Working from home- A hack for entrepreneurs

[DreamsCameTrue]

I see a lot of benefits to working from home, and I think if new entrepreneurs can can out of the rat race and into something where you work from home, it's a nice step in the right direction when you're trying to "get over the hump" so to speak.

One thing that keeps us down in our quest to build wealth is all the distractions in the outside world. Getting away from all that can jump start the progress. It allows your to exert more control over your lifestyle in the following ways-

1- information discipline.
You can read the right books and avoid all the advertising and idle small talk you encounter on your way to and from work.

2- time management
This one is obvious, avoid the commute, and all the other hidden costs that come with it. Gas, feeling tired, annoyance, stress, etc.

3- diet
in my case, I've gone vegan for long term health benefits. I was surprised to see that my energy and focus increased as well, a great side effect. When you are always hustling to and from work, it's much harder to exert control on your diet. You will tend to eat whatever is quick and cheap. Then the bad food can make you sluggish or unhealthy.

4- devote more time to the new business, maybe even steal a little time from whoever is employing you to work from home

Stuff like Odesk, eLance, etc can get you working from home so you can get going in the right direction. You can start exerting more control over your lifestyle all your efforts. It's a small step but it can help.

I had a friend in Queens who would look at someone with a successful business and say, in a dopey Queens accent "How'd he do dat? He must be a freakin' hermit or something." Looking back, I think he was right. If you want to succeed, start by becoming a hermit.

 

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[Andy Black]

5- You appreciate your family more. When I work in a silent house all day, I really enjoy it when kids come barging back into the house all excited. It's a world apart from pulling up to the door weary from the job and commute, and knowing you have to cook the dinner, etc.

6- You don't surround yourself with "slow-lane" pettiness from other people working a job. Hearing people complain about not getting their 1% payrise when they think they're entitled to it because they're working really hard gets pretty tiring.

7- You can "shift" your day slightly. Instead of going to the gym at noon when it's mobbed, you go at 11am when it's empty. It's a great feeling being out of step with the rest of the world.

 

[Bila]

I struggle A LOT to keep my focus on tasks when i work at home.
The first year of business i worked from home and i found it VERY VERY difficult because of distractions
Skype with the sis for an hour a day/ lunch with a friend..etc .... It was bad
Now that it is structured and much better... I work from home in the mornings ( i still skype but not an hour ) and go to the office around 12:00 , much better for me to have blocks of time to each tasks otherwise i get lost
How do you do to stay focused ??

 

[amp0193]

I struggle A LOT to keep my focus on tasks when i work at home.
The first year of business i worked from home and i found it VERY VERY difficult because of distractions
Skype with the sis for an hour a day/ lunch with a friend..etc .... It was bad
Now that it is structured and much better... I work from home in the mornings ( i still skype but not an hour ) and go to the office around 12:00 , much better for me to have blocks of time to each tasks otherwise i get lost
How do you do to stay focused ??

I've struggled with this, but to a lesser degree. Two things that helped are:

1) Knowing the goal, being able to visualize that goal, and wanting to reach that goal more than anything else.

2) Setting 4-week and 3-month plans to chip away at that goal.

 

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[RazorCut]

I agree there are major benefits working from home however as @Bila has said it can be difficult being productive unless you are very disciplined. Having just last month returned to working from home I certainly found the initial lack of routine was a major stumbling block as I didn't have a clear idea of what I was going to do work-wise and by nature I am naturally adversed to a set routine anyway.

MJ's 'My Fastlane Daily' can certainly help a lot of people but for me I have to go a step further and build a full daily schedule broken down into hours otherwise I find ways to go off-piste.

After looking for a best practice system I have modified a productivity superstar's method (he carries around different coloured flash cards with his tasks and goals on; different colours for different time periods). I have created a spreadsheet with the following column headings:

Today
This Week
This Month
Next Month
2015
2016

This is where the short to longer term planning is filled in.

I also have a section for Priorities (placed above my Today column) which concentrates my mind when I am creating the daily ToDo list) and a Desires section next to it which houses both short and long term personal goals and acts as a carrot so I can see what I am working towards. (be warned @Andy Black I have just put a Fastlane meet-up in Dublin for 2016 on the planner )

I then take the Today list and feed it into a daily time-sheet so I know what I am supposed to be doing on an hour by hour basis.

This for me is the only way I can stay truly focused working from home.

 

[DreamsCameTrue]

I agree with Andy 100%.

As far as focus-

It takes a while to get good at working from home. You might struggle at first but do it for a few months and focus will get better.

