Friday, February 16, 2007

When Your Office is Home

The following article discusses the importance of separating work from personal time when working or running a business from home. Enjoy!
M.

When Your Office Is Home
By Jenna Glatzer

It's easy to get obsessed. Really, it is. With work, with the almighty dollar, with achieving and building your business.

When your office is home, there is no clock to punch, no rush hour drive to get as far away from the madness as possible. No, when you work from home, it's all up to you. You can work as little or as much as you like. Unfortunately, most home-workers fall into the two extremes: those who don't work enough, and those who work too much.

The ones who don't work enough get caught up in the "home" aspect of the home office. Something is always calling them away: a crying baby, the laundry, a trip to the convenience store, a pot on the stove, daytime TV shows. They give in to temptation and never truly put in an honest day's work. Then they come to me and ask how in the world I'm so productive.

It's because I fall into the other extreme category. I’m a full-time writer, and I get caught up in the "office" aspect of the home office. It gets simple to see each minute as a potential dollar, and each day as a new possibility to sell the novel, write the next bestseller, break into the almighty national magazine market.

Know that when you are self-employed, you won't have anyone looming over your desk to keep you on track. Sure, that may sound delicious, but do some real self-assessing: can you handle it?

If no one tells you when and how to work, will you have the discipline necessary to earn a living? Will you ever start your work? Will you ever stop?

When you get hooked into the cycle of never truly leaving office-mode, the point of working from home gets diminished. Sure, you may work in your pajamas, but you wind up putting in more hours than you would have at a day job, and you forget to enjoy the perks of being self-employed.

The single cure for either extreme mode is the same: set goals and meet them. If you're not getting enough work done, set an attainable goal (write a new press release before noon, or make five cold calls before the end of the day), and keep to it, no matter how you have to juggle your life around it. If you're working too much, set that same goal and then STOP. Write those releases, or make those calls, and then get up from that chair, stretch, and do something that doesn't involve work in any manner.

I once read something that has stuck with me (pardon me for not knowing the attribution): At the end of your life, will you regret not putting in more overtime?
As for me, I'll be embarrassed to die until I've achieved a lifestyle with a better balance: One that involves more family and fun time, and less time logged in my computer chair.

Sanity breaks are so important, and if you're going to freelance full-time, you have to set limits. You have to take days off, re-discover your significant other's birthmarks, and just plain enjoy life. Otherwise, why are you working? Remember what it is you’re working toward and why you chose to work at home.

If you're like me, you may work better with a written schedule. On this schedule, write down both your work responsibilities and your "play" responsibilities. Mine sometimes looks like this:

9:00-12:00: Work on new article for XYZ Magazine.
12:00-1:00 Lunch break.
1:00-5:00 Write query and send it to 5 new markets.
5:00-6:00: Cook dinner.
6:00-7:00 Dinner.
7:00-8:00 Exercise.
...and so on.

I keep a daily schedule book that has room for me to write down all of my "to do" list each day. If you lose track of time, you may want to set an alarm clock to remind you when it's time to quit, or you may try setting your computer to "defragmentation mode" at a particular time each day (your "quitting time").

Commit to becoming less extreme. Working from home is a wonderful thing... in moderation.


JENNA GLATZER is the author of Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer and several other books. Visit her at
http://www.jennaglatzer.com/ and pick up a free editors' cheat sheet! She is also the editor of http://www.absolutewrite.com/, the most popular online magazine for writers.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

A Free Gift for You

This gift is FREE to anyone who will receive it. Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, loves each of us very much and wants to have a personal relationship with each human being. In the beginning, mankind had an intimate relationship with God. Unfortunately, when Adam & Eve disobeyed the Lord (they sinned), the relationship was broken. There was also a penalty for sin--1) physical death, and 2) eternal separation from God in Hell. Like a disease or genetic code, sin was passed unto ALL mankind, keeping us separated from a holy God. Nothing you or I could do could pay the penalty for sin and restore fellowship with God. So the Lord Jesus himself came to Earth, born of a virgin, born without sin. He became human like us, experiencing everything we would go through in life. At the appointed time, He took on ALL of our sin, sicknesses, addictions, etc., and paid the penalty for sin by suffering, shedding His blood and dying on the cross. The Lord Jesus experienced physical death and the horrendous torment of Hell. But He did not stay dead. Three days later, He arose from the dead. HE GAVE HIS LIFE so that you and I could have a relationship with Him and not end up in the place called Hell. If you want to receive this FREE gift, do the following:

Say this prayer OUT LOUD, believing the words: Lord Jesus, I come to you a sinner. I'm sorry for my sins and ask you to forgive me. I believe You paid the penalty for my sins by dying on the cross. I believe You rose again from the dead. I believe this in my heart and confess this with my mouth. I thank You for saving me. Thank You for eternal life.

Then BOLDLY make this declaration: Satan, I renounce you! I renounce every habit, every addiction, every vice that you used to enslave me! In Jesus' Name, THEY ARE BROKEN off of my life! I no longer belong to you! JESUS IS LORD!! JESUS IS MY LORD!! JESUS IS MY LORD!! THE BLOOD OF JESUS COVERS MY MIND!! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOR SAVING ME!! (Now thank the Lord as if someone just gave you one million dollars!! He did something for you much greater than that!)

Next I want you to write me at newlife@myebizops.ws and put "Received God's FREE Gift" (without the quotation marks) in the subject line. I want to rejoice with you and help you get started in your new life in Jesus.