Separating Your Personal Life from your Business

Separating Your Personal Life from your Business, It's simple:

If you work from home, chances are you already know that you?rereally pulling ?double duty?. You probably work on your businesswhile doing the laundry, corralling the kids, or fixing dinner...and let?s not forget all the phone calls from family and friendsexpecting you to run errands or just "go out" for an afternoon offun.
One of the hardest parts of running a home business is separatingyour work from your family and social life. Here are six provenways to keep your home life running smoothly while keeping yourbusiness on track.

6 Easy Steps to Separating Your Personal Life from your Business

First, create a work schedule and stick with it. It may betempting to answer personal calls during the day or take businesscalls after-hours, but doing this actually shows that you?reexpendable ? not dependable ? and people will take for grantedthat you?ll ?always be there? for any little things that come up.Even though family comes first, stay true to your business hoursand resist the urge to chat with friends or pick up groceriesduring working hours.
2. Your friends may consider ?working from home? an invitation tochat during the day or just go out for coffee or shopping for anafternoon. Make it clear that your business hours are just that ?for business. Leave personal calls for after-hours, and you?llfind that your friends will gradually accept your schedulewithout feeling slighted.
3. Just because you have to set up a work schedule, doesn?t meanthat you have to keep the same hours as everyone else. One ofthe benefits of working for yourself is setting your own hours tofit your most productive times. Whether you?re an early bird ora night owl, you?ll find that you?ll get much more done whenyou?re attuned to your body?s own natural rhythms. Some peoplework in the morning, take a break in the afternoon when the kidsare home from school, and work again in the evening. Scheduleyour work time when you feel the most productive and you?ll findthat things get done easier, faster and better than when you weredragging along during those same rigid work hours that everyoneelse has.
4. If getting after-hours business calls or work day personalcalls is a problem, it helps to have a separate business phoneline, or at least an answering machine or voice mail, to take theincoming calls. This also gives your business a moreprofessional appearance to clients than if you and your familymake and receive calls from the same phone line.
5. If at all possible, try to separate your ?home office? fromthe rest of your home. If you don?t have the luxury of aseparate room, a room partition or screen can be just as helpful.This also serves as a visual cue to family that you?re workingand shouldn?t be bothered.
6. Dress and act professionally while working. Some people findit helpful to dress in casual business attire during theirworking hours. This reinforces that just because you?re workingfrom home doesn?t make you any less of a professional. Answerthe phone with your name, or business name, and keep yourchildren off the phone during business hours. Also, spend moneyinvesting in the tools you need to do your job right. A cellphone, fax machine or even a budget computer can help turn yourhome office into a true workspace.
If you follow all of these tips and stick with them, chances areyou?ll find a routine that not only makes you feel productive andactive in your business, but also projects the message that youmean business ? literally!