My method for staying focused is basically to have goals that I am 100% congruent with and believe in. If I find myself procrastinating, I ask myself "do I really give a shit about this?" If the answer is no, I drop it and never look back.

Do what you think will make money, do it all day every day, it gets pretty easy.

Nothing needs to be routine. You don't have to do writing from 11-1 and then accounting from 4-4:30. If you're into routines ya might as well stay in the office. I figure just do what makes sense and makes money all day long and things usually work out fine.

 

[Mattie]

For the most part I'm focused, but I had to learn that a few years back in the middle of chaos. I think meditation, visualization, and mindfulness really helped with that.

I really just started writing, reading, and doing things online because I was home. And fortunately, it just happen naturally over time. I think now, I'm getting to where I need to be more goal oriented and make a schedule because I have to many projects going on and it just needs to be done or it's not going to work. I think you come to a point where you're faced with it.

I suppose it matters how long you've home and working. If it's the beginning of course it's going to be hard.

 

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[DaRK9]

Tons of libraries have little student rooms you can use for free. That's what I do a lot.

 

[Andy Black]

"The ONE Thing" is an excellent book.

Decide what ONE thing to work on that day, the one thing that if you accomplish it then everything else is either redundant or easier to do.

I also make a NOT to do list. It really helps.


Observe your habits:

Is the first thing you do when it's time to work... turning on your computer? Maybe you should sit at a table with a pen and paper and write out your goals and ONE thing first.

When you turn on your computer, do you automatically open your email and Skype?

 

[Tony I]

I have been working from home for a few years. I used to absolutely suck until I started doing the following;

BLOCK ALL social media, this forum, reddit, and every other website that doesn't have to do with your business. Turn your phone off. Get a solid few hours of work done right away when you turn on your computer.

Even if you accomplish nothing for the rest of the day, it is amazing what 2 focused hours can do.

You can always check FB and the new threads later, but your work should always have first priority.

 

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[johnp]

Just a word of advice.

If you are new to working from home never get a puppy. And definitely don't get a puppy if you already have a dog living in your home.

I spend a good 1-2 hours per day babysitting dogs now. It's killing my productivity. But I have made more money because I'll get out of the house to go door to door just to get away from the dogs.

Other than that, I''m on about month #10. It kind of gets old but I still love it. Two things that I noticed:

1. It helps to be in the right place. I have moved 3 times in the last year before finally feeling comfortable working from home.

2. Create a schedule and time box your tasks.

 

[Kreedos Phoenix]

5- You appreciate your family more. When I work in a silent house all day, I really enjoy it when kids come barging back into the house all excited. It's a world apart from pulling up to the door weary from the job and commute, and knowing you have to cook the dinner, etc.

6- You don't surround yourself with "slow-lane" pettiness from other people working a job. Hearing people complain about not getting their 1% payrise when they think they're entitled to it because they're working really hard gets pretty tiring.

7- You can "shift" your day slightly. Instead of going to the gym at noon when it's mobbed, you go at 11am when it's empty. It's a great feeling being out of step with the rest of the world.

Working from home has given me a huge sense of appreciation. I can relate to the first point here a lot. I appreciate my time even more and do my best to make the most of it. I do NOT want to go back to the 9-5 grind and am doing everything in my power to make sure it doesnt happen. I want to grow from this point.

 

[DreamsCameTrue]

Andy Black you are right. The real enemy is social media and email!

There's apps to block that stuff if you need it. I think it's called "GetFocused" or something. There's also a Ted Talk about FOMO (fear of missing out) and how it kills productivity. FOMO makes people check stuff all the time and then cycle through all of it over and over. The speaker was saying a compromised we might see in the future is that you can set your Gmail and Skype to "focused." When you do, people can write you messages but you won't see them till later, but they have the option to send the message right away and break your focus if it's some kind of emergency or something worth breaking focus for. This will be cool when that idea comes to life.

 

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[DreamsCameTrue]

Andy Black you are right. The real enemy is social media and email!

There's apps to block that stuff if you need it. I think it's called "GetFocused" or something. There's also a Ted Talk about FOMO (fear of missing out) and how it kills productivity. FOMO makes people check stuff all the time and then cycle through all of it over and over. The speaker was saying a compromised we might see in the future is that you can set your Gmail and Skype to "focused." When you do, people can write you messages but you won't see them till later, but they have the option to send the message right away and break your focus if it's some kind of emergency or something worth breaking focus for. This will be cool when that idea comes to life.

 

[Andy Black]

FOMO

Nice. I like it.