Yesterday was one of those days I wish I could repeat – everything flowed, things got done, balance was had. It’s amazing how one day going smoothly can lift your spirits and motivate you to make it happen again.

Because I had such a great day, I feel like I need to record it. Sometimes you have to sit back and remind yourself of all that went good – little or big. Though this is simple in the grand scheme of things, having a day where work, family, and personal time were in-line is definitely something to celebrate.

We are often striving to create work-life balance, and I talk about it quite often, so I absolutely want to share with you the specifics of how my day went. I hope that by doing so, you will see a glimpse of your own day or find some ideas for small changes you can make in your routine. With that, I share my perfectly balanced day and what I hope will become a regular daily routine for achieving work-life balance in my life.

Personal Daily Routine for Work-Life Balance

6 am: Woke up with hugs from baby boy and baby girl. After a bit of snuggling, dragged myself out of bed and began the morning routine of getting dressed and making sure baby girl got ready for school.

7:30 am: Breakfast time for both kids before heading out the door.

8-8:30 am: Dropped baby girl off at school.

8:30-9 am: Baby boy fell asleep on the ride back home, so waited in driveway for him to take a short nap while reading emails and checking in on Twitter and Facebook on my phone. I also found photo to use in blog post.

9:15-9:45 am: Took out some frozen already-cooked turkey to thaw for dinner. Then, while baby boy sat in his high chair with a snack, did my morning workout to Just Dance 3.

9:45-10:30 am: Ate breakfast, hung out with baby boy, and worked on blog post draft.

10:30-10:45 am: Phone call with client.

10:45-11:30 am: Finished and published blog post. Proceeded to work on marketing it via Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. Also, posted updates to various social media platforms and groups.

11:30 am – 12 pm: Played with baby boy and continued miscellaneous work on email and social media monitoring.

12 noon: Lunch for baby boy and myself.

12:30-2:30 pm: Continued work in-between playing with baby boy. When he played quietly on the floor, I’d check email or read articles, blog posts, etc. We went back and forth during this time quite a bit.

2:30-3 pm: Picked up baby girl from school

3-4:30 pm: Baby boy fell asleep on the ride home, so baby girl and I took this opportunity to have a tea party and afternoon snack. While she set up the tea party and changed into a princess outfit, I began cooking a turkey soup for dinner. I had enough time to shred the turkey, add all other ingredients and set the pot to simmer, plus sit down with baby girl for a princess tea party and snack before baby boy woke up.

4:30-5 pm: After a quick snack for baby boy, he and his big sister played together and watched TV alone. I ran upstairs to back up some files on our main computer and freshen myself up for the evening.

5-6 pm: Hung out with the kids, fed baby boy dinner, and picked up clutter in the living room. Baby boy got a little fussy during this time too.

6-7:30 pm: After my husband came home, we sat down for dinner, along with baby girl. Afterwards, the kids hung out with daddy and I cleaned up the kitchen.

7:30-8 pm: Bath/shower time for all.

8-8:40 pm: The husband read baby girl her bedtime story and tucked her in while I helped baby boy relax and fall asleep. Some nights baby boy falls asleep quickly, but with the afternoon nap he had, it took a while for him to calm down.

8:45-11 pm: With the kids in bed, the husband and I were finally able to hang out, talk about our days, and watch a little TV before heading to bed ourselves.

The reason this day worked out so great for me is that I felt accomplished. I was able to work on various areas of my life – not just work or just family. I was productive, got work done, spent time with the family, and even took time for myself.

Of course, not every day will work out so great. I know there will be days where baby boy won’t take two naps or will need more attention due to fussiness. There will be days when I’ll need to run errands and I won’t be able to get as much work done. That’s fine. We have to be flexible, right? The important thing is to remember days like these where all did go well and try to replicate them by following a routine as much as possible.

Why don’t you take some time to write out your daily schedule and reflect on what works and what you can improve? Where can you make some changes to your routine to ease the fluidity of the day?

