Ten Pitfalls to Avoid when working from home
Copyright 2001 Diane Wolf

1. Procrastination
There is something about the entrepreneurial spirit that often combines creativity and spontaneity with procrastination. If you have a boss, the threat of losing your job can keep you motivated, but at home it becomes all too easy to put off until tomorrow what you meant to do today. Also, not HAVING to be in the office at 9 a.m. means you can relax over just one more cup of coffee and before you know it, it is almost lunch time. People in sales-related fields often dread the "1000 pound phone" and find creative ways to avoid making those calls. Solution: Arrange to call important clients at 9 a.m. sharp (or whatever time you decide you really want to begin seriously) so that you NEED to be in your office ready to go before then. Or, run your errands and make outside appointments first thing in the morning to get you up and going. Set a self-imposed deadline by promising to have a draft of your work ready for a client to view at a certain time. Set a goal of how many phone calls you want to make during the first hour of the day, and challenge yourself to increase that number gradually as it becomes easier.

2. Isolation
It can by very lonely working in your home office without the companionship of co-workers. If you are in a service profession, you may have enough contact with the outside world that you don't experience this, but if you are a writer, for example, you run the risk of becoming somewhat of a hermit. Solution: Find a group of like-minded people i.e. A networking group, book club, circle of self-employed acquaintances and arrange a monthly get-together for lunch or coffee. I belong to several women's networking groups and they are often my sanity break when I am under heavy writing deadlines. I return to the computer refreshed and re-energized, and discover that the time I spent networking enabled me to work more efficiently afterwards. A great investment!

3. Not taking our business seriously
There was a time when a home-based business was not considered to be quite legitimate. The explosion in the number of people going home to work has gone a long way in changing public perception, but we have to take ourselves as seriously as we expect others to. If we spend time chatting on the phone with friends, or running into the store in sweat pants, we can't be surprised if people don't treat us as professionals and feel free to "drop in for coffee" or stop in the mall for a chat. Solution: What a revelation the first time I told someone I was not available to chat because I was at work. I felt such freedom. Certainly that person would not have called me at the office to chat, so I felt free to treat my home office with the same respect. I have since found people to be very respectful of my need to focus, and understanding that I am not available for social visits during office hours. We need to dress and act like professionals if we expect to be treated as such. (Yes, I have stopped wearing track pants shopping after running into the local newscaster and being interviewed ON TELEVISION while at the grocery store last week wearing leggings, a long fleece jacket and NO MAKEUP!…… Don't let it happen to you!)

4. Work = home and Home = work
When you work at home, the lines of separation between work and home get quite blurred. As convenient as this can be with no commuting time, it can also become all to easy to "slip into the office" for a few minutes after dinner, only to discover that the evening has disappeared and the family has had no time with you. Solution: Keep a notebook labeled "home" in your office, and one labeled "office" in your home area. Set your office hours and really leave your work behind when you leave. Close the door, and find an alternate activity to help you make the transition from work to home. If you remember something work-related that you need to attend to, WRITE IT DOWN, so that you don't have to worry about it. Alternately, when you go in to work, focus on work and if you think of something you need to do in the house, write it down in its corresponding notebook. When you leave your office area, put your answering machine on and turn the ringer off, so that you won't hear the phone ringing.

5. Burnout
People who are employed often envy the entrepreneur for our ability to take time off whenever we choose (theoretically). Reality is, we often work long hard hours when we have a lot of work, and spend long, hard hours looking for clients when work is slow. It seems to be feast or famine in many fields. Solution: Learn to set money aside when times are good, so that you don't feel quite so pressured when times are leaner. Insist on at least one rest day a week. Our bodies were NOT designed to work 24/7, taking a day off is an investment in good health, something particularly crucial to the self-employed. Relaxation is NOT a waste of time. (To my friends reading this, I do believe in taking my own advice and am working really hard to learn how to relax….)

6. Distractions
There are many advantages to working at home, especially if you have a family. However, the same family that you love enough to want to be close to, can make it difficult to concentrate at times. (Ironically, I am writing this as my 10 year old is asking me to explain the rules of "Dutch Blitz".) Children, friends dropping in, the television, the refrigerator etc. are all distractions that need to be dealt with. Solutions: If possible, have your home office space away from the central hub of the home. If this is not possible, set a timer for your work period, and insist that your family leave you alone for that time, with the understanding that you will give them your full attention when the timer goes. With little children, your work periods may have to be short and frequent, but as they get older you can increase the time.
Set the VCR to tape your favorite programs so that you can enjoy them guilt-free on your time off (you can skip the commercials that way and watch them in 75% of the time too!)

7. Perfectionism
Did you know that procrastinators are often perfectionists? We keep waiting for the "perfect" quiet time to sit down and concentrate and until it comes, we keep busy with smaller tasks. We also often keep editing and revising our work until it is perfect (a rare achievement, to be sure). This "all or nothing" cycle can be broken by accepting the fact that success does not mean being perfect, it means never giving up. So we do our best in the time allowed and then move on. Ask your closest friends and family whether or not they feel perfectionism is something that holds you back. Those of us in research-related fields know that we are never finished, there are always more books and articles to read and people to interview. As the saying goes "A job worth doing is worth doing well" but it DOESN'T say "a job worth doing needs to be done perfectly or not at all".

8. Getting in a professional rut
As a former teacher, I used to love professional development days. I always came back to the classroom inspired and motivated to make some improvements. We ALL need professional development days! Join a professional association, indulge in a trip to the bookstore to keep up with the newest developments in your field, take a self-improvement course in an area related to your field etc. We need to guard against becoming stale!

9. Saying "yes" to too many obligations
How many times have you heard "I'm sure you won't mind if I just drop over since you're at home anyway." Solution: This relates to number 3 above with regards to taking our business seriously. I have learned to say no to outside obligations like babysitting, committee meetings, school field trips etc. because I have to work. The fact that I set my own hours means that my work is FLEXIBLE, but not OPTIONAL. We each need to choose the things we want to be involved with, and feel NO GUILT in saying no to the rest! Say "no" to the good things, so that you have room to say "yes" to the best!

10. Taking yourself too seriously
Having said above that we need to take our business seriously, I want to stress that I don't mean to take ourselves too seriously (If I did, I WOULD NOT have confessed my little grocery store interview last week). Keep your sense of humor and you will keep your sanity. Learn to laugh at your blunders and enjoy life! After all, you are the best boss you will ever have, so learn to enjoy your own company!