To work online from home is a dream come true for many of us. But there are some basic steps that are worth taking right up front, to ensure that the transition from conducting your work (livelihood) activities away from home–to bringing them into the personal space of your home, meets the needs of everyone involved.
Find a space that can be dedicated to your business–not a space that has to do double duty for other family members’ use, transformation to a dinner table or homework station every evening, or guest room when the in-laws come to visit. At the very least the space needs to have a desk or table for the computer, a broadband Internet connection, a phone, some shelving for books, and file storage. It should be quiet enough for you to concentrate on your work and talk on the phone without interruption.
That said, you may find that you enjoy the flexibility of taking your laptop out to the porch, patio, or pool-side on occasion. Viva la work from home! After all, that is the point, is it not?
Even though I initially pictured myself setting up a home office in my finished basement, when it finally came down to it, I found myself gravitating to my funky little three-season back porch. Even though it was smaller and not as “finished” a space, it overlooked the flower garden. That was the pull I needed. [/caption]
I gravitated to the back porch, so that I could see my flowers all day!
I found that the added natural light and the joy I felt in being able to see–and get up and tend to–the flowers enhanced my ability to work with joy and a great attitude. The point is, find a space that works for you, even if it is not a traditional home-office-kind-of-room.
If dedicated, single-use indoor space is simply out of the question, you may want to explore neighborhood wi-fi cafes and other nearby locations in which you could spend as much time as you need, to do the online parts of your work each week. Libraries and other quiet public spaces can be great for writing articles, and working offline on developing other content. It can be posted to the Internet all at once, when you get to the right location.
Here is another out-of-the-box idea: I have a friend who leaves her young child with her live-in mother-in-law for a few hours each day, to work in the spare bedroom-makeshift-office of another friend’s house. In this way she has a “home-office”–albeit away from her home–and the opportunity to work without interruption for a few hours. Her child finds it easier to let her be “gone” for a while, than to have her in the next room and “unavailable.” I think that is brilliant.
It can be just great to work from home; the perfect solution for many professionals and entrepreneurs. For optimal success though, take the time to create a work space in which you can actually work. If necessary, talk with other family members about the importance of having everyone’s support and cooperation in recognizing that this is a home office and when you are in that space you are “at work.” At the same time, one of the reasons you want to work from home, though, is to have more flexibility and flow between your personal life and your work life. These are your boundaries–your choices–and it is up to you to set them up to fit your needs and the needs of your business-and your life!
I love to hear people’s PLACE stories, so do let me know yours!
Wishing you all the best in 2010,
Thia
If you found this article helpful, please leave a comment, Tweet it, bookmark it, and share it!
If you have a dream of working for yourself, I invite you to take a closer look at the business system that made it possible for me to leave my traditional job and create a profitable work-online-from-home-lifestyle in fewer than 90 days. Get immediate access here. Sign up for future articles in the expanded series, How To Work Online From Home, by subscribing to my RSS feed at Thia’s Place
Thia Hamilton, Ph.D., successfully launched her own independent Internet Marketing Education and Home Business Coaching company in the Spring of 2009. Since then she has provided invaluable assistance and resources to hundreds of adults moving from traditional employment to home-business entrepreneurship, learning how to use the Internet to achieve explosive results and lifestyle freedom. Assisting and encouraging mid-life, career-changing entrepreneurs is what Thia loves best because she walks the talk! Her expertise, passion for supporting others’ success, and great sense of humor have evolved through 30 years of leadership and management experience in the nonprofit sector. In her long and rewarding career, Thia has been mentor, advocate, friend, and career coach to thousands of individuals as they overcome huge obstacles in order to live prosperous and empowered lives.
How To Work Online From Home: The Right Physical Space Is Key To Success
Find a space that can be dedicated to your business–not a space that has to do double duty for other family members’ use, transformation to a dinner table or homework station every evening, or guest room when the in-laws come to visit. At the very least the space needs to have a desk or table for the computer, a broadband Internet connection, a phone, some shelving for books, and file storage. It should be quiet enough for you to concentrate on your work and talk on the phone without interruption.
That said, you may find that you enjoy the flexibility of taking your laptop out to the porch, patio, or pool-side on occasion. Viva la work from home! After all, that is the point, is it not?
Even though I initially pictured myself setting up a home office in my finished basement, when it finally came down to it, I found myself gravitating to my funky little three-season back porch. Even though it was smaller and not as “finished” a space, it overlooked the flower garden. That was the pull I needed. [/caption]
I gravitated to the back porch, so that I could see my flowers all day!
If dedicated, single-use indoor space is simply out of the question, you may want to explore neighborhood wi-fi cafes and other nearby locations in which you could spend as much time as you need, to do the online parts of your work each week. Libraries and other quiet public spaces can be great for writing articles, and working offline on developing other content. It can be posted to the Internet all at once, when you get to the right location.
Here is another out-of-the-box idea: I have a friend who leaves her young child with her live-in mother-in-law for a few hours each day, to work in the spare bedroom-makeshift-office of another friend’s house. In this way she has a “home-office”–albeit away from her home–and the opportunity to work without interruption for a few hours. Her child finds it easier to let her be “gone” for a while, than to have her in the next room and “unavailable.” I think that is brilliant.
It can be just great to work from home; the perfect solution for many professionals and entrepreneurs. For optimal success though, take the time to create a work space in which you can actually work. If necessary, talk with other family members about the importance of having everyone’s support and cooperation in recognizing that this is a home office and when you are in that space you are “at work.” At the same time, one of the reasons you want to work from home, though, is to have more flexibility and flow between your personal life and your work life. These are your boundaries–your choices–and it is up to you to set them up to fit your needs and the needs of your business-and your life!
I love to hear people’s PLACE stories, so do let me know yours!
Wishing you all the best in 2010,
If you found this article helpful, please leave a comment, Tweet it, bookmark it, and share it!
If you have a dream of working for yourself, I invite you to take a closer look at the business system that made it possible for me to leave my traditional job and create a profitable work-online-from-home-lifestyle in fewer than 90 days. Get immediate access here. Sign up for future articles in the expanded series, How To Work Online From Home, by subscribing to my RSS feed at Thia’s Place
Thia Hamilton, Ph.D., successfully launched her own independent Internet Marketing Education and Home Business Coaching company in the Spring of 2009. Since then she has provided invaluable assistance and resources to hundreds of adults moving from traditional employment to home-business entrepreneurship, learning how to use the Internet to achieve explosive results and lifestyle freedom. Assisting and encouraging mid-life, career-changing entrepreneurs is what Thia loves best because she walks the talk! Her expertise, passion for supporting others’ success, and great sense of humor have evolved through 30 years of leadership and management experience in the nonprofit sector. In her long and rewarding career, Thia has been mentor, advocate, friend, and career coach to thousands of individuals as they overcome huge obstacles in order to live prosperous and empowered lives.