Other articles you may like:

• Sample Daily Routine for Work at Home Mom
• 7 Ways to Find ‘Me Time’

Photos by Vicente Villamón, Andreanna Moya, Robin, and Erica Firment

Life with two kids is hectic. I thought my energetic 5-year-old kept me busy enough, but it’s ten times worse now. My days are full of too many diaper changes to count, slobbery shirts, and constant noise. That’s what gets to me the most I think. The noise. And, it’s not even coming from the baby, really! Instead, the majority of the noise comes from my daughter.

I’m accustomed to baby noise. He cries, I figure out what’s bothering him, fix it, and we move on. But with her, it’s constant attention these days. It’s always, “Mommy, look at this,” or “Mommy, should I put this dress or this one on my doll?” or any other form of calling my attention. This is not during the times we are playing together, but rather during the designated “mommy is working and you need to keep busy” times.

You see, she used to attend preschool five days a week from 9-5. However, we had to cut back and she’s now attending only 3 hours each day. When you account for driving time to drop her off and pick her up, I only get 2 hours each day without her home with me. I’m still trying to adjust to the change.

I’ve attempted a variety of ways to keep her busy so that I can get some work done each day. From following a similar schedule to the one at her preschool, to letting her play games on the laptop while I work on another computer. They work for a bit, but without fail, she will come up to me to ask questions or simply to tell me about the activity she’s doing – like a narrator.

I love that she shares so much with me and definitely don’t want to discourage that. After all, less than 10 years from now she’ll be in her prime teenage years and will probably not want to share anything with me. So, of course, I want to create a habit of healthy conversation. But, I do need to get some work done. No work, no income.

I even explained that to her, “If mommy doesn’t get any work done, then I won’t get paid. I need to get paid so we can pay for food, clothes, our house and all the nice things you have.” Yesterday I took a different approach and compared my work deadlines to homework: “I have to be sure I get this work done today. It’s like your homework. If you don’t turn it in the day it’s due, that’s no good, right? So, it’s the same with my work.” And, she actually understood and responded with “If you don’t turn it in, you might get fired!”

But, alas, here we are again another day with her seeing me working and still talking to me just as much. I really hate to have to say, “Just be quiet so I can get some work done!” It seems like that may be where we’re headed, though.

That’s why I want to know what works for you. What are your tricks for getting some work done while your kids are home with you? Share your best tips for entertaining the kids when working from home!

Guest Post by Lisa Kanarek

Running a household can be more demanding than running a business. When your personal life and your business life are in the same place, technology is one of the best ways to manage all aspects of your life. Faster, better and easier-to-use technology is available and more affordable than before. The dilemma isn’t whether there’s technology available to help you be more productive, it’s knowing which technology to use.

Finding the right computer

Technology changes often and trying to keep up with the latest computer is challenging, but not impossible.  When you’re shopping for a desktop computer or a laptop, decide what you want it to do. Will you use it mostly for sending and answering emails, for handling word processing, or for doing design and layout projects? When you know your business needs, find the right computer to handle each task. No matter what tasks you’ll be handling, buy more memory than you think you’ll need. Eventually you’ll use it. Also, whether you buy a computer online or through a retailer, make sure technical support is only a phone call or an immediate appointment away.

Picking a Printer

A good printer can make you look good to your clients and prospects, while an unreliable machine can affect your business image. When you’re looking for a printer, find out the paper capacity. The more paper a printer holds, the less time you’ll spend having to add more.  Also, look at the “footprint,” or the amount of desktop space it needs, including the paper tray and make sure you have enough room for it. I really like the Brother MFC-J615W because it has a compact, modern design that doesn’t take up a lot of space, and it looks great in any home office.

A Reliable Backup System

If you damage your computer — I slipped and fell while holding my laptop — you can replace the hardware fairly easily. The data however, may not be as easy to replace. A good investment you can make is in a reliable backup system.  You can choose between removable media drives (thumb drives) or external hard drives.  Remember to test your backup system often to make sure you’ve actually saved your information.  Also, keep two copies of your backed up data in different places, away from your home office.

