business attire. Find a collection of comfortable clothes to wear while working from home. Buy clothes you feel comfortable in at the grocery store, or greet the UPS driver when he drops off a package and choose these as your "work" clothes.
Designate a workspace in your home and use it only for work. Having a space in your home that is used only for work is an important tool to help you get into "work" mode every morning.
It's like getting up and going to the office, but you don't have to use your car to get there. If possible, keep your work area in a room with a door that can be closed to reduce discomfort at home.
If you can afford it, get a separate business phone line to help separate personal and business calls. This is especially important if you run a business, but can also be very useful if you're a remote worker.
You will have a dedicated line for your business and you will not have to worry about interference with your important calls to other family members.
Set income goals and plan your work to achieve them. Trying to meet your monthly budget is a good start, but you don't want to go into financial ruin by working on a budget. Start with a set of short-term and long-term goals and work as hard as you can each workday.
Stay visible in your niche and feel free to leave your home office and network. Look at your work and think of ways to offer it to local businesses.
Be active in your trade groups and participate in activities they promote. Connecting with other business professionals in these situations will help you maintain visibility as a service or product provider and maintain an entrepreneurial mindset while working from home.
Take whatever steps you can to help you work productively from home. If you need to remind yourself or your family, set specific work hours and post them.
Keep a detailed timeline with important information about which projects you have time to work on. Anything you can do to focus on your work will help make your work-from-home experience a success.