Working at Home? How to Separate Family from Business
What are the biggest perks of working at home? Undoubtedly the privilege of sitting out the morning rush hour comes to mind as the biggest and best perk! Next is the fact that you will be able to tailor some of your workload to allow you to spend more time with family and friends. Consider the advantage of being there to see off your children when they are leaving for school in the morning, and then also being home when they come back in the afternoon. You will be able to hear about their school day, help with the homework, and have some tasty snacks waiting just for them!
Of course, there are some problems that come with working at home. Here are five tips on how to separate family from business without shortchanging either party!
Install a business telephone line with voicemail. You and nobody else should only use this telephone in the home, which is a rule that will be especially important if you have teenagers in the home. Turn on the ringer when your business opens, for example after the kids have left for school, and then turn it off again when your business day has come to a close, for example when the kids are due to arrive home from school. The voicemail should be able to get whatever business related calls you will get after hours. Resist the temptation of giving out your business line number to friends and family as an alternate way of getting a hold of you. Similarly, do not give out your home number to your business contacts, no matter if they are your best clients or not. Think about it, you would not consider working at a store and giving your home number to customers just in case they have a question on the television they just purchased, would you?
Practice saying “no” to friends and family. It is truly amazing how quickly friends and family will assume that you have plenty of free time now that you are working from home. It is uncertain why thought permeates the minds of those who do not work from home, yet it is almost a given that before long you will be called upon to give rides to the grocery store, baby-sit children, take family pets to the groomers’ or vet, or simply to be an available friend for a visit and chat. Make sure to explain to your family and friends that during business hours, you are working and you will not be available for errands or even friendly visits. If they wish to schedule a lunch with you, it needs to be scheduled just like you would any lunch visit during working hours.
Practice saying “no” to customers and clients. This might be a bit harder since you do not want to alienate the people who pay your wages. Nonetheless, work time is reserved for work, and family time is reserved for family. If you do not draw a line with clients or customers, do not be surprised if they show up on your doorstep at all hours of the day or night, and call you incessantly. Require that clients set up appointments and that your customer will respect the “closed” sign that is located on your door.
If you must work while your children are in the home, make sure to explain to them that during working hours they will need to find alternate methods of entertaining themselves. This is a good time for them to playing with their Lego blocks, model cars or dolls. You might even consider putting a sign on your home office door that alerts your children to the fact that the only things that should cause them to disturb you are the need for a hug, band-aid, or fire extinguisher!
Last but not least, resist the temptation of working past your posted hours. Your family had done everything in their power to let you have the time you need to get your work done. Working longer hours cuts into their time and is not fair to them. A healthy balance will ensure that everyone’s needs get met.