Protecting Your Investment

You never know when your power may go out or when you may experience a power surge. Protect your equipment by using a surge protector. Go one step further by investing in an Uninterrupted Power Source (UPS).  A UPS gives you at least five minutes to backup what you’re doing before the power goes out.

Voice Mail

Whether you use your cell phone for business or install a separate business line, make sure you’re the only person who answers your phone (unless you have an assistant). Family members, especially teenagers, aren’t always the best at taking messages. Test your outgoing message to make sure there aren’t any noises in the background that you didn’t notice while you were recording your message.

Keeping up with the latest technology is challenging and at times, frustrating.  By finding the right equipment to meet your needs, you’ll be able to keep up with technology and furnish your home office with equipment that will help you stay productive.

Lisa Kanarek is one of the nation’s leading home office experts and the author of five books including, Working Naked: A guide to the bare essentials of home office life and Home Office Solutions. She is the founder of HomeOfficeLife, a firm that advises corporations and individuals on all aspects of working from home and is founder of the blog WorkingNaked.com.

Have you designated a formal space in your home as a home office? Do you have the necessary technology for doing your work?

Disclosure: Affiliate links were used throughout this post.

Guest post: Sandy Salle is a native of Zimbabwe and was born and raised in Southern Africa. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Hills of Africa travel and is passionate about using her first-hand knowledge of Africa to create the trip of a lifetime for her clients. Currently based state-side in North Carolina, she resides with her husband and two small children. Sandy travels home to Africa several times a year and believes that the next best thing to living in Africa is sharing it with others.

Like most work-at-home mothers, I wage a daily battle against the clock to get the kids dressed, emails sent, homework completed, proposals drafted, calls returned, and dinner cooked all within an impossible twenty-four hours.

Struggling to do it all, I began multitasking, but I found that, when I did everything at once, nothing was done well. This, in turn, led to guilt: I got to the soccer game late, I didn’t have time to distribute the invoices, and I was on conference calls the entire time my daughter and I were making cookies for her class. Wasn’t the whole reason I left the office to work at home so that I could spend more time with my kids? Yet, here we were together, and I was so distracted with everything that still had to be done, that I wasn’t present.

As the CEO of Hills of Africa travel, a premier provider of personalized, luxury safari vacations, I have big responsibilities at work. Clients depend on me to plan once-in-a-lifetime safari trips for them, and it’s hard to do that when I am scrambling to clean up the house during the few quiet hours my kids are at school. On the other hand, I don’t want to sacrifice time with my kids. They are only young once, and this time with them is precious. I want them to be experiencing their childhood with me instead of a nanny.

Exhausted, guilt ridden, and overwhelmed, I had to make a change. Here’s what I did . . .

Stopped Multitasking

My first step was to create a structured work schedule around the time my kids are at school, 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. During this time, 100% of my energies are focused on Hills of Africa—no more scheduling play dates or baking during conference calls. No matter where I am in my work at 3:30, I close up shop and refocus all my attention on my kids.

Eliminated Distractions

The old me would sit in front of the computer first thing in the morning and look through a few emails before jumping up to brew a pot of coffee or download a few songs to listen to while I worked. Each of these small tasks took time and broke my concentration. Now, before I even sit down at my desk, I have cup of coffee in hand, my favorite classical play-list on, and my personal phone line set to go straight to voice-mail, so that I can sit down for several hours of uninterrupted work. It’s amazing how much more I began to accomplish when I wasn’t jumping up to switch the laundry every couple of hours!

Became Present

Just being physically there with my kids was not enough. I had to be mentally and emotionally present for our time together to be meaningful. Now, when I’m with my family, I’m not just there, I’m present, listening, and interacting. I mentally free myself from distracting work obligations when I’m with the kids. At the end of the day, my kids crave my attention more than my home-cooked meal, and there’s no shame in occasionally ordering a pizza if it means that we get to eat and engage in conversation together as a family.

