Is Your Home Life Constantly Invading Your Work Life?

Is your home life constantly invading your work life?

If the answer is Yes, then that’s not at all uncommon and is one of the biggest drawbacks to a work-at-home business.

Working from home on an online business can be a real juggling act.

There are even more distractions than when you work at an office somewhere else.

When you work for an employer, there are tons of work-related distractions of course but you don’t have to worry about distractions from home.

This is because you have no choice but to keep your home life separate if you want to keep your job.

See how fast you are disciplined or end up unemployed altogether if you get too many phone calls or leave work early or come in late due to personal issues.

You don’t have to worry about those things when you work for yourself from home.

But, that doesn’t mean that you won’t drive your own self crazy trying to manage your work-life balance.

Some would still say just rent a small office space so that you can separate your online business, but not every online entrepreneur has the financial means or even the desire to rent an office space outside of their home.

For most, working from home is part of the perk of being their own boss.

Why would you want to spend money to commute and rent an office space when one of the biggest reasons people want to work for themselves is to avoid those very things?

So, working at home can be a wonderful situation…when it works as it’s intended to.

However, what many people discover is that the two worlds collide A LOT and seep into one another’s space.

This makes it hard to enjoy downtime when you are off work and makes it hard to focus when you are supposed to be working.

I know how hard it is to keep everything separate because it takes real focus and discipline to do so every day.

If you are a work-at-home entrepreneur, it’s important for you to differentiate between the two worlds so that you can maximize your efforts for both.

One of the things that often frustrates solo entrepreneurs is that they will be trying to work on their business and suffer constant interruptions by their family or even their friends and neighbors.

It might be a spouse who likes to chit-chat all day, or rambunctious children who are loud or frequently need your attention.

This would include pets.

Instead of staying frustrated about this kind of situation, you have to set boundaries and make preparations for times when you need to focus and others are occupying the same space as you.

For example, you might need to carve out a small space within your home that is dedicated to work where people can be told not to disturb you unless it’s an emergency.

There’s a way to say this so that it is firm, yet loving.

You don’t have to be rude and abrasive when you shut people out.

With children, if they are old enough to understand and take care of themselves, it’s perfectly acceptable to have a discussion with them about the importance of giving you time to focus when you need it.

However, some people work from home so that they can raise their little ones.

They don’t always understand the need for peace and quiet during work.

Therefore, you may need to make different arrangements for the situation.

That might mean bringing in a babysitter to watch your kids in your own home while you are there.

This is of course costly and again defeats the point of being able to stay at home and avoid daycare costs.

It might mean that you work different hours, such as when the kids are down for their nap or asleep for the night.

This can work well, especially if you’re already a night owl.

Nothing says you have to work in the morning or work 9-5.

You can choose any time block you want.

I tend to do a lot of work on my online business between the hours of 6 pm and 1 am.

This works for the night owl in me and the rest of the household is quieter at that time, especially after 10 pm.

It’s not always those who live in your home who interrupt you, either.

Sometimes, it’s friends and other family members or even neighbors who call or pop in because they don’t understand that working from home still means working, so boundaries have to be set for them, too.

They assume that because you are at home, you’re always available and have nothing better to do.

Some people might even have the opinion that you don’t work and have no “job”.

Like somehow working on an online business does not count as work.

Sometimes, even members of your own household will have this opinion.

This can be pretty insulting actually and can make distractions from those individuals even more aggravating, as time goes on.

So, it’s best to set your boundaries from the beginning, regardless of their opinion of whether they think you really work or not.

And then there’s a situation where you are your own worst enemy and your own worst distraction of all.

This means that you are allowing your home life to invade your work time with distractions that are self-created.

You might be sitting there working on a project, but get distracted by some clutter that needs to be cleaned up around the house.

This is totally within your control.

You can choose to continue focusing on your project and schedule a separate time block in your day to clean up the clutter.

Again, this is something that wouldn’t affect someone working outside of the home.

They would simply have no choice but to deal with it when they returned home after a full day of work.

Sometimes, you might be allowing these distractions in your home as a way to procrastinate from your work duties.

This can actually go both ways.

You might become a workaholic on your online business and procrastinate on the things that need to be done around the house.

Try to take note of what is blurring between the two worlds.

Try to find a way to separate them so that you can enjoy your time at home, yet take advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunities you have chosen to pursue.

You are the boss and have the power to decide and implement how you want things to go so that you can enjoy both worlds.