Set boundaries.
Boundaries are especially important when working at home because most people will forget that this is your place of work and should be treated that way. If you worked in a traditional office, your friends and family probably wouldn’t call you at work just to shoot the breeze. On the other hand, that is just the kind of distraction you can expect to put up with at home. Not to mention interruptions from family members, neighbors, telephone solicitors.
So here’s how you can set and keep boundaries. First, let friends and family know your work schedule and ask them to respect it, just as if you were working anywhere else. Next, take the phone off the hook or condition yourself to let it ring until the answering machine picks up. When you are expecting important business calls, of course, you can make an exception. Finally, be sure to respect those boundaries yourself. When you are working, don’t let yourself get sidetracked. Don’t let anyone or anything distract you while you are working either. Enforce your boundaries or no one will recognize them and they won’t really exist.
Get out of the house sometimes.
So you have a schedule and boundaries, and you are pushing yourself to work hard and be productive. But then you notice the walls starting to close in on you. You realize you haven’t spoken to a real person in two days.
Now it is time to get out of the house, take a break. Work regular breaks into your schedule. Get out and take a walk or run a quick errand. Attend networking events, so you can talk with others in your field and build your business.
Set goals.
If you want to stay motivated and stick to your schedule, it’s important to have something you are working for. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals. Make them specific and attainable. Write them down. Refer to them whenever you need motivation or guidance in how to schedule your time. Reaching a few “bite-sized” goals every week will keep you motivated and should fit in with your long-term goals. A sales professional with the goal of selling 200 units per month, for example, might do better to break that goal down to 50 per week. From there, she can make the goal even more “bite-sized” by trying to hit 10 per day.
Don’t give up.
Inevitably, there will be days when everything seems to go sideways. Your child has the flu. Your computer crashes. You lose your biggest client. Even the best-made plans and most attainable goals can go awry sometimes. Setbacks just come with the territory. But nothing is so devastating that you can’t get through it as long as you refuse to quit. Even if it seems like you are constantly getting knocked down, it’s never truly over if you keep picking yourself back up.