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Do’s and Don’ts of Conquering Home Office Chaos

December 5, 2011 By 10 Comments

Source: Betsssssy

Someone who works in a cubicle or a corporate office can leave his or her mess at work. Yet when your business and personal life are under the same roof, it’s more difficult to keep home office chaos to a minimum. By following a few do’s and avoiding the don’ts, you can keep your home office under control.

Do

Set a schedule

When you work for yourself, it’s important to make every minute count.  Each day set a schedule, but make it flexible. If you wait for the right time to work on something, you may never get started.  Your schedule may change based on the appointments you’ve scheduled or the tasks you need to complete, so focus on the top five tasks you need to accomplish each day. Otherwise it’s easy to get sidetracked.

To read the rest of my guest post on Startup Nation, click here.

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working at home Tagged With: , ,

Why Can’t You Understand That I’m Working?

June 21, 2011 By 7 Comments

My friends fall into two categories: the ones who understand I work every day and those who don’t understand why I can’t drop everything and get together for lunch or coffee. I love to spend time with all of my friends, but lately I’ve noticed that I stay in touch with my working friends more often than with my non-working friends.

A few differences

One group of friends isn’t nicer, smarter or more pleasant to be around than the other.  There are, however, a few differences between them.

First of all, my working friends are more understanding and take my business seriously.I never hear them say, “it’s your own business, so why don’t you take the day off?” or “you’re always too busy.”

Another difference is that my working friends and I e-mail each other more often than we talk on the phone. They don’t have time for many personal calls during the day either. Most of all, they understand that when you work from home, especially for yourself, every minute counts. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Working at home Tagged With: , ,

The Balancing Act

June 15, 2011 By 5 Comments

Guest post by Bernice Wood

Life is so busy today, and it can be even busier for the work-at-home professional. Many of us feel as if we are walking a thin line and that any moment, we are going to fall.

We are trying to carry everything and everybody along with us on this journey and holding all of that while walking on the line is next to impossible.

The tightrope walker

Think of a tightrope walker. They have incredible balance, which is a good thing. Another thing is that they are prepared to go out and walk on that tightrope. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Time mgmt./Productivity Tagged With: , ,

How to Keep Clients From Taking Over Your Business

May 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Yesterday I went to my favorite stylist to get a haircut.  While she cut my hair, she mentioned how frustrated she is with her business.

She has too many clients.

In my book, that’s a good problem. Not so, in hers.

Instead of running her business the way she wants, she’s letting her clients take over.

Her main complaint is that a client will call her and expect to get an appointment within the next few days. (I learned the hard way and now book my next appointment before I leave her salon.) She feels bad about turning away clients, so she stays late or comes in early. She’s finally reached the point of burnout and isn’t sure what to do. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Working at home, Working with clients Tagged With: ,

5 Steps to Managing the Impossible

May 12, 2011 By 2 Comments

Guest Post by Allison Nazarian

As I grabbed for a shampoo in aisle three of my local grocery store, my eyes rested on the label. Using words like “gentle,” healthy” and “normal,” this shampoo promised me balance.

Balance. Must be good, right?

I continued down the aisle, with my promise of balance safely inside the wagon, thinking: But, what is it?

Not literally what is it (“a state of equilibrium”), but when it comes to our lives, our work, our realities–what does balance look and feel like? And, would we know it if it hit us in the face?

From our businesses to our lives to our hair–yes, our hair!–we are working quite hard to find, achieve and harness (in a bottle, even) this elusive balance. Yet, the most successful people I know, work with, talk to and connect with are actually pretty darn imbalanced.

Yes, imbalanced. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life Tagged With: ,

Treat Yourself as Well as You Treat Your Clients

August 18, 2010 By

Most of us do what we can to keep our clients happy (within reason). When you spend most of your effort trying to please your clients, it’s easy to forget about meeting your own needs. Ignoring your health, family and personal time may seem like a small sacrifice at first. After awhile though, you may grow to resent everything you’ve given up for the sake of your business.

