How to Make Working at Home Work for You and Your Family

When you work at home, no matter how hard you try to keep them separate your personal and business lives are bound to overlap and, at times, collide.

For many people the very idea of having their own home-based business evokes such idealistic images as working in pajamas, spending more time with family, scheduling their own time, and never again having to deal with the morning commute. The very thought can send shivers down the spine. What could be better?

Reality check: Working from home is hard work.

Yes, working and living under the same roof can be all of these things and a whole lot more, but it takes dedication and flexibility, especially when it comes to establishing a balance between your professional and personal home life where you can meet with some unexpected challenges... for instance overcoming the unending desire to work every waking moment of everyday... including weekends!

So what can you do?

Start by becoming clear about your ultimate goal.

If creating more personal freedom is your ultimate goal, it's important that you decide what "freedom" actually means to you. Is it having enough money to pay off your bills, more time with your family, more leisure time for you, or all of the above? Whatever it is, how to get to that point needs to be as much a part of the plan for your business as the business itself; otherwise you may well grow a wildly successful home-based business only to end up working more and no closer to your personal freedom goal than when you worked for someone else.

Set realistic expectations.

Accept that while the rewards of growing a successful home-based business are ultimately worth the effort, it takes time. First there will be the hard work of getting your new business off the ground and gaining momentum.

Look after your health.

Your health should always be your number one priority and yet it's the easiest thing to take for granted when you're up to your eyeballs in work. Stress is one of the biggest causes of poor health. To combat this, get enough sleep, eat regularly and choose healthy options, take time out for relaxation, and exercise at least three times a week.

Separate work from family as much as possible, or else you won't be able to give either the attention they need.

It is true that some parents start a home-based business with the idea that they'll be able to save a lot of money on daycare and easily focus on both of their top priorities - raising their children as well as building a business. But the truth is it takes focus to build a business, and working with kids in the room is pretty much impossible.

However, here's where I'm going to deviate somewhat from conventional wisdom. I've worked with hundreds of home-based entrepreneurs and time and again found that those that involve their family in some way with their business are the happiest, least stressed and often the most successful.

At the very least, take the time to help your family understand and feel connected to your ultimate goal, and share some of your challenges and achievements along the way so they feel a part of your whole life, not just the moments allocated to them.

Create a dedicated work space, preferably with a door that shuts.

Perhaps the idea of working at home fills your head with visions of relaxing on the sofa with a cup of tea while you check your e-mail, or writing out business proposals in a sunny spot of the living room. While it doesn't hurt to get a change of scenery, you're likely to be more productive if you create your own dedicated office space within your home.

Understand that working at home can be isolating.

Working at home might sound especially appealing to long-time cubicle dwellers, but the reality of running a home-based business is that it's all too easy to get isolated and start to go a little bit stir-crazy.

It helps to make regular commitments to get out of the house. Meet your friends for lunch. Network (in-person, not just on Twitter or LinkedIn) with colleagues and prospective customers.

Recognize that this lifestyle takes negotiating, planning and prioritizing.

Try to maintain a sense of humor and avoid immediately stressing out when personal interruptions do occur. Develop the ability to break from work and become efficient by focusing on the urgency of the interruption and resolving it so you don't have to worry about it. Then get back to your regular work schedule. Soon, you will learn to mentally maneuver and have a healthy balance between the two worlds without tension or guilt.

To learn more personal growth tips and tools for living an inspired life, please visit my blog IGG - Tips, Tools & Tantalizing Ideas at: http://www.inspiredgiftgiving.com/. Tip: New subscribers receive a FREE copy of my popular eBook, It's Your Time NOW!

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Working On Purpose

Have you ever heard the saying, "A little hard work never hurts anyone?" Yes, I have heard that and yes, I do believe that. I also believe if you are going to work hard at least work on something that will help fulfill your life's purpose.

Living a life apart from purpose is like living life without meaning. Who wants to walk aimless in this world not knowing what to do next in life? It's time to take center stage in life, square your shoulders and live! Yes, live it at its best. You have missed your curtain call long enough.

Are you someone who has been procrastinating? Having many projects, but not achieving much of anything? On the other hand you might be wearing yourself out by working extremely hard, but still not able to accomplish your life long purpose.

Well, if so you might be lacking vision and a plan for your life. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were really on track with your life. What would your life look like?

Your heart is a great indicator to follow when searching for purpose. A life that does not involve ones heart is considered empty. There are so many empty people walking around today because their aim is to please others. If you care more about how others feel about you than yourself please stop, and get a grip. Your heart is like a magnet it draws you to where you need to be.

These days everyone is so excited just to have a job based on the economy, but I can almost guarantee you that your heart does not care about the economy. It is still crying out to work purpose in the midst of the recession. Whenever you are not working your purpose, the heart will always try pulling you towards it. A strong indicator that you are off track is waking up feeling unsettled, leaving for work traveling in one direction but the heart is pulling you in another.

Yes, I feel you, someone is saying; "this is how I feel each day." My suggestion to you is to start with small baby steps towards your destiny by listening to what your heart is most passionate about.

You don't have to make any sudden moves, but at least listen for a change. Do you understand this powerful statement, "listen for a change." If you hear what your heart is trying to convey, change can happen for you. You are the most important person you will ever meet. What is it that your heart wants you to discover about your purpose?

Cynthia Brooks is an entrepreneur at heart and enjoys coaching other entrepreneurs by getting them off the side lines of life into the game. She invites you to view some great articles and resource information on http://ctbrooks08.blog.com/ and http://cynthiatbrooks.com/

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Working With Others - Teamwork Is the Key to Success

Zig Ziglar once said, ?"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want".

We as a country are on the verge of loosing our identity, as hard working, honest and resourceful people we really are. People are loosing their jobs by the thousands, because of a group of people elected to serve the people are serving themselves and the special interest groups, who line their pockets with filthy lucre.

It seems we have been sold down the river by the ones who have been duly elected, and charged with carrying out the will of the people, in almost every area of our government this seems to be the case.

We need to learn how to be "our brothers keeper" in a sense and try to help those who are being directly affected by our leaders poor choices. With this in mind I have looked at many, so called, home based businesses and found that most of them are just imaginary castle's in the sky.. Even the experts in Internet marketing will tell you that, "97% of What you See Online today is NOT backed by People who Truly Care about YOU making Money!".

Do you think that if every person would follow the pay-it forward method of helping others that the world would very quickly change, and once we really begin to serve each other and put others concerns ahead of our own, at least some of the time. We would see that it was meant for us to care for each other, not the governments responsibility.

So, we find ourselves in dire straits, our future seems to flap in the wind as our elected leaders spend, spend, and then spend more, of your own money I would add. I submit to you that there are still people who care, the question that I must ask myself each morning is, "Am I one of them?

If so what am I doing daily in my routine to help someone else. Or perhaps do I look for opportunities as they present themselves right before my eyes to help someone in need.

With utmost certainty I can tell you, if I could learn to live (LOVE) this way my rewards would be worth so much more than earthly treasures. I really believe I have found a way to help anyone in these United States that has lost their job, and just want the opportunity to have their own business, and with optimum chance of success.

Talk to a real person about a real home based business, that is booming, with repeat customers for years to come.

http://www.my-new-biz.weebly.com/

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