Let It Go

If that client call has yet to be made and those pots and pans still need to be washed when the kids arrive home, I forget about it. It can get done the next day. I’ve learned that supermom is an impossible notion, and I can’t do everything by myself. I now have my groceries delivered by Peapod and outside assistance with housekeeping. Anything that allows me to focus my work time completely on my job and my family time completely on my kids is a worthwhile expense.

Photo from stayathomejobs on Flickr

If you’re looking for telecommute jobs on sites like Careerbuilder, you will have a hard time finding legit positions. A quick search for telecommuting or work at home normally results in job listings that either say “no telecommuting available” or that are scams.

So, where can you find some legit work from home jobs, freelance work, or telecommute positions? There are several blogs out there catered to the freelance community that provide job listings. There are also quite a few job boards available on well-known web design, blogging, and tech blogs.

I’ve been perusing these job listings for a few months now and have found some decent job postings. Typical job listings include blogging jobs, freelance writing jobs, and social media management and consulting jobs. Even so, you still have to be careful about some of the listings, since scammers will be scammers and can post their scams anywhere. But, for the most part, I’ve had good luck.

The following is a list of 10 places to find work at home and freelance jobs. I’ve divided them up by the category the site defines itself as: freelance community, work at home mom (WAHM) community, job board, etc.

Freelance Jobs

1. About Freelance Writing
   This blog provides information on freelance writing, including tips for how to write and how to earn money from freelance writing. Three times a week, it also provides a list of jobs. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you can expect to find a list with an average of 30-60 job listings compiled from various resources.
2. Freelance Switch Job Board
   This is a fee-based job board, which requires a subscription for $7 per month to apply for the jobs. You can see the job listings, but no contact information or method for applying is provided unless you’re a member.

Work at Home Mom Jobs

3. Mommy Works Online
   Run by a work at home mom, this blog provides work from home and telecommute job listings found around the web. A description of the job, contact information, and sometimes a link to the original posting are provided each weekday.
4. Work at Home Mom Revolution
   Owned by the same woman as Mommy Works Online, this site provides very similar information. However, you will not find the same job listings duplicated on both sites and will sometimes find relevant news or articles for the work at home mom.

Job Boards

5. ProBlogger Job Board
   Being hosted by ProBlogger, this board, of course, primarily provides listings for blogging jobs. But, you can also find other writing gigs and occassionally some social media job listings.
6. Mashable Jobs Site
   Jobs listed here include social media, marketing, and web development positions. Not all are work from home or telecommute jobs, but you will find some amongst those listed.
7. Smashing Jobs
   Providing both full-time and freelance job listings, this site primarily provides design and programming positions.
8. Latino Community Job Board
   Although targeted to the Latino community, this job board really lists jobs suitable for anyone.

General

9. oDesk
   Though a bit controversial since employers can watch over your work when using the oDesk system, you can find many blogging, social media, and freelance jobs posted on this site.
10. Elance
    As a provider of services, you can create a profile, view job listings, submit proposals for jobs you choose, and get paid through the Elance system. There is a free plan, as well as paid subscription plans available.

The majority of these sites provide an RSS feed for the job listings. What I do is subscribe to the RSS feeds and put them all in a “jobs” folder in my reader so that I can go to one place to browse for jobs.

Good luck on your search! Let me know if you know of any or find any other useful sites for finding freelance, telecommuting, or work from home jobs.

One of the reasons I started blogging is because I was looking for ways to work from home just 6 months after giving birth to my daughter. As I was researching possible ways for me to leave my secure salary behind and make money online, I came across a site whose only suggestion was to “start a blog.” It went on to provide step by step instructions on how to set up a blog for free using Blogger, how to find possible content, and how to add Google ads to your blog. And, as simple as that, it left you to go on your merry way to begin your blogging career.

Of course, anyone who has been blogging for a while knows that it’s not that simple. Not all blogs make money and not all that do make a lot of money. There are a variety of ways to make money from your blog, with advertising and affiliate marketing being the most popular methods. Many people actually make money indirectly from their blog by selling products, consulting services, or freelancing.

