Discipline Is Important When Working Online From Home
So you have left the job market behind and are working from home for yourself. What challenges have you found? My guess is the biggest problem will be self-discipline. I have been working online from home for over a year and still struggle to control my time on occasions. It would seem likely that most people working online from home would find the same to a greater or lesser degree. One of the biggest challenges has been getting enough sleep. It can be so tempting to work late (I have even worked all night on one occasion) and I find to sleep properly I need to relax for a couple of hours before bed in order to get enough quality sleep. It is best to avoid eating too late or even watching television (which seems to stimulate the brain too much). Is there a good routine before bedtime? I have no doubt this will vary according to the individual, but I find a hot bath really helps, as does reading a good book for perhaps half an hour. If I can, I also sit quietly for a while listening to soothing music and perhaps think about where I want my life to be going. Actually I find music beneficial in several ways, one of which involves listening to the same piece of relaxing music every night as I get into bed. This seems to condition the mind for sleep. For the record, the piece of music I use before bed is 'The Swan Of Tuonela' by Jean Sibelius and I had a dramatic demonstration of the power of this technique recently. I deliberately chose this music partly as I rarely hear it being played elsewhere but I the other day I was washing up when it came on the radio. My eyes started to feel heavy and I had to turn it off before I fell asleep over the sink! Get it wrong at night and your ability to get up in the morning can also be compromised. My intention when I started working online from home was to avoid using alarm clocks. I know I usually sleep eight hours if left to my own devices so I can usually predict what time I get up. This means that, if I get to bed correctly and at the right time the night before, I will arise at the right time in the morning. Of course things do not always go smoothly. This is especially true in the winter when the mornings are dark and cold and the bed seems extra cosy. Obviously a radio alarm is slightly preferable to an outright alarm clock so I set this to wake me up when I start to slacken. Interestingly I have also started to use an alarm clock to go off when I need to stop work in the evening so I can set my habits. This system seems to work quite well and I hope before long I will automatically stop work at the right time and arise when I should without the use of any sort of alarm. In addition to all this, I have put in place a morning routine. One of the other problems of working online from home is the lack of exercise. For this reason I have developed a set of exercises for when I get up, followed by a thirty minute cycle ride (and I hope to extend this eventually). On my return I have breakfast and set about working online from home. Perhaps you will not be surprised to hear that getting enough work completed in a day can be a challenge, especially if there are many distractions (and there are!). At the end of each day during my quiet time I sit down and spend a few minutes to decide what I want to achieve the following day. I will know what is the next project so I start the list with that. You will learn what is realistic to complete in a day but there will always be days when you do not quite finish what you intended so you simply carry over the incomplete work to the top of the next day's list. You will soon know when you have done enough in a day. It is very tempting to be your own harsh boss and this can be very useful but, on the other hand, punishing yourself unnecessarily is pointless. Concentrate instead on what you have achieved and celebrate progress made (perhaps reward yourself). Always ensure you also schedule some rest periods during the day. This will actually improve your enjoyment and so your productivity. Apart from anything else, sitting in front of a computer screen for long periods is not healthy so perhaps take a few minutes every hour to relax or do something else. You also want to take maybe an hour for lunch. Being aware of what works for you will help you get going in the morning and will give you satisfaction in working online from home. You will also become more productive as you will start to see where you are heading and your progress towards that goal. It can be very depressing to feel you are not going anywhere and you do not have control of your work so gaining control of every day means you will feel more motivated, satisfied and secure. Keith Braithwaite is a generally nosy and opinionated guy but his heart is in the right place. After nearly thirty years in the corporate world and twenty keenly observing direct selling, he is now following interests in self-development, internet marketing and historical studies and is fascinated by movies and movie production. Keith now promotes legal online jobs at his site [http://www.OnlineLegitJobs.biz/]OnlineLegitJobs.biz [http://www.OnlineLegitJobs.biz]Enjoy Working From Home. Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Discipline-Is-Important-When-Working-Online-From-Ho...] Discipline Is Important When Working Online From HomeComments [0]
