Private Time for Home Business Owners

[David Jackson]

I run my business out of my house. And as a writer/marketer/entrepreneur, I'm in a very enviable position. I don't have any distractions at home - no wife, no kids, no pets...no distractions at all.

Now before anyone gets upset with me, I'm not knocking any of those things. And if you have a wife, kids and pets, I'm sure you love them to death, and don't consider them distractions.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is I get a tremendous amount of work done during the course of the day, because there isn't anyone or anything around to interrupt my work flow or break my concentration.

In other words, I have plenty of private time to get things done. And having this private time does wonders for my attitude.

What about you? How much private time do you have during the course of the day to get things done?

Is your office in a private area of your house, or in your living room? Believe it or not, having privacy does make a difference. And if you aren't getting as much work done as you should, perhaps it's because there are too many things interrupting you - distracting you.

So what's the solution?

The solution is you have to create some privacy for yourself. If you don't have a private office, do you at least have an attic or basement where you can go to be alone for a little while during the course of the day?

If you don't have that option, go to the library. It's nice and quiet at the library, and there are conference rooms, reference areas, etc. that will afford you all the privacy you need. They even have computers.

If you aren't getting as much work done as you should, you should at least think about what I said. A little privacy will do wonders for your attitude!

David Jackson

 

[racemepls]

That's a little easier said than done. Right now I have a fiancee and a four year old daughter. My fiancee works long hours and my daughters too young to just leave in the other room and not keep an eye on her. Then when my fiancee gets home from work she requires some attention from me. It ends up being a fight if I don't give her any. So what should've been a six or eight hour work day ends up being twelve to fourteen hours without getting as much done. I don't get to sleep before 3am every night then wake up to take her to school in the morning and then I'm grumpy the rest of the day. That's my battle I face right now and I'm sure I'm not the only one. This is a very good subject though.

 

[David Jackson]

That's a little easier said than done.

I know that it's not easy, and I didn't mean to imply that it was. I definitely realize it isn't easy for many homepreneurs to just pick up and "go to the library." Several of my friends and colleagues are struggling with the same issues, and believe me, they too are physically exhausted, and mentally burnt out.

This thread is mostly directed at those individuals who do have the ability to get away by themselves for a little while, and just exhale.

Some folks have that ability, but fail to take advantage of it. This thread was just a reminder for them to do that.

David Jackson

 

[johnben1444]

Good tips. However, i don't have little kids around except for my puppy that loves messing around.

 

[fitnfree]

I'm in the same position, David, and as far as work is concerned, it couldn't be better. You couldn't even pay me to have so much as a pet around messing up the house and distracting the daylights out of me.

My biggest problem is the phone in that people seem to think I sit around waiting for them to need me to do something for them, or to "dump" on 24/7. So, I turn off the cell and put the main phone on private, then I miss an important call or it makes ppl angry that I'm not available for THEM ALL the time. Arg. never fails. And yes, I've tried telling people if I don't answer, I AM WORKING just as if they were at work...doesn't matter.

So now I'm thinking of just getting rid of phones and telling people "just e-mail me!!!" LOL - okay, that's going a bit too far, but you're so right the lack of distraction is the key. A person needs to be able to focus 110-percent on this line of work and constantly try to think "outside the box". It can be exciting and nerve wracking at the same time and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

 

[David Jackson]

My biggest problem is the phone in that people seem to think I sit around waiting for them to need me to do something for them, or to "dump" on 24/7. So, I turn off the cell and put the main phone on private, then I miss an important call or it makes ppl angry that I'm not available for THEM ALL the time. Arg. never fails. And yes, I've tried telling people if I don't answer, I AM WORKING just as if they were at work...doesn't matter.

fitnfree, I'm a little turned-off by your cavalier attitude towards your clients. If your clients are getting angry, there is a serious problem with the way you're communicating your availability. That should concern you.

I also use my cell phone to conduct business, and there are certain times during the course of the day when I'm simply too busy to answer the phone, and let it go to voicemail.

But I established those ground rules upfront with my clients, before I took them on as clients. And they all understood and agreed that I wouldn't always be able to respond to their needs as quickly as they would like. But I ALWAYS respond within a reasonable amount of time.

What's a reasonable amount of time? I always try to respond to all normal business day communications (between 9 to 5 est.) within 2 hours. Most reasonable people are fine with that time period. But there are certain times when I have to make special arrangements for clients in different time zones, etc. But I'm happy to do that for my clients.

I've been conducting my business this way for 20 years, and have never had a problem. I suggest you figure out what's getting your clients so upset, and fix it.

Because whether you choose to admit it or not, you need your clients a lot more than they need you!

David Jackson

 

[Linda Buquet]

fitnfree, I'm a little turned-off by your cavalier attitude towards your clients. If your clients are getting angry, there is a serious problem with the way you're communicating your availability. That should concern you.

