8.5 Blunders to Avoid When You Are Working From Home

Working from home is a privilege. You control your time and have the freedom to do what you want. This so-called freedom also leads to the reason so many people fail when they work from home. Working from home brings its own challenges.

You are the boss, employee, sales rep, customer service, and complaint department. The lone ranger if you don’t have a partner. You must set the expectations for your business. It is all on you. Success takes sacrifice. Success takes learning from mistakes either your own or others. Learn from the blunders I have made in my business.

Here Are 8.5 Blunders to Avoid:

Blunder 1 Failure to Create a Separate Work Area: You are a real business. So you should have a business work area. Even if you are in a one-bedroom apartment (this is how I started) you need a corner or small room for your business. Zone off common areas you share during your business hours. Put away personal objects to set the business tone for the day

Blunder 2 No Daily Method of Operation: How many hours do you intend to work? Do you plan your work and work your plan? The reason people work from home is the freedom to do what they want. They hate schedules. But it’s your daily method of operation that will make you successful. To have success stick to a schedule.

Having a daily method of operation will eliminate the frustrations of running a business. It will give you clarity and a sense of direction. Create short-term and long-term goals. Have milestones you attend to reach.

Blunder 3 Too Much Time Alone: It can get lonely working from home. I have my home office but I interact with people every day. I attend company events, seminars, and speaking engagements. Don’t do everything virtually. Get out and meet your clients. Plan lunch dates. Breathe some fresh air and build your business.

Blunder 4 Allowing Interruptions: Your spouse, kids, parents, neighbors, and friends always seem to call during your hours of operation. Since they have a job and you work from home they think you do nothing. With your freedom, it is easy to start taking calls, answering emails, and engaging all your social media notifications. Stop it. You can’t go to their jobs and bug them. Don’t…