Work life balance when working from home

Working from home sounds ideal but as expert Kate Lister at Undress4success.com pointed out, unless you have discipline it can wreak havoc on your personal life. Lister and her husband, Tom Harnish, both work from home. Lister made me laugh when she said that the two sit a few feet apart in their home office but communicate at times through email in order not to disrupt the flow of the work day.

When I put out a tweet on the topic, I received all kinds of tips from work at homers. Some feel strongly that you need a separate home office to be successful. Others believe you need the right frame of mind. I'm happy to share some tips. If you have any to share, join the conversation.

Here's my article that appeared in The Miami Herald:

About a year ago, I left my office cubicle and joined the ranks of more than six million people who work from their homes most of the time. Having always enjoyed the camaraderie of the newsroom, sitting alone behind a desk in a home office sounded kind of lonely to me. Even more, home had always been a refuge, a place to escape from work.

Some consider working from home a huge work-life perk. For me, it was a transition. I save time on the commute and I'm home the moment my kids return from school to hear about their days. The challenge has been using my new flexibility wisely and confining work to a 9 to 5 day.

In the past two years, the work-at-home population has spiked, partly because of the downturn in the economy and the surge in self-employment. Indeed, the number is up 40 percent and most of the people who work from home now are men, not just mothers seeking flexibility, a new census report shows.

Like others making this transition, I quickly discovered that the moment you relocate the office into your home, the barrier between what is work and what is not starts to break down. It takes discipline to stay focused and set boundaries. Kate Lister, coauthor of Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home, told me the biggest documented challenge for work-from-homers is overworking.

I find myself seeking tips from successful work-from-home business owners or employees. To avoid a deterioration of work-life balance, here is some advice I've received:

Set work hours. Anne Alexandra Kessler raised six kids while working from home as a legal assistant. Her advice for those whose schedules aren't dictated by an employer: set office hours. They don't have to be 9 to 5, she says, they just have to work well for you.

Kessler would work intensely from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. and take the afternoons off to spend with her kids. Then, she would return to her office in the late evenings.

For the throngs of men who are joining this work from home, setting office hours also lets those who you do business with and those you live with know when to expect your availability.

Close the door. Closing my office door makes me feel isolated. Yet, it appears to be the reason I'm less productive than I should be. One of the biggest adjustments is getting family and neighbors to distinguish between my physical presence and availability.

Laura Herde works as a sales manager for Continental Airlines. When the airline closed its Fort Lauderdale office five years ago, Herde set up a home office in her bedroom. Closing her bedroom door has helped her set the ground rules with her children, ages 18, 11 and 5. ``They know don't bother Mommy unless they are bleeding.'' At times, she's had to put a sign on the door to remind them of the rules.

Allow set breaks. My friend, Linda DeMartino, works from home as a communications consultant and schedules a lunch break into her day. ``The exact time may fluctuate, but the allotment remains the same,'' DeMartino says. I know some men who do this, too. She uses that one-hour period to run errands or join a friend for a meal just as if she was working from an office. It's a disciplined approach to allowing yourself to leave your home office without losing the integrity of the workday.

Planning breaks also prevents you from jumping back and forth to do chores haphazardly. The first few weeks I worked from home, every piece of laundry I owned was clean, but it was taking me twice as long to write an article because of all the disruptions.

Some, like Herde, advise staying away from chores altogether during the workweek.

Use flexibility as your ally. If the car breaks down or the washing machine explodes, I can get it repaired without messing up my workday. If I were chained to a desk with a taskmaster boss, this wouldn't be as easily possible.

Create a trigger for winding down. Ending the workday can become extremely difficult. Lister says you need to develop cues to help you wind down. She sets an alarm at 6 p.m., giving herself an hour notice to wrap up e-mail and clean up her desk. ``I enjoy what I do and get absorbed in it.''

Howard Lawton, who works from a home office for a technology company, makes a to-do list for the next day at 6 p.m. as a signal that his day will end. It's his way of wrapping up the workday guilt-free.

Establish ground rules for after hours. It's a slippery slope from hopping onto the computer just to read a few e-mails after dinner to emerging at midnight. Herde has made a rule for herself -- no sneaking back on the computer in the evenings or on weekends. ``My husband doesn't like it if I do. He says, `you already gave a full day, why are you on the computer. What about me?'' Instead of turning her computer on, Herde uses her BlackBerry after hours like many office workers do to keep an eye on any urgent e-mail.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/23/1544123/it-takes-discipline-to-successfully.html#ixzz0jCzY3rGR

Comments

[earn money at home]

I have three children and I work from home making party supplies and favors such as personalized wedding favors, etc. I think there is definitely a delicate balance between home and work, especially when you work and live at home. My children go to daycare half days and spend the other half with me and if I have any other work to do, I do it when they go to bed. I love the flexibility of working at home and I feel like I don't miss out on my children’s' lives.

[short term offices]

I know you've been feeling difficulties when working at home. You don't know if you'll work for your job or work for your home. But it's a less cost for those working at home.

-jed

[Robert Burr]

My wife and I have worked from our home office together most of our 28 years together. This has allowed us to save a bundle of money on commuting (not to mention retain our sanity) home school our son during the middle school years, travel extensively together and separately, volunteer our time for worthy endeavors, and generally keep a nice balance in our lives between work, play, community, family and friends. It's pure bliss.

[Emile Marston]

It is one of the predicament of a home-based worker when they can't have a proper work-life balance, since some of them only goes one way and half-ass another. That is why, we need to set a schedule upon ourselves on when we will be serious at work and be relaxed with your family. In my case, it is manageable, when my work in researching for ways on easier customer support for my colleagues when using their PBX hosted hardware, and my life as a family man doesn't collide with each other.

[Cindy]

Working from home can be tricky. A schedule helps. Thanks for your comment.

[p4parttime]

Balance between work and life is very typical but I would say that Every coin has two side.Although you have discussed very well.There are following benefits Flexibility of hours, Work load control, New skills, No office politics, No commute.

[Cindy Goodman]

Yes. You have pointed out some of the great benefits of working from home. Thanks!