If you are anything like me, you occasionally struggle to maintain the balance between work and home life. It can be tough. For many people, myself included, working from home is a dream, but few understand the self-control and mastery that it requires.
A full-time job demands that you show up at a specific time and work to a set code of conduct, which is challenging. A freelance-style job demands that you get work done on your schedule. Something that can be equally difficult. However, with practice and experience, you can find harmony when working from home.
First off, set up a space that is dedicated to your work. It could be an entire room used as an office, a desk in the corner or a little spot on the table. It depends on your home, but what matters is that you pick a defined zone where you can be productive. When you sit down here you are working, and when you sit down anywhere else you are not working.
Boundaries will help you to distinguish between work and home life, which can blur quickly when you work from home. It’s good to keep them separate where possible so that you can devote your full attention to both when the time is right.
You will also be responsible for your workflow, times and meeting deadlines. You will need to organize your time on a daily, weekly and monthly basis so that you can maximize your productivity while still enjoying life outside of work. People get into freelance work for different reasons, but for me, it’s always important to spend time with loved ones. Staying on top of work with self-imposed schedules means that I can afford to use the time off wisely.
Over time, most freelancers gain an understanding of when they like to work. Although it depends on your life situation as much as anything, working to your strengths where possible is great for productivity. Do you work well first thing in the morning or are you more creative after dark? Short bursts or long stints? Do you need a lot of breaks, and what can you do during breaks to keep yourself motivated?
However and whenever you like to work, work hard. I don’t mean to say that you wouldn’t, but the odds of becoming rich and successful are not too favorable, whether you are a poker player or a businessperson. You have around 1/200 odds of successfully starting a business, so make sure you are prepared to put in the work if you take this step.
With all this talk of hard work and commitment, let us not lose track of the freedoms of freelancing and self-employment. For starters, you don’t always have to be in the home. If you work online, you can head out to your favorite local cafe — the one that offers that cake you like — and work there for a couple of hours. Maybe you can meet up with friends that also work for themselves or at a local co-working space.
It can also be easier to free up a bit of time for yourself if you work from home. If you can deal with your workload, it’s totally fine to enjoy a couple of hours walking around the park or heading out for lunch. It’s more than fine. It’s pretty much in your job description. How you spend this time is up to you. With proper organization and workload management, you can have time to cook and clean, relax and pamper or to socialize and natter. It can be lovely to work from home.
