You've finally made the decision. You've chosen to start a home based business. Congratulations. You've taken a great step toward achieving self-reliance personal empowerment and financial independence. But often times when people start working from home their level of productivity drops. Why is this and what can be done to change it?
For most people their productivity at work is a direct reflection of their peer group there. At work you had many people on which to compare your level of productivity against. Now that you're on your own and working from your home you often have no measure of how productive you are, so most people's activity levels drop.
And perhaps even more importantly, while at home there are many distractions during the day which can easily get you side-tracked. Television, newspapers, internet, phone calls, and laundry, your spouse or partner, children, the dog, your friends or family popping in for a short visit... these are all small distractions that will very quickly keep you away from your work.
One key thing you can do to increase your productivity is to plan your day out, and write what you want to achieve for that day and stick to your plan. Some activities require a certain amount of time to be put into them while other activities require less time but more strategic planning or thought to achieve. It's probably better to set daily goals that have specific outcomes, such as certain number of words written, or a specific number of phone calls placed. Otherwise if you just set time limits, you could find that you reached your mark with still nothing to show for it because instead of actually completing a task you sat around watching the clock, fiddled with your desktop icons, played solitaire for a little break -that turned into two hours- and so on.
Another tip to keeping yourself productive at home is to dress as if you are going to the office. Every morning, get up, shower, and put on office clothes. Wearing your work clothes will put you into a different state of mind than hanging out in your pjs and will motivate you to get to work. This will be a clue to your mind that now it is time to work.
Having a designated office area is another important thing. If you can manage a room that you can use solely for work -your office- that would be ideal. However, if you don't have the available space, the next best thing is to set up your workspace and computer in a room that doesn't have a bed in it. You don't want to be looking over at the bed when you're feeling a little flustered or uncreative. It'll be just too tempting. Also, make sure your office, or workspace is tidy, organized and pleasant. And lastly, try to work with the door closed.
Just a quick little warning. Many people who work from home feel shut in. You spend so much time in your home, you almost forget there's a whole big world on the other side of the front door. It is important to get out of the house at least once a day and go for a walk or drive. Going to the mall is great for a quick walk and for people watching.
If you decide you really can't work from home; look into renting cheap office space somewhere. In many office buildings you can find a room to rent somewhere, which is much cheaper than renting a whole office.
Working from home is great if you have the discipline to keep at it. It takes consistency and drive, and unlike working for someone else, there's noone to keep an eye on you, tell you what to do, or expect a certain amount of work each day. You have to supervise yourself. If you can do so, then working from home can be great experience.
