One thing that new home-based professionals often have trouble with is establishing boundaries between home and work. Establishing those boundaries now will not only make you feel better about your choice to become a home-based professional, it will help you to establish the good work habits that you need in order to be successful.
A good first step is to set a work schedule that is realistic. To determine what a realistic work schedule is for you, take out a calendar and look at a typical week. A calendar that has a lot of space to write on each day works best for this exercise, or you can even make your own sample weekly calendar by taking a piece of paper and dividing it into seven columns. Write down all of your commitments for the week on your calendar. Do not forget to include things that you may not ordinarily think of as “appointments”, such as driving the kids to school or sports practice, cooking meals, and spending time with your family.
When you look at your weekly calendar, you may see that you have the same time slot available for work every day. For example, I generally work during two specific periods of time each day – during my son’s nap and after he goes to bed. If your days do not all follow the same pattern, that is fine too. Either way, write on your calendar which hours you will work each day. After you have your schedule prepared, make a few copies of it. You are ready to take the next step.
Your spouse, children, friends, neighbors, and other people in your life may not have a clue what it is like to work from home. They may have a misinformed view that you do your work “whenever”, so you are always available for other things. It is time to help everyone understand what you do, and what you need from them.
A good way to explain it is to tell your spouse and children that in order for you to be able to do everything that you want to do for them and with them, you need to be “unavailable” at certain times so that you can get your work done. Post your work schedule in a prominent area, such as on the refrigerator, or write it on the family calendar. A family calendar is a great idea because everyone’s activities can be written on there. Let friends, neighbors and others know that they cannot just come over for a cup of tea “whenever”. Tell them that you want to be able to enjoy a proper visit with them instead of feeling like you need to hurry up and get back to work. Suggest that they contact you to make plans in advance so that you can enjoy a “real” visit with them. If you follow this two-step approach to setting boundaries between your home life and your work life, you will be greatly rewarded. You will be able to get your work done and have plenty of time to do the things you love to do with family and friends.