Respect My Grind! Honor My Work At Home Time.

To be able to work from home full-time is wonderful!  But there are times when you just want to scream out, "HELLO!!  I'm Working!  Can I get a little respect please?  Don't bother me!!"

The time is now 3:50am.  I have been up all night working.  It's sad that I have to find time to work in the middle of the night, because to be quite honest, it is extremely hard for me to get things done during the day!  And guess what... I was even interrupted while I was working late!  OMG!  That's what happens when you keep your Facebook Page open... Those damn IM's!   

I ran across a great article while I was "working" on www.femaleforum.com about how to get people to honor your work hours.  Just because you're working from home, people tend to think you are always available.  I mean, it's not like you're trying to make a living or anything....

You tell your friends and family you work from home and you watch how much they call to talk or want hang out.  Take my advice... Set your boundaries right now!

Below is a copy of the article.  You can also read it and more HERE on their website.

Question: Are you having trouble getting it through to your friends and family that even though you're working from home, your still "working"?  Or have you set them straight and are now able to work in peace?  I've love to know what you do to put them in check!  :)  Leave me a comment and let's get the dialog going.

Always wishing you Mo' Love, Mo' Peace and Mo' Money!

Monique Bradford ~ The WifeyMommyPreneur

Getting People to Honor Your Work-at-Home Time

http://www.femaleforum.com/s/article/getting_people_to_honor_your_work_at_home_time

If you are new to freelancing and self-employment from home, you have probably already seen that friends and family can take advantage of your time. While we know it is rude, the fact is that because you are at home many people in your life will just assume that you are available and you can drop whatever you are doing to interact with them. You may find that your relatives or friends call you up during work hours and want to talk for hours, or they are dropping by your home with intentions of visiting and hanging out.

If you find either of these scenarios happening all too often in your life, here are some people-management tips that can help get things back on track for you:

Explain Your Work

Many people truly don’t grasp that in today’s society it is possible to work a full-time job from the comforts of your own home and that some of us can wear pajamas doing it. People who haven’t made the switch in their minds that income can be made without going into the office are often of the mindset that whatever we are doing from our home is a hobby and not true employment.

You really have no choice but to take the time to sit down with the people that are causing you consistent interruptions and explain your work to them. You can do this in an easygoing, non-offensive manner, but you need to get the point across that you are operating a business from your home and that you are the only employee. Tell them that you are going to start setting business hours and that you will be unavailable for hanging out and phone calls during those hours - barring some major event or natural disaster of course.

Set Your Hours 

One of the perks of working from home is that most jobs can be performed at any hour of the day or night, while some others are not. Although you may have flexibility at your disposal and you have the option of working when you want and taking a break when you want, you need to set-up some routine working hours that you can count on for uninterrupted work time. If you are interrupted during these hours, tell the offender you’re ‘not off’ work yet and to call back or come by later. Eventually your time-offenders will come to see that you really mean business and they’ll start honoring your work hours.

Dealing with Household Members

Sometimes it isn’t friends and extended family members who interrupt your work. It can be your partner or children who are not honoring your work time. If your work hours are during times when your family members are also at home, you should set-up a work area in your home. Ideally this should be a place where you can have a door that you can close to keep distractions and interruptions to a minimum. If you have young children in your home you may have to invest in childcare in or out of your home a few hours a week to allow yourself at least some alone working time. This is especially important if you have to make phone calls or take conference calls. No one wants to hear a screaming kid over a business call. It’s very unprofessional. If it’s your partner or older children who are interrupting your time, it’s time to sit down for a heart-to-heart talk and explain how difficult they are making your work life. Explain that if they can honor your work hours and stay out of your work space that you’ll finish your work up faster. And, the faster you finish, the faster you can give them your undivided attention.

Off Time

When you freelance or are self-employed from home it’s easy to let it monopolize your every waking hour, especially in the beginning as you learn to adjust yourself to the freedom of setting your own schedule and work pace. It’s easy to stay up late and work weekends.