Balancing Act

MiVentaja

I work from home.  I have a fulltime job as a Senior Technical Analyst (fancy name for a guy who writes code all day) and I will start my business as a home-based venture.I have a question:  Any of you have to play tug-o-war with your family?  I mean, they see me at home so they assume I am their personal, "Ask Jeeves."  How do you set respectable boundaries so that work time is work time and family time is family time and, barring an emergency, the boundaries are acknowledged?John

YvetteMarie

Hi John...
I work almost strictly from home, and Im a single mom to "The Hoardes" as well.  It`s been tricky, but I`ve been able to establish a few things.
One thing Ive found is to have an established place to work, and NO KIDS allowed no matter what! Whether Im in there  or not... its Moms office.  (( A corndog stick in my expensive printer taught me THAT lesson ))  Also.. I established a set time for working.  When I was married and had the help, the kids knew that after dinner, mom was off duty and "at work".  Now that Im single, Ive resorted to staying up all night, but it worked well when I had someone to help with the kids. ;c)
I also had a special drawer of stuff for the kids that they were only allowed to use while I was on the phone.  Treats (( hey, Im not above bribery )) and markers, stickers etc... if they would iterrupt while I was on the phone.. I just opened the drawer.  Of course now that theyre older....  ;c)
Not sure of your exact situation... but thats what worked for me!
Yvette 

rossb

John -It`s best to have a separate room that you can make into your office (for obvious tax reasons as well), where you can shut the door.  Again, making sure that everyone understands that when you`re there during "Working Hours", you`re working.  As an added bonus, this works both ways.  When work is over, shut the door on the way out and remember that you are now at home.  Not everyone has the space for this, but it`s well worth it if you can.Obviously, one of the benefits of working from home is that you can make exceptions as neccessary, but I think it`s smart to set some initial guidelines that you work hard to observe.  That way, when you do need to make an exception, the boundary doesn`t get erased, just stepped over for a moment.Hope that helps a little...R-

MiVentaja

Thank you all for the advice!Based on everyone`s feedback, my challenge is to establish acceptable boundaries regarding my time and space.This is excellent advice and I will let you all know how this is working out in a couple of weeks.Thanks again;  It is wonderful to have this kind of support!John

josi

Hi,  I`m new here.  I just had to ask.  Where do I get a Mrs Boyd.  She sounds wonderful!

MiVentaja

Hi Everyone:I have put your input to the test and have great results to share.Let me back up a little;  my wife returned from an extended stay in Provo, UT where we will be moving to in 6 months (I understand they now have electricity there - KIDDING!).Anyway, we discussed priorities and time and we worked out a plan where I am now dedicating a couple of hours a night to my business.  This doesn`t sound like much but as soon as it reaps rewards, I`m sure I`ll justify more time.I sense I`ll roll out my first training CD the end of October.Oh yeah!  I will have to post a new message on the Marketing board.  How to promote on a shoe string!  Thank you all for the wonderful advice!John