Websites 4 Small Business Newsletter
15 July 2005

BALANCING HOME & WORK:
THE CHALLENGE OF THE HOME-BASED BUSINESS
By Vishal P. Rao

With the holidays around the corner, you may find yourself struggling 
to keep your home-based business and your home life separate and
running smoothly. And you're not alone.

Operating a home-based business has many benefits as you already
know, but its main drawback is that it often causes the line between
your work and your personal life to become permanently blurred.
Unlike those individuals who work outside the home and who know their
day at the office ends when they get in their car and start the
commute home, home business operators do not usually have a definite
end to their day.

The reverse situation is also possible: they may not have a definite
start to their day either. If you have a hard time breaking free of
your work responsibilities or if you sometimes have trouble settling
in to tackle them, these tips will help you bring both aspects of
your life into equilibrium.

Separate Your Office From Your Home

If your work computer is in the living room where everyone in the
family congregates, chances are you are being bombarded by
distractions. Plus, when it is time for you to relax, you may find 
it difficult with the computer right there as a constant reminder of
all the work you still need to finish and all of the communications 
you still need to respond to.

The answer is to set aside an area of your home just for work. If 
you have an office or an extra bedroom where you can set up your space,
then you can block out the distractions simply by shutting the door.
Also avoid putting anything in your home office that might prevent 
you from getting your work done, such as a television.

If you don't have an entire room to dedicate to your office, move your
computer and materials into a room that is rarely used or that is
normally unoccupied when you need to be working, such as a bedroom.
Once you have separated your home from your office, you will find it
easier to stay focused on your work but also to leave your work in its
space so you can relax and enjoy the remainder of your home.

Create Specific Working Hours

One of the best things about running a home-based business is
undoubtedly the flexible schedule, but it can also have negative
consequences. On the one hand, your schedule may be so flexible that
you only work 30 minutes a day or so hectic that you find yourself 
working at all hours of the day without taking a break.

The answer is to set your own office hours. Creating your own schedule 
still has benefits. For one, you can decide what time of the day you 
start, so if you're not a morning person, you don't have to get up at 
the break of dawn. Also, if you prefer to stop working when your 
children come home from school, you can consider that when you decide 
when to stop for the day.

Another benefit is that you provide clients and customers with a 
specific times when you are available to work with them. The most 
important thing to remember, however, is to set hours for yourself that 
you can live with. Once you decide on a schedule, you need to stick 
with it long-term, so be realistic about how long you can work without 
taking a break and how much time you'll need to accomplish everything 
that needs to get done.

And, no matter how much you may be tempted to keep working, you need to 
stop when you say you are going to stop. Taking a break allows you to 
come back refreshed and more alert, so you can be more productive. An 
overworked, overly stressed person simply is not an effective worker at 
home or in an office.

Draw the Line Between Home and Work Communications

Has this ever happened to you? You and your family have just sat down 
for a dinner around the table when a client calls to talk about your 
current project or a customer phones with questions about a recent 
purchase.

The easiest way to prevent work from interfering with your family is to 
keep communications separate. Start by having a second phone line 
dedicated to your work and attaching an answering machine or voice mail 
to the line.

When your work day ends, you can turn on the machine and let it handle 
any after-hour calls. An extra phone line also allows you to maintain 
professionalism. Imagine the embarrassment of having your young child 
answer the phone when an important customer calls.

You may also want to set up a post office box for all of your 
business-related mail. Not only will this prevent your important mail 
from accidentally getting thrown away with the junk, but it will also 
offer you and your family a level of privacy.

After all, you do not want to make your home address available to 
everyone; it's just not safe. If you use email or instant messaging as 
part of your business communications, you'll also want to establish 
separate accounts for those as well.

The key to running a home-based business is balance. While it may be 
difficult to stop working on that important project or to concentrate 
on work while your preparing for the holidays, striking that balance is 
essential for your well-being, your family's security, and your 
business's success.

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Vishal P. Rao is the editor of Home Based Business Opportunities - A 
website dedicated to opportunities, ideas and resources for starting a 
home based business. He also runs the Work at Home Forum - an online 
community of folks who work at home.

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