 |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
|
|
Business Know-How Q&A(TM) Are
You A Slave To Your Home Office? Dear Janet: About a year ago I quit my job and started working at home full-time. Now, I'm finding isolation and managing my time better are crucial. There are many days when I find myself working for 14 to 16 hours -- or longer! I come right downstairs to my office in the morning, stopping only to grab a cup of coffee. With few, if any, interruptions, I am productive, but on days when I have no outside appointments, I may not even go outside. Sometimes I don't shave. I feel isolated and it's uncomfortable. There are other times that I don't FEEL like I've gotten anything done. I begin working on the most important task, but hours later find I haven't gotten to other priorities. It's as though old tapes are playing in my head saying I haven't gotten anything done because I've been home all day. I love working from home and don't want to go back to an office job, but I'm having difficulty coping. Any suggestions? --Jim Dear Jim: How familiar your concerns are! When the office is only footsteps away, it's tempting to slip in to get "one little thing" out of the way before breakfast, and to return after dinner to complete a job. The result? You never seem to get OUT of the office. And that is bad for you and your family. Frequently the problem develops because self-employed people have to handle all the jobs that would be delegated or shared in the corporate world. Unless you are unusual, you are your company's typist, file clerk, marketing department, salesperson. In short, whatever needs to be done, you do. Still, most self-employed can reduce the time they spend in their home office -- if they really want to. You've already taken the first step by recognizing the problem and starting to look for solutions to it. Here are a few suggestions to make more time to enjoy all the good things in life you're working so hard to achieve:
|
|