There are a few ways to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.

Pace yourself. Realize your limitations and stop working when you’ve accomplished the goals you’ve set for the day. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your business (that’s one of the goals of working for yourself, isn’t it?) but too much of a good thing can be harmful and ultimately lead to burnout. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life Tagged With: , ,

What You Don’t Have to do While Working From Home

May 28, 2010 By

When you’re working from home and trying to balance every part of your life, it’s easy to focus more on what you have to do rather than what you don’t have to do. Stop it! At some point you have to put your foot down and realize that you don’t have to do everything including:

Work with difficult clients.
Instead: Decide how much stress, aggravation and anxiety you can take from one client. Is the emotional and physical toll this client is putting on you, worth the money you’re making? If so, suffer through your working relationship. If not, put your efforts towards finding a different client that will make you happy, not hopeless. (This applies to personal relationships too!)

Bend when you think someone is being inflexible and insensitive to your needs.
Instead: Tell the other person how you feel and either compromise or stand your ground.  Just don’t bend to the pressure. Nobody likes a wus.

Limit your dreams.
Instead: Most folks working naked are taking today off, making this the ideal day to start dreaming. Make a list of everything you want to accomplish and the steps you’ll need to take to accomplish each item. When you see your dreams on paper and take steps to reach them (trust me, it’s scary), you’ll be closer to achieving them.  I remember reading an advice column about a woman who wanted to go back to school at 40 years old.  She wrote that she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea because when she graduated in four years, she’d be 44 years old. The columnist’s response was, “In four years you’ll still be 44, so what’s the difference?” Love that line!

Hurry through life.
Instead: Plan time for yourself and your family.  Don’t just wait for free time, schedule it.  Whether you take a long weekend vacation or set aside one Saturday each month, spend that time with your family.

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office organizing, Making money from home, Time mgmt./Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Think Creativity Over Cash When Marketing Your Business

May 24, 2010 By

Marketing your homebased business can be challenging and frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be expensive.  In another Working Naked post, a few entrepreneurs shared their low-cost, highly effective ways to market their businesses on a budget. A few more entrepreneurs share their marketing secrets.

    “Unpaid public speaking is a fantastic way to drum up new business. Associations and Chambers of Commerce are always looking for free speakers educate and entertain at meetings. You’ll make your money from the “back of the room” after the event selling products/services, getting referrals and booking more gigs.”

    —Leslie Guria, SpeakingBonanza [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working with clients Tagged With: , , , ,

Why Can’t We All Work Naked?

May 10, 2010 By

Working naked — working without the help of an assistant, accounting department or an IT staff — makes sense considering that technology makes it easy to work anywhere, anytime. So why can’t we all work naked? Consider a few of the many benefits of working from home:

  1. There’s no commute
  2. You’re not stuck in a cubicle
  3. Technology lets you keep up with your corporate counterparts
  4. You save money on rent
  5. You have the freedom to have a life
  6. Your clothing and dry cleaning bills drop significantly
  7. There’s no boss looming over your shoulder
  8. You can wear whatever you want or better yet, nothing at all.  A non-scratchy chair is key to working naked comfortably!

What’s keeping you from stripping yourself of the corporate workplace?

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Making money from home, Working at home Tagged With: , , , , ,

Survey Gives a Peek at Small Business Life

May 4, 2010 By

When you’re working naked and running your own business, it’s not always easy to stay in touch with other small business owners. They may have the same thoughts and business concerns as you, but how do you know?

Brother International Corporation didn’t just wonder about what small business people were thinking…they asked them. In a recent survey of 500 U.S. small business owners, they discovered some interesting stats. A few of my favorites are:

1. Which of the following, if any, has been helpful in managing work-related stress?

  • Spending time with family and friends 45%
  • Exercising 34%
  • Getting away from your workplace for short breaks 29% [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Making money from home, Working at home Tagged With: , ,
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