What's the most difficult part of working from home? A lot of statistics say that it's the distractions, but are there any other things that make this setup more challenging?
For me, its boredom. Since you don't have much interactions with the outside world, you can get frustrated pretty soon.
The challenge to stay focused on the tasks that matter and not yield to the temptation to do something that's more fun at the moment. While there's no one to prevent you from putting things off till later, you soon learn that if you are going to "make it" as a work-at-homer, you'd better develop the discipline to plan and execute your activities accordingly. You are the engine that drives your business. If you aren't tuned in and tuned up, your business will eventually sputter, stall and die. Hermas
For me it was also the distractions and family/friends stopping by. It's gotten a lot better, but when I first started working at home, people assumed I wasn't really working, lol. Now most everyone understands that I am doing real work to earn real money. One helpful thing I found was dedicating a small room in the house as a home office. When people see me in there, they know I am at work.
My biggest distraction: when I first started working at home, I did not set up a separate phone line for the business, I used my home phone. Now that that number has been spread all over the internet, you would not believe the volume of telemarketing calls I get sometimes at all hours of the day and night. Not only the usual "we can lower our credit card interest" ones, but lots of robocalls about making money at home, "You've won a free vacation!", and other stuff that I have no interest in. And because all of these calls come from call centers in India or from the States (I'm in Canada), there is no-one to complain to and they never comply when you tell them to take you off their list. At least if I had a separate line for business I could send it to voice mail in non-business hours. Eventually I did find a solution, a nifty little device that you can install to block unwanted numbers: just Google "digitone call blocker" and you will see it. Now my only distractions are calls from real customers (that's good!) and calls from family and friends (who understand I may not be able to answer during business hours). Life is good again! Dedicating a separate room is also a great idea.
Hello, That is a very good question all work at homers ask. For me it was patience and discipline. You have to stay focused and if you are determined, you will succeed. Also having negativity around you will bring you down. Stay positive and stay in tune with your goals. Setting goals and for your daily tasks will keep you sharp. Also you need to study to stay up to date with marketing strategies to better market yourself. Statistically many people quit before they even begin. It takes hard work always in the beginning, but as you set a pattern of your activities, it will get easier. Keeping reading as I said, and always try new ways and make it fun. You will notice that it does get easier and you will get the results you want from your efforts. Time, Dedication, Mind set and Patience is of essence.
Siting down and getting to work and staying the course of that work to get positive results will be a big deal. You may be able to counter this by letting your family know that you are at work with your home business and to "Do Not Disturb".
I would agree that the biggest challenge has to be staying focused. As a work-from-homer, it's easy for me to put things off until later, and some people that because I work from home that I'm not ACTUALLY WORKING. I think "work" is the operative word here. I do on occasion get robo-calls and telemarketers, but I usually either send them straight to voicemail or tell them I'm not interested and hang up.
Your issue is one I have at times. I have learned that I need to make sure I walk the dog a few miles a day, have certain days where I run errands or go to the gym, etc. to break the days up. My husband and friends all work Monday through Friday so they can't break the days up for me, lol!!! The other issue I have at times is that because my primary business is well established and dependable, I tend to look around at times when I should not. Now I make sure if I look at anything else it can be tied to my primary business so it serves the best purpose and I am not hunting for other things to fill up the day. When I have a day that is not as interesting as another, all I have to do is hear my family and friends complain about rush hour traffic and some of the crazy things they deal with at work.
Yeah that is one of the advantages of working from home. I always say that I love that 20-foot commute every morning
I can spot no disadvantages for working at home!!! Personally I am driving all day long at my current job as a whole sales manager and the only thing that keeps me on my feet out there is that I will return to my home at last When I do come home and focusing on my Internet Marketing Activity for about 4 hours per day, its the more relaxing and pleasant moment of the day. If someone wants to be a professional then the distractions don't appear at all. As long as the only thing you need to work is an Internet connection you can also find a hot spot out there and work while you are having some fun. You can work even on the beach! Working online is just a dream as long as you finally find your path into this industry! As long as I am close to quit my current job because of the residual I do make online I will start living my life again and there is nothing to worry about that if you choose to do it only at your home !
The biggest challenge for most people, when they first get started online in a business is staying focused. You get yourself into one program and then you get bombarded with other great opportunities and then you jump from one program to the next. You have to NOT allow any distractions and FOCUS on one single program until you reach your income goal with that company. It is better then having a job and taking orders from someone else.
Yes! There are so many other things that make this home job more challenging. First, It is really very hard to make yourself focused. You must be an expert in multi-tasking. Another challenge is that you loose your boundaries. I read a blog about this and I really love her advise... you should respect your own time and schedules. There's a very high possibility that you will be working too much since there are two responsibilities that you try to perform at the same time. For me it is very important that you have a very high standard when it comes to self-discipline. I can say that this kind of job requires a person to know how to intelligently balance her time to every project and to wisely identify her top priority during a particular time of the day. Balance in everything is a very important factor of staying updated to all your responsibilities. This topic is so interesting. Thank you for posting this topic.
I have a splendid idea for moms who sometimes are forced to take their child to work. The solution is CartoonTist, a program allowing kids to independently create their own animated cartoons. It's a great tool to work and play with kids. When my child is sitting with a tablet in its hands, and I can't get away from documents, I don't worry, because I know that its playing safely and in addition its learning something ! Check the project out on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/595969019/cartoontist-educational-version
Put your kids to work if you work at home, worked for me, all three of my children ended up working for me, before college, and after, success breeds success as I learned, and the lessons kids can learn working at a young age is priceless. Besides, some of the more boring aspects of business is what I had assigned them to handle, worked perfectly for all of us. And yes, I paid them very well. lol Success to all,
My Father worked at home. He had an office in the basement. Every morning he would come downstairs dressed in a white button-up shirt and khakis. He would eat his breakfast and drink his coffee and be in his office by 9. We didn't see him again until lunch. It was an hour for lunch and then back down to the office until 5. I guess what I'm getting at is that he had a routine and that routine put him in the mindset that he was going to work. He could have just as easily come downstairs in his house coat and rolled in and out of his office all day. Get it in your mind that it is work. Treat it as such and you will be more productive.