I've been conducting my business this way for 20 years, and have never had a problem. I suggest you figure out what's getting your clients so upset, and fix it.

Because whether you choose to admit it or not, you need your clients a lot more than they need you!

David I think you may have misunderstood and over-reacted. If you read again, I believe she's talking about friends and family that keep calling to dump on her and interrupt her day - NOT her clients.

 

[David Jackson]

David I think you may have misunderstood and over-reacted. If you read again, I believe she's talking about friends and family that keep calling to dump on her and interrupt her day - NOT her clients.

Linda, you're absolutely right! After re-reading her post, it's clear that's she's talking about friends and/or family. I obviously read her post too quickly. I'll have to watch that.

fitnfree, I sincerely apologize for my response.

David Jackson

 

[mla16]

I find it really difficult as I work full-time, then try to marketeer in my own time in the evenings..... no children or pets to distract, just the wife every now and then to attend to lol

 

[tsol]

Frustrated to no end...

I actually have a separate building for my office/shop. I repair computers and obviously I need time to actually be there to receive customers. Some of the work I end up doing at home and I have a husband confined almost all day to the house and a teenage son. Sounds like a simple situation...just leave and go to the shop, distractions solved. Not exactly. My husband says on one hand he hates when I rush around trying to get out of the house to go to work, on the other hand he says,"how can you expect to get any solid business if you don't keep solid hours?". I just stare at him. It doesn't make sense. He seems to get upset when I'm getting things together to go to work but criticizes me for not keeping solid hours.

I tried working from home some days (and avoid the whole leaving the house to work confrontation) and forward calls to my cell phone and just tend to customers that way because on some of my services I CAN work from home on and I get interrupted or criticized that I'm on the computer. I mean really....I repair computers and design web pages, data entry and translations. It's my job to be on the computer. I hardly ever log into messenger unless it has to do with a freelance job lead.

Sometimes I just feel like giving up completely and closing my business. Just last night he told me again about how I was unreasonable to expect to get work done and get customers if I didn't keep regular business hours. :-/. Am I the only one with a crazy spouse? Oh, and my in-laws are always coming by my office or calling me and saying I need to just close my shop and go help my husband with his business (working in a restaurant). I've had them come by and just sit there for almost an hour telling me that I'm selfish for not wanting to help him with his business and instead do my own thing. It's gotten so bad that I'm on herbal anti-depressants just to try to stay in a good mood and focused.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband dearly. He's been sick quite a bit this year, but I've always wanted to run my own business either at home or have an office. And sometimes they have me thinking that I AM being selfish.

Sorry for the long rant. Getting down off the soapbox now. Sorry, if this is the wrong forum for this but I do work from home about half the time, well probably most of the time.

 

[Linda Buquet]

tsol,

I'm sorry, that sounds like a really difficult position to be in. Sounds like you can't win in a way. I almost wonder if there isn't something more behind your husband's frustration, because it seems like you just can't do anything to please him.

I almost wonder if jealousy or something is at the root of this. He's house bound and you're not. He may feel like he's less than a man because he has health issues and can't go out and support his family, therefore lashes out and belittles you?

Have you tried to sit down and talk to him to get at the root of the real problem?

 

[tsol]

Well, I haven't really thought of it that way. I've given up a lot to take care of the situation. I was working my business full time along with 2 part time jobs. 1 was on Friday nights at the restaurant and the other was whenever I had time (real estate). Well, I closed my shop up a whole month to stay with him in the hospital (which is 5 hrs away). I didn't complain once about it. I wanted to be with him. He's a transplant patient and he has doctors orders to only go to the restaurant to check on things and not actually work. I not going to renew the real estate license because I don't have the $600 for the Board of REALTORS and nothing is selling right now anyway.

I've started looking really hard for leads on getafreelancer and scriptlance so I can work from home. The expenses at my office are not going to wait and I have to make money for my business. He seems to be ok with me doing that as long as I'm not rushing out of the house but it's really hard getting started. I don't have any reviews yet and they're are people working for pocket change winning the bids instead.

I really love him but I just don't know what to do. It's my dream to have my own business. I talk to him about it and he just says he'll make room at the restaurant for me. I worked there for 20 yrs. I just want something on my own. There's too much drama and fighting in a restaurant and you don't get home until 11 or 11:30 at night. I like my calm quiet office. Maybe I am being selfish.

 

[Linda Buquet]

It doesn't sound to me like you're being selfish at all. I think people are playing you to try to MAKE you feel selfish to try to manipulate you to do what they want.

 

[David Jackson]

Sorry for the long rant.

No need to apologize. There's nothing wrong with venting. Actually, it's quite healthy - much beter than holding everything in.

Regarding your situation at home, some type of professional counseling definitely seems to be in order. After trying counseling, if after a reasonable period of time things don't improve dramatically, I think you and your husband need to make some tough decisions about whether or not it's your best interest to stay together.

Life's too short to be miserable all the time.

David Jackson