How to Stay Sane While Working From Home

by Hava Lyon | More from this Blogger

10 Jan 2007 05:22 PM

I posted my story of my time in the work-from-home world in earlier this week--if you missed it, check it out here. That blog inspired this one: It is possible to stay sane while working from home, although sometimes it is more difficult than it would seem at first blush. When you work from home, you have almost no contact with the outside world unless you consciously work at it. Your spouse leaves for the day, and you are left by yourself, just you and your computer. The first couple of days go fine, but as time wears on, you find yourself wishing somebody would call, anybody would call (where are those pesky telemarketers when you need them?!) just so you have someone to talk to. You never leave the house, never take a shower, and never get up on time. The struggle against this tendency was an ongoing problem for me. If you manage to keep from becoming the world's next hermit, you'll be doing better than I ever did.

So here is a list of ideas for the next time you are feeling a bit grouchy, and you realize you haven't had contact with another human being since that salesman called to bug you about signing up for Dish Network:

1) Fresh air does something to the human body. You need it, and you need it often. Try to take a walk at least once every couple of days, if not every day. This gives you a couple of benefits: You will be moving around more which will help you shed those pesky pounds almost everyone seems to gain when they start working from home, and it will also keep the oxygen flowing to your brain. You'll find you have a lot more energy and clarity of thought after a brisk stroll around the block.

2) Go out with friends or your spouse regularly. Interaction with other people is just as important as that fresh air. Even better: Combine the two. Try walking with friends every morning-the time "wasted" will always be repaid to you ten-fold as your production and attitude make dramatic strides for the better.

3) You have to set a schedule for yourself. It's easy to think you work from home, so you can work anytime, but what you do is end up working all the time. This quickly leads to burnout. This is one of the biggest reasons for people struggling with working from home--they feel like they have to work all the time because they can work all the time. You wouldn't work 80 hour weeks if you worked in an office--don't do it just because your office is at home.

4) You have to stick to that schedule. This will be covered in more depth in my next blog, but basically, it is very easy to get sidetracked while at home, and sometimes people feel like they have been working all day long, when they actually haven't been doing actual billing work for more than an hour or two of that day. It is easy to wile away your hours on a forum or chatroom. You have to focus!

5) You have to take a shower every more than once every three days. Your spouse will thank you for it, I promise. ;-) I know that sounds crazy (of course you'll take a shower every day!) but it's easy to let it slip after a while-why take a shower if no one is going to see you but your dog? I spent a couple of days where I never got out of my bathrobe. A couple of days in a row. Okay, three days in a row, I'll admit it. My husband got pretty grumpy about that. If you're a gal and you usually put on makeup, keep that up. And if you're a guy and you usually shave, keep on going. It will help you stay productive in your job. Strange but true.

If anyone has any ideas that you think I missed, please post a comment below--I would love to hear back on how you have kept sane while working from home! Feedback is always welcome.

Learn more about Hava Lyon

Hello, my name is Hava or Havs (depending on my mood and yours!) I am a freelance writer who writes for several blogs, both paid ones such as this one, and personal blogs.

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