If you’re looking to monetize your blog or find other ways to make money blogging, check out what these well-known bloggers have to say on the topic.

The Beginner’s Guide to Making Money Online with a Blog – Guest Blogger on John Chow dot Com

Make Some Money – Chris Brogan

Make Money Blogging – Darren Rowse of ProBlogger

How to Make Money Blogging: 7 Strategies to Help you Get Started Immediately – Dosh Dosh

Why You Can’t Make Money Blogging – Sonia Simone on Copyblogger

Is Blogging a Good Way to Make Money? – Chris Garrett

Eight Proven Ways to Monetize Your Mom Blog – Jennifer James of Mom Bloggers Club

What would you like to learn more about to help you earn money from your blog? Or, if you already make income through blogging, what tips can you share?

After returning to work full-time only 3 months after my baby girl was born, I decided that I wanted to find a way to work from home so that I could be with her more often. That’s actually how I came across blogging and the reason why I started to blog. But, since it quickly became clear that blogging wasn’t a quick method for making cash from home, I continued my search for work at home opportunities. In the process, I found many resources for work at home moms (or dads, or really anyone who works from home). There are many different communities, forums, blogs, and sites where work at home professionals can find information, tips, and job opportunities. There are also places where you can just network and communicate with others who have a home-based business.

I know that many of you can benefit from such communities, so I’ve compiled a list of 10 Work at Home Online Communities that I think you will find useful in one way or another.

10 Work at Home Online Communities

The Work at Home Woman

The site describes itself as a “website dedicated to helping women and moms fulfill their dreams of working at home and/or becoming self employed, while providing inspiration, motivation and support.”

WAHM.com

Describing itself as an online magazine for work-at-home moms, this site is a “source for work at home jobs, plus support and advice for work at home moms (dads, anyone).” They not only offer home business information, but also provide articles on childcare and parenting.

WAHM 2.0

As part of the Sparkplugging network, this is just one of their many home business sites. While this section concentrates on the work at home mom, it actually offers information relevant to any work at home professional. Through the rest of the network, you can find information for home business experts, starting a home business, and home office productivity.

Working Naked

I’m sure the title is something that catches the attention of many, but this blog says it is “dedicated to helping anyone working from home either part time, full time, or even to occupy time.” They provide productivity tips, reviews of useful products, marketing/PR advice, and how-to videos.

Undress for Success

This site has a lot of information – whether you’re an individual who works from home, a company, or someone doing research on telecommuting. It provides statistics and other data for researchers and companies to see the benefits of telecommuting, as well as information for individuals who wish to find a work from home job.

Work at Home Forum

This forum provides a community for those who work from home to share, learn from each other, and network.

Work-At-Home Success

Leslie Truex aka The Pajama Mama, author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible, designed her site to “provide free information on all aspects of working at home including starting a home business, telecommuting, and avoiding scams.”

Home-based Working Moms

From the site: “HBWM is an advocate for home employment & home business to allow parents to spend more time with their family…provides a variety of opportunities and resources to help moms network, learn and grow in their role as a home-based working mom. The goal…is to help moms create lifestyles that enable them more freedom and flexibility to truly enjoy their family and their life.”

Mom Entrepreneur Support Group

This is an online support group that offers tips, advice and resources for balancing motherhood and running a company.

HireMyMom.com

Their goal is to provide businesses with top talent for temporary and permanent projects while enabling mom professionals to capitalize on the freedom and flexibility to do top-rated work from home.

Like I said, there are many sites out there geared towards those working from home – this is a small list to get you started.

Are there any work at home communities you have found useful? Let’s add them in the comments below to grow this list.

