Everything I Need to Know About Working from Home I Learned at the Circus

I love The Real Housewives of Place City Name Here. They shop. They eat out. They wear diamonds to play tennis. What you don't see them do is work. Real housewives WORK. And although housework is no small task, adding a job onto it makes it that much more difficult to meet your potential without driving yourself crazy.

I've worked from home for seven years. In that time, I had a client for whom I worked in her house. When I left, I left work. It was nice to close the door and know there was nothing but home waiting for me. When our contract was up, I worked from home again, and the challenges of staying focused and not wanting to dust the house lingered into my life yet again.

It's so easy to fall into those traps. You know the ones. 'I'll just take a shower at 12', 'I wonder who emailed me?', 'I've really got to hang these pictures up, it'll only take a second', or the dreaded 'I wonder who's on Facebook?' Don't fall into these time suckers. Take my advice, and follow these tips to help you not only focus and reach your full potential at work, but to also know when to shut work off and spend quality time with your family as well.

-Get Ready For Work: That's right, you read me correctly. Get up like you would if you were commuting. Take your shower, put on your makeup, do your hair, shave, whatever you need to do. You wouldn't roll out of bed and go to the office, would you? You shouldn't do the same at home. If you look good, you'll feel good. If you've been wearing the same pajamas for two days straight, and can't remember when you last brushed your teeth, then you're not going to put much effort into your work either. I'm not saying you should wear a suit and heels. Be comfortable. Not messy.

Also plan to have your breakfast and coffee before you start your work as well. It's so simple to go full steam ahead on something you've been thinking about working on all night, and then two hours later realize you missed breakfast, and your cup of joe. Relax. After you get ready, make your coffee, eat your breakfast, finish up, and then get started. Never eat in front of the computer, or eat and work at the same time. Your stomach will thank you.

-Make A List-Check It Twice: making a daily task list will keep you on track, and keep pending items in your face. Out of sight, out of mind can cripple you if what you don't see is something major. If you have Microsoft Outlook or another online calendar, utilize it. Put your daily tasks in the calendar, and it will alert you daily of what you must do. Consider sending yourself an email as well. Put your items in categories such as 'WHAT I DID TODAY', 'WHAT I'M DOING TOMORROW', 'URGENT', 'IMPORTANT', BACKBURNER', 'PENDING'. Having a notebook solely for your daily tasks and notes beside your computer will also help. Put the date at the top of the page to keep in perspective when you last visited it. Be sure to put some extra info on each note you take to remind you what it is when you revisit it in a day or a week.

-Curiosity Killed the Day-Try to keep checking personal email, social websites, and other time suckers to twice a day. It wouldn't be acceptable to go on Facebook twenty times in your office. It shouldn't be acceptable at home as well. Besides, it's very easy to lose an accumulated three hours just on these things alone. Try to keep from checking these things to before work, during lunch, or after your job is done. This way you will be more efficient, and perhaps even finish your day earlier than you expected.

-The Kids Are Alright-It's not easy working with a bunch of interruptions. When your focus breaks, it's tough to get back in the game. But working from home means that you're going to have a lot of these mini interruptions and background noise when the kids are home on break or holiday. Try to set up multiple playdates with friends to keep them entertained for at least a few hours. You can have them work on a project, hobby or chore to keep their focus off of you. Local schools have great programs in the summer that are cost effective, fun, and generally last the length of a normal school day. You may want to consider either waking up a few hours earlier than usual or sleeping a few hours later. While the cherubs are sleeping you can get a considerable amount of work done, and then take that extra time you saved at the end of the day and spend it with your children.

-Don't Do IT!-Remember, when 'the whistle blows', your day is done. Close your laptop, walk away from your computer, put away your papers, and don't look at them until the next day. The temptation can sometimes be so strong to check your work email at night to see if that person you emailed responded. If you can't check your work from home when you don't work from home, then you shouldn't check your work from home when you're at home either. Give yourself the time to connect with your family, connect with yourself, and take a break. If you make yourself seem as though you are available 24 hours a day, believe me, your coworkers, boss, or clients will utilize that to their advantage. Unless you're a doctor, you don't have to be at their beck and call.

No one ever said this would be easy. In a lot of ways working from home is more difficult than working in an office. But if you keep your focus and prioritize your day with some of these tips, you should not only be efficient with your work, but in your home as well without having to overcompensate on either, and keep the borderlines clear.