There are many differences between working for others and working for yourself from a home office. One difference: there is always something more to do, one more follow-up, one more outreach, one more detail on a product or service in development. The battle between “done, not perfect”, versus the need to stand out from your competitors (customer service and social media marketing).
The result of doing one-more-thing.
The world of constant connection – smartphones – begs the question, when are you ever not connected? When are you not on-call to respond to clients’ and customers’ queries; or the world of social media for business?. Big corporations have 24/7 customer service centers. As a small entrepreneur you are the customer service center. Which is great, because you can give personalized customer service, compared to the slow, scripted customer service of the mega companies.
There needs to be an end to your work day and your electronic connectedness, and time for you and for your family; an end of the one-more-thing to do.
- If you have a home office, close the door at the end of the day as a ritual and signal that their work day is done.
- If you do not have a designated office, then clear your workspace of papers, books and anything that reminds you of work.
- If that is not an option, place a screen to hide your workspace from view.
Out-of-sight helps out-of-mind.
Add a conscious shift in your mind/your thinking from work-mind to personal-mind.
Marketing visionary, Seth Godin, says the self-employed face the challenge of “being comfortable with the undone, with the cycle of never-ending. We were trained to finish our homework, our peas and our chores. Today, we’re never finished, and that’s okay. It’s a dance, not an endless grind.”
At the end of your work day – close your home office door, close your laptop, turn off your cellphone email and texts – if it’s a real emergency they will call. Allow for things to be left undone. This is called life-balance.
How do you handle the challenge of never done? Comment below, I would love to hear your insights and strategies.
Learn more about how to set-up your home office for increased efficiency, comfort and fun with The Smarter Home Office – the Book.
photo by eumu
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