Disadvantages of Working at Home - part 2
We’ve seen so far that one of the things home business entrepreneurs need to watch out for is self discipline (actually the lack of it).
It’s time now to talk about other disadvantages of working from home.
The next thing that comes to mind is loneliness. A home based business brings a lot of it. You end up spending countless hours in your home office, in front of your computer with no one to exchange a word with. It’s either because every one’s out of the house (at work, school etc) or just because you isolate yourself from them to be able to work.
Have you ever noticed those people who just can’t spend one single minute alone without talking to someone. You can even see them when shopping for example. They’re always talking to someone? They always have something to say, a comment to make etc. Needless to say that for such folks working at home can become a living hell. Since I am not one of them I can’t really give any advice on how they can overcome this inconvenient. If anyone has any tips, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I would be more than happy to add it in the body of this post.
Now, for those of us who are not necessarily over sociable persons, the loneliness of a home based business is not really something we can ignore. After all, no human being is an island. We all need to be in the presence of others, to communicate with others, to exchange ideas (which is actually a very important aspect of building a business of any kind). Overall building relationships with others is a must for any type of business.
Every time I pull the plug and disconnect myself from my business and feel lonely I like to call a friend. In many instances that means just returning a missed phone call. In such situations just hearing a human voice and realizing I’m not all by myself in my little match box makes things a lot better. Most of the times I end up visiting this friend or going out to a pub. And in many cases others will join us.
Other times I like to go out for a walk or to a coffee shop and just sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee. It makes me aware of the fact that even though I might have felt lonely I am actually not. There’s plenty of other people in the world. Just understanding that makes me feel much better. Needless to say almost all the time there’s someone opening a conversation.
Another good aspect of me doing so is that it recharges my batteries. I am a workaholic (one more thing to look out for). Plenty of times I find myself working for a few good hours without a single break. Not even a five minute one to have a glass of water or a sip of my extremely cold by now coffee. Why? Because I love what I’m doing. However, after such long hours I feel drained. I feel like I can’t take it anymore.
It can happen to anyone. You could say it’s the opposite of the issue we talked about the other day: lack of self discipline. You have those who can’t get things done and you have those who over do it. Interesting enough one can be in both situations. I certainly can. It happens especially when it comes to dealing with aspects of the business I don’t enjoy too much (to say the least). I know they need to be done! In order to do them I impose to myself to not do other things I enjoy (such as writing) until the least pleasant ones are taken care of. Yet, sometimes, even taking such an approach won’t make me overcome my lack of self discipline.
On the other hand when I do the things I enjoy, I have a tendency, as I said, of over doing them. As a result, when I write for example, I find myself sitting in front of the computer clueless as to what else I had in mind when I first thought of the topic. I know there were plenty other ideas I wanted to put down. Yet none of them comes to mind at this point.
This is when I realize I have overworked myself. This is when I realize the walk in the park or a break at a pub or coffee shop or a conversation with a friend would be more than welcome. It’s unbelievable what a great impact they can have on me. I feel like a new human being. I get back to my computer and my ideas come out like they have been squeezed somewhere in a small box and once I open the box they just pop out.
What can one do to defeat loneliness and workaholism? Just like in the case of lack of self discipline, set a schedule and stick to it. Based on your most productive hours of the day make a schedule for what and when needs to be done. When is time to work, for how long you should work without interruptions, when to take your brakes (short and long ones) and when to call it quits for the day (close the doors of your business). It’s also important (again based on your most productive hours of the day) to decide when and what to do. I, for example, like reading my emails after my lunch break. That’s when I feel the least productive. I always feel sleepy after lunch. Since I don’t like to take afternoon naps I keep myself busy with stuff that doesn’t demand much of my attention.
Analyze your own situation, see what best works for you, set up a schedule and stick to it. That’s the only way to get things rolling and get used to the least pleasant aspects of working from home. Once you’re in the biz and most things come naturally you can deviate from your schedule every now and then without risking you business too much. Until then, I will say it again and as many times as I have to: schedule, schedule, schedule.
Next: distractions
