It can be hard to feel like there’s a separation between your home and work lives when you’re running a business at home. It’s hard to be truly focused on your work when you can hear your daughter practicing her flute upstairs, or when your cat is climbing on you.
However, simply running a home business does not mean that you should be without that divide. In fact, it can be very important in order to stay focused, to manage your resources and time well, and to feel energized when approaching both areas of your life in this way.
With a home business, particularly one ran online, you could easily do this in your pajamas, or only in your underwear if no one is home. But doing that can also prevent you from getting into ‘work mode,’ where a comfortable pair of slacks and a nice casual shirt could help you feel that way. It’s a psychological trick, but it’s important.
But how do you go further and try to ensure this divide is well considered? Well, let us help you to that end:
Craft Your Own Home Office
It’s important to ensure that you have a separate space to work. Sure, you might have a small amount of space in your home, but that shouldn’t stop you from finding at least somewhere to work, even if you have to place the desk in your bedroom.
You cannot afford to be distracted all day by your children returning home from school, your cat jumping on your shoulder or the little distractions such as games consoles or what’s happening out the window to help you lose your focus. A little area, preferably with a closed door, can make all the difference.
Of course, you’ll be reachable in the need of an emergency, and sometimes you need to work where you can if a single parent (such as during the school or napping hours of your child), but overall, a separate space can work wonders in this direction.
Separate User Accounts
Use separate emails for your work and home life. This goes for creating two user accounts on your operating system, to ensure that you don’t have access to the movies and video games you might usually play when working. On top of that, it’s important to consider how your user accounts might reflect your working capacities.
For example, if using excellent cloud services for your business files, you don’t want to have your family photos nestled in with your end-of-year accounting reports. Two profiles, two accounts can work well in this regard.
Keep Your Hours
It’s also important to keep normal hours, as you might otherwise expect. For example, you might find that starting work at 9, taking an hours lunch from 12-1 and then working until 5 helps you simulate the office experience. This can make all the difference in the long term, and you’re sure to agree with that as time progresses.
With this advice, you’re sure to separate your work and personal lives effectively.