There is nothing more tempting for a prospective home-based business owner than the peaceful navigation from bedroom, to dining room and then to the home office, in comfortable pajamas and without the worry of being late for work. Indeed, eliminating the daily commute, the noisy and disruptive colleagues and bosses, and the need to get into a suit every morning, are top perks for people who are ready to become their own bosses. But will they be able to accomplish something with no supervision from anyone? That is another story.
It is, indeed, the number one problem for new home business owners: they get distracted, fail to plan their tasks, do not fully get into the mindset that their livelihood depends on the success of their small business and, thus, they struggle to make a decent living. Then they fall in the other extreme, working longer hours than they did in their former job and completely throwing their personal life out of balance.
As always, you should strive to reach the golden mean – the balance between your newly found independence and the dedication to work in order to make your business successful. Here are a few helpful tips:
1. Select Your Office Location Carefully
The first thing you need to know is that if you plan to deduct tax on your home office, that space in your house must be exclusively separate from other activities and used only for your home business. Leaving this tax regulation aside, make sure that you select a room which is as far away from the two major distractions in the home: the TV and the fridge.
This is not a joke, the most frequent types of distractions home business owners report is going for a quick snack or to watch the midday news. Plus, you need peace and quiet to focus on the work, so the more remote your home office is, the better for you.
2. Get Dressed
Many successful entrepreneurs who started as home-based business owners imposed this rule from the start: they would get dressed and get into the work mindset. It does not mean that you have to wear a suit with a tie or high heels (for women), but you must not work in your pajamas either, because they are most likely to make you consider a short nap on the sofa now and then. Plus, what if you have a video call with one of your potential customers? Do you put the person on hold until you change into appropriate clothes?
3. Put Family Time in Your Daily Schedule
Running a home-based business means, among other things, spending more time with your family and getting more involved in your children’s activities. If you don’t want to lose focus or get behind with your work, add blocks of time in your daily schedule for these activities with your family – such as taking the kids to the park, or to the dentist, doing shopping and mowing the lawn. Having these time blocks in your schedule helps you organize your other work tasks and never forget anything which needs to be done.
4. Determine Your Business Hours (and Stick to Them)
“I’ll just do that a bit later”, is one of the most frequently said things by home business owners. And they do just that – late into the evening or night, when they should be spending time with their family or resting, they do all those tasks which they did not plan properly during the day.
One of the biggest traps of working from home is working IN your business instead of FOR your business. When your whole life becomes a short trip from the bedroom to the home office, this is already a big problem affecting your family and personal life. So, determine your business hours and stick to them, except for very few major emergencies.
5. Turn Off Your Business
Smartphones permanently connected to the internet are a great facility for home-based business owners – and a big issue as well. If you have finished your work for the day, you should stop checking every incoming email or notification from your social media automation tools. The best thing to do is to leave your smartphone in the office, close the door and turn off your mind from business issues. Your family and friends deserve some hours when they have your exclusive attention.