You might also find these lists useful:

• Resources for the Working Mom
• 5 Resources with Tips for Finding or Improving your Work-Life Balance

Last week I posted a message on twitter and facebook about being happy with my daily work from home routine. Specifically, it looked like this:

Many responded that they wanted in on the secret and wondered if I would share what I’m doing. Though my routine is not extraordinarily different than most, I’ll go ahead and share my new schedule that is helping me to feel balanced. Keep in mind that this is a sample of an extremely smooth and good day. Some days my schedule adjusts to my personal mood or those interruptions we often have to deal with. However, the days that I follow this routine, are the days that I feel my best and feel like I truly have achieved work-life balance – for that day at least.

Photo by Joshua Stevens from Flickr

Sample Daily Routine for Work at Home Moms (WAHM)

• 6-8 am: This is wake up and get ready time. I’m not always up at 6 am – most days it’s closer to 7 am, but the plan is to be up, dressed, and get baby girl ready for school by 8 am. She helps a lot by getting herself dressed (most times I pick out the clothes for her the night before) and not dragging her feet when eating breakfast.
• 8-9 am: It doesn’t normally take an hour to drop off baby girl at preschool and get back. But, I like to allow some padding room in my schedule. So, as long as I’m home by 9 am, the rest of the day will flow more smoothly.
• 9-10 am: This is my time to work out and eat breakfast. I recently started exercising using my Wii and have found that if I get my work out done early in the day, it helps set my mood for the day and gives me a little boost of energy to keep going. The days I waited to do my work out later in the day or even in the evening, I had to force myself to exercise and I felt like I was dragging during the day.
• 10 am – 1 pm: This is when the bulk of my work is done. Whether it’s client work or blog-related work for myself, I try to do most during this time. I may not get all that I would hope to get done in this time, but if I can make progress each day, at the end of the week, I feel like I accomplished much.
• After 1 pm I grab some lunch, shower, and get to doing something for the house. Notice, I did not say I “clean the house.” No, instead I do something for the house. Even if it’s just one thing. For example, I can put a load of clothes to wash, or fold another load, or do the dishes.
• This normally brings me to about 3 pm at which point I try to get a head start on dinner. I also go back on the laptop and check in again on email and various social media sites to answer any comments, manage followers, etc.
• Around 5 pm, I wrap up for the day and either go pick up baby girl from school or wait for my husband and her to get home, if he picks her up.
• The rest of the evening is spent doing the dinner/family thing, along with the nightly bath-bed routine for baby girl. After that, the husband and I have some time together. Sometimes this means watching a movie or playing video games together, and other times this time consists of me on the laptop doing more work while he does something else. But, we’re still talking and interacting together.

Why is this schedule working for me?

The reason, simply, is that it contains a little of everything. I am able to work on the house, the blog, client work, and exercise. Though I didn’t spend all day on any one activity, I still got things done and overall feel like there was a good balance of things in my day. For me, it works. And again, I have to stress that not every day goes according to plan. There are days that I don’t get much done around the house because I have priority work that has to be done. Or days that I don’t do much work and concentrate on cleaning the house, if I feel like it’s slipping.

For those who have kids at home with them since they don’t go to preschool/school, you’ll probably have many changes to such a schedule. I know the days I’ve kept my daughter home from preschool, I had to tweak my routine to fit in activities with her. But, I involved her in the cleaning and exercise parts of the day and used my night hours more to compensate for the lost work time during the day.

I hope that in sharing my daily routine, you find some things you can change in yours to feel more balanced. Remember that the most important thing to keep in mind – and the one that has helped me the most – is that you don’t have to do everything in one day. But, doing a little of each will help you feel productive without losing your sanity.

What does your daily routine look like? Share with us in the comments below what you’ve found works for you and let’s all help each other find our personal work-life balance.

You might also like: 5 Tips for Working from Home for the WAHM.

It’s been nearly two weeks since I left my full-time job and have been working from home. In the last two weeks, I’ve had days that were really really productive and days that were not very productive at all. In thinking back, there were things I did differently on those days that perhaps had an effect on my productivity. I realize now that just a few changes in my routine or habits for the day, provide me with a greater chance of getting things done. With that, I share with you my personal tips for working from home.

