How to Work at Home Successfully

Working at home is being embraced by more professionals every day. Being close to the family, not having to commute or being at your desk at three o'clock in the morning in your pajamas is a wonderful way to work and enjoy life at the same time. Should you choose to work from home, you must be very dedicated to producing a certain amount of work every day and sticking to rules that you make for yourself and your business. Follow these steps to find out how you can.

Instructions

1. Keep track of deadlines and follow a work schedule to run a proper home office. You don't have to answer to a boss; but you do have to satisfy your clients. Decide how much work you have to do each day and then do it, no matter how long it takes.

2. Talk to your family and help them understand that even though you appear to be home, you are not home. You work from home. Set aside an hour each day to focus on your family, perhaps when the kids get home from school. After that hour is up, go back to your home office and if necessary, close the door.

3. Allow only package deliveries, business telephone calls, emails, doctor appointments and emergencies to take you from your work. Laundry, house cleaning, electrical repairs and gardening must be left until the evening or the weekend. Monday through Friday you work at home.

4. Prevent yourself from getting distracted. Even the most seasoned home office professional feels the pull of the outdoors, or desires to leave work and go do something fun. If you find yourself unable to concentrate, change into a business suit and sit back down at your desk. This will remind you that if you were working for someone else, you wouldn't have the option to take off to the spa or the golf course.

5. Buy everything you can possibly afford to make your home office function as professionally as possible. This includes having a top-rated Internet and email service, caller ID and a phone company that has excellent messaging services that can be retrieved from another phone or a Blackberry. Your clients are your income. You must always be available.

6. Find yourself a good accountant. Whether you are self-employed or incorporated, you need someone you can count on to help you protect your financial interests and make sure that everything is done on time.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to reinvent yourself once in a while. If you fall into a rut, you may become obsolete. Going back to work after many years of being in business for yourself is not only difficult for you but worrisome for an employer who is going to be concerned you will be unhappy or even try to take control. Make sure you wear more than one hat so you can always earn a living.

• Many professionals who work at home find themselves always thinking about work or always having to work because depending on your profession, the income stream can be very erratic. If you are the kind of person that doesn't like to be "on call" 24 hours a day, you may be better off at a 9-to-5 job.

• Be very careful if you find yourself needing staff to work with you in your home. Most temp agencies will not allow someone in a person's home unless the office has a private entrance from outside. Do a thorough background check before you let anyone in your home to assist you.