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Deciding to work from home can be one of the best decisions you will ever make. You’ll have freedom of time and money, get to set your own work schedule, put your family first and pursue your hobbies. But, despite all these perks, there are a few things work from home business owners face.
These work-from-home syndromes may seem unavoidable, but they are far from unbeatable. No matter what kind of job or business you have, you will face challenges. But, if you learn to overcome them you’ll open yourself up to the benefits of running a home-based business, so you can finally work less and earn more.
Procrastination Prone
We all procrastinate. Unfortunately, it can be easier to procrastinate when you work from home. When the work starts to pile up and your mind starts to wander, suddenly that grocery list needs to get taken care of and that garden project looks tempting.
One of the best things about working from home is that you get to do those things during the day. Taking on home projects, going grocery shopping, getting together with friends for lunch and attending your kids’ school events during the day is possible.
You will find you have even more time to do these things and experience more freedom when you overcome procrastination.
The Remedy
Use a calendar and a to-do list to take control of the things that need to get done for your business. This will help you stay organized and even make your business more efficient and successful.
But, don’t forget to schedule in your own time too! Use your calendar as a way to block off personal or family time that is dedicated to you. This can be motivating as it encourages you to get things done as scheduled so that “me time” can be all yours.
Workaholic Pain
On the flip side, it’s not uncommon for people with a home-based business to transform into a workaholic. At first, you might not even recognize this syndrome, but after several months or a few years you’ll find yourself working on your website during every free hour and putting in late nights of work way too often.
There’s no question that running your own business or pursuing a career as a network marketer takes work. There will be long days and as your business grows, you will need to put a lot of time and work into it to get to the point where you are earning more and working less. It often takes a lot of work to build up substantial streams of residual income too, but it’s all worth it.
While this hard work is required, it shouldn’t take over your life and prevent you from maintaining a healthy balance.
The Remedy
Use the calendar and schedule mentioned above, but take things to the next step by taking things on slowly and at a reasonable pace. You can’t do everything at once and many times, you won’t be able to do things alone.
Plan out projects and create mini goals that will help you get your business where you want it to be. Then, take on these smaller steps and focus on them until they are done.
In some cases, you will need to work with others to tackle big projects. This simple step can help you save your sanity and will actually lead to better results. Let an expert worry about something you don’t know much about to free up your own time to spend on tasks that only you can do well.
Growing pains and periods where you are working nonstop can be a sign that it’s time to expand your team or hire personal assistants.
Cabin Fever
While working from home is great, it’s easy to feel cooped up and lonely. People who work from home benefit from being comfortable and skipping a commute, but they miss out on the social aspect of working in an office and the chance to get out once in a while.
When you feel cooped up and don’t work with colleagues in person, your creativity, energy, excitement and drive can grind to a halt. We need social opportunities to be good at what we do.
The Remedy
Get out! There are so many ways you can get out as a business owner. Look into local co-working spaces, schedule weekly meetings, go to networking lunches and even take your laptop to a café for an hour.
Of course, you can also overcome cabin fever, and workaholic pain at the same time, by stepping away from work. Take some time to walk the dog, hit the gym, attend social events, shop and just get out to clear your mind and reenergize.
Working from home brings benefits you can’t get any other way. When you overcome these common challenges, you’ll find that you have ultimate freedom and can actually spend less time working while still earning an income.
If you’re interested in finding out how you can give your home-based business or network marketing business a boost, contact me.
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