5 Tips for Working from Home for the WAHM (or anyone really)

1. No TV
   This should come as no surprise, but it’s worth repeating. If I try to work on the laptop and watch TV at the same time, one of the two suffers. So, what’s the point in wasting energy by having the TV as background noise if I’m concentrating on work? Or conversely, what’s the sense in having my work suffer because I keep pausing to look up at the TV? Choose one or the other. This will also help with saving money on the power bill.
2. Listen to Appropriate Music
   I am a person that needs music to be able to work. When working in total silence, my brain doesn’t function. I know, it’s a little contrary to how most people function. But, for me, the silence is ear splitting and doesn’t let me think straight. So, I always have music on. However, there are certain types of music that allow me to get more work done than others. I’ve found that lately, listening to more acoustic or chillout music has helped me when writing or when just brainstorming ideas. That’s a personal taste, but the idea is to find music that inspires you and help the ideas flow. You don’t want to be distracted by the music.
3. Sit at a Desk
   When I worked outside the home all day, I was accustomed to working on my social media and blogging business at night by sitting on the couch on my laptop. This worked fine at the time since it was only a couple of hours each night. But, now, I realize that the days I tried the same method, I didn’t get as much accomplished as the days that I sat down in a proper chair at a table. We have an actual office area with a desk, but it’s at the very back of the house and I’ve found our dining table more appealing since it’s in a brighter part of our house. If you have a desk and office space that you’ve made your own, then even better! Either way, though, sitting upright instead of slouching down into the comfy couch works much better.
4. Eat and Drink Properly
   I am the worst about this. I will go hours and hours and forget to eat. Or just plain ignore the hunger signs. I even tweeted about it. I get so caught up in the work, that getting up to get something to eat is pushed to the side sometimes. The same for drinking water or any fluids. But, that is so bad. So, I have to remind myself to take a break and get some food and a bottle of water. It helps me in not just feeding my brain so that I can continue to be productive, but also provides a quick mental break and has many times allowed for new ideas to flow.
5. Shower and Get Dressed
   This may seem ridiculous to include since I think we all know not to go around stinky and naked, but what I’m really saying is do this early in your day. The days I worked in my PJs and waited to shower until the afternoon, I felt out of it. I fed into the feeling and didn’t really do much. When I shower early on, it helps me feel refreshed and ready to get things going. And you don’t have to sit around your house dressed like you were going to a business meeting either – unless you want to. Just change out of your “bumming around the house” clothes.

So, go ahead. Try some of these simple ideas and see if you feel better about yourself during the day and in turn, get more done.

And, please, share any additional tips you have in the comments below.

***More resources on productivity I’ve saved on delicious***

I’m providing these Tips for Working from Home in a printable format for you to download and share with others. Feel free to share liberally by pointing back to this original post.

Photo credit: supershoppertoo

When the decision was made that I would leave my full-time outside the home job in order to work from home, the husband shared some of his requests with me:

1. Legs and armpits should be shaved at all times. – I think the idea behind this is that I’ll have more time alone to be able to do so instead of letting it go some days due to the rush.
2. Since I’ll be pursuing blogging and social media consulting full-time, I need to carve out time for our family. – Fair enough.
3. I need to bring in some money. – That’s the idea.

They are simple requests; some more serious than others, but all important to him. And, he might have more that he just did not express to me. You never know.

On the other hand, my initial expectations for myself looked like this:

1. My house should be cleaner now.
2. I should be able to cook every day.
3. Laundry will not pile up on the couch for days waiting to be folded.

That’s not to say I don’t have goals of making money and spending time with my family. Of course I do. They are just the obvious goals that didn’t need to be said. I knew about those, but somehow my brain felt it necessary to remind itself about those related to the house. They were the ones that would constantly cross my mind.

It’s interesting really. Perhaps it’s because I have a physical reminder as I walk across the house and it then becomes a tangible task.

Do you find your expectations differ from those of your spouse/partner? If you’ve made such a transition in your life, how did you adjust?