There are times in my home business when I work what I consider to be long days—10, 11 or 12 hours of work. While it can sometimes seem as though these long days cannot be avoided, I have learned that there can be pros and cons to working such long days of work in a home business—
The pros, of course, are that I can often get a lot of work done in one fell swoop and then have a whole day or some big chunks of time to dedicate to family or other interests. Since I do not have to punch a time clock and can control my own schedule—working many hours one day or spending a couple days of long hours can free me up to go on vacation, take care of family stuff, etc. This can be a great perk. I also appreciate that I can work when I need to and do not have someone telling me I have to “go home.” This can mean digging in and focusing on a project or playing catch-up without interruption and this can be very efficient.
Of course, there is a down side to working those long hours in a home business too. First, it can be hard to carve out that kind of time without interruption so getting 10 hours of work done in a home business could take several more. Factor in taking time out to fix dinner, help with homework, walk the dog, etc. and you’ve got an incredibly long day and if you have spent all that time working at home, one can feel cooped up and exhausted. Exhaustion is definitely one of the cons of long days—not only are you likely to get downright tired, but after several hours, you can lose your concentration and may not be making the sharpest choices and decisions.
It all comes down to balance and self-care and while it may not always seem possible in a home business, we have to weigh out what we get from working a 12-hour day with what we give up.