Top 10 Problems of Working at Home

Working from home, whether you are salaried or employed, means more control over your schedule and your enviroment. You are the boss, there is no one standing over you, no time clock to punch, and no bell to tell you when to take breaks. There is no procedure manual for working at home. It's 100 percent what you make it.

Even with these advantages, or maybe because of them, working at home is not without it's challenges. The ten most common problems have been documented thru studies and surveys, including Home Office Magazine, and small business bureaus.

1. Distractions from family and friends

2. Being taken seriously

3. Working too much

4. Separating work and personal life

5. Lack of support services

6. Not enough space

7. Feeling isolated

8. Lack of privacy

9. Self-discipline and self-management

10. Zoning

Obviously the largest problem in any venture that allows you to work from home would be distractions from family and friends. If you have children, at first they wont understand that even though you're now at home full time, you still need to separate your time. You will constantly be bombarded with questions and requests. Friends may also feel that it gives you more time to talk, shop, visit.

Therefore, the key point to starting a business at home will be to set and follow boundaries. For most women attempting to work at home, their children are the very reason for making such a decision. To spend more time with them, or be more involved in their growth and schooling. Working at home can satisfy those needs, but for the business to function effectively, a separation of time for the business must be kept from the extra time spent with family.

Any person wishing to branch out on their own understands that they need to be taken seriously by their clients, customers, supervisors, family and friends. Being taken seriously falls directly in line with your newfound freedom. It's 100% of what you make it. Sure, you can stay in your pajamas until late into the evening hours, but what mindset does that give you? Is it professional? Is it serious? The best advice to be given in the factor of seriousness is you'll only be taken as seriously as you take yourself.

That being said, there are some things you can do to overcome the stereotyping of less-than-professional home businesses.

1. Be sure that all of your printed material communicates that you're a serious business or professional. This includes using professionally designed business cards, letterheads, and stationary.

2. Have a separate business telephone line. Keep your residential phone for your personal use and for your family. Don't allow children to answer your business line.

3. Answer the telephone with a pleasant business like greeting. This communicates that you're happy to hear from every caller.

4. Have a physically separate space for your office. A separate room, is preferred. If that is not possible, one rule to follow is never make the most intimate room in your house - the bedroom - also your office.

5. Give yourself permission to treat household interruptions as if you were at the office. If you need child-care help, arrange it, particularly for children under five.

6. Establish a work schedule. You may work more hours at home than you would at the office, but dont work morning, noon, and night. Establish time for yourself and your family.

7. Develop your self-management. Set goals every day. Work on those goals first, since there is never enough time to do everything. Remember, keep the separation of family and business. Don't allow yourself to become occupied with reacting to interruptions and demands. Separating the important from the urgent is a necessary ability.

8. Don't allow paperwork and office equipment to take over your home. Use space saving storage devices. You might even think about consulting with a professional organizer.

9. Have the attitude that you work from home, not at home. Get out of the house at least once a day. Your home is your office, your base.... not your prison

10. Get Support. Having a support base of family members, clients, and if you're employed - coworkers, can do wonders for your outlook when the ethereal feeling of working from home wears off.

The third problem found is that people that work from home begin to work entirely too much. It's an easy trap to fall into, not having to leave the house to make your money, and not realizing how many hours passed while you were in your office. While it is noted that the majority of work at home professionals put in more hours at home than in the office, it is imperative that you set your boundaries and limits on how much your business life will cut into your family life.

Since the whole day is spent under one roof, approximately 2 out of 10 people report that they have difficulty juggling the demands of both home and business. They're bothered by family interruptions, housework that needs doing, deliveries, friends, pets. Although it sounds chaotic, there are some very simple and effective solutions. Setting a schedule, finding the right place for your office, getting an answering machine, arranging childcare. Remember one rule concerning separating work and personal life. If you went out of the house to an office everyday, you wouldn't be at home to juggle these interruptions. You should treat your in-home office as though you just left your house and went to work. Following a maxim along this line will take you further in developing a serious minded at home business.

Another major roadblock in starting a business from home is feeling isolated. Once the euphoria of your freedom and free will wears off, you will be tested on your sincerity and ability to actually accomplish your goals. No longer are you able to lean back in your chair and peek over into the next cubicle and catch your neighbors attention. No longer are there social interactions at the water cooler. This is all you. Your dream, your vision, your focus. At first, it's a beautiful thing. Then, you start to feel isolated. Those coworkers were a support group that you didn't realize you had. Your managers and supervisors were support systems you never acknowledged. If you didn't burn your bridges when you left to start your venture, maintaining contact with those support systems could aid you personally, and perhaps professionally.

Even facing these problems, experience clearly shows that the difficulties you encounter do not need to be roadblocks. If you are motivated properly, and set your goals, limits and boundaries, you will find a way over, under and around them.