Why Is It So Hard To Work From Home?

71

By nightbear

The Work From Home Distractions

 
 

It's really rather remarkable what kind of distractions

can get in the way of your focus. You sit down to your

computer and you have planned several hours of specific

tasks you want to complete toward your internet business.

You even have a list!

Then you open your email. Wow, you say, I have 179 new e-mails.

Yikes! Of course, you did just join that latest giveaway

and they had some great free downloads and all you had to do

was give them your email address. That's pretty simple.

So now you are on their lists. And they want you to buy

something... anything!

The next greatest and latest , the best must have thing for

your new internet business. Well, what are you to do? What

if they are right? What if some of the stuff they are selling

really would help you in some endeavor you are aspiring to?

What if it might save you some time or effort? What if it really

would let you become successful? Afterall, you do have a

limited budget for growing your business.

So...you start opening and reading and clicking...

What do you mean 4 hours have passed!! I must get dinner, the kids

will be home from school, the dog needs to be let out!

How could this have happened. I had a list!

Sound familiar? Well it certainly does to me. This has happened to

me over and over.

Let's see how we all stand on this

Are you working from home?

  • Yes, and I love it
  • No I am too overwhelmed to even get started
  • I have no interest in working at home
  • I've tried but I just couldn't do it
  • I'm thinking I should give it a try
  • No way! I'll keep my job
See results without voting

You've Got to Realize You Are Being Distracted

Well there is something you can do. It took awhile, but I finally

learned this and it has made a huge difference in my online life.

You must be aware you are being distracted!

That's it! That's the big secret! All the internet gurus know this

secret, but they will not necessarily share it with you. They figure

you'll probably figure it out but until then they will continue to be

part of the distraction.

So are you going to ignore your email? Tape it shut with duct tape so

it can't get you again?

No, of course not. But...

Have a plan...a little better than a list. Here's what I do.

What are the essentials?

I love those giveaways and I have been around long enough to

have gotten on a few lists that keep me informed of the next one coming.

It's free! You have to check it out...

Or do you?

Here is my take on this. There are just a few things you must do to make money on line.

*******************************************

--You need a product, be it yours, an affiliate's or Google's (adsense), Amazon or Ebay

--You need a way of contacting people, be it a blog, a website, email campaign, articles

--you need people to sell it to

******************************************

These are the essentials, albeit extremely oversimplified.

So you know you have an idea of what you need to to do to

accomplish this, remember you had a list, but distractions are killing your efforts.

Day after Day, and week after week and soon month after month of your

precious time away from diner, the kids and the dog keep slipping away

and you are no closer to your dream of working from home.

What can you do?

Could This Be You, Working From Home?

What should I do next???
What should I do next???

You've Got To Have a Plan

1. I plan my time to do my online work every week just like a real work schedule.

2. I share this plan with my family. I, of course, made the plan with home life in mind so

that no one is neglected, not even the dog, and everyone in the family

can help me be successful by respecting the plan.

3. When I sit down to my block of time to work online, I have a designated 30-45

min of time to look at email. Now this means peruse. If you have 179 new emails.

YOU MUST NOT LOOK AT ALL 179! You are going to have to get good at glancing

through them, prioritizing them and looking at the ones you feel are really important

or interesting. You can always come back to this later and continue to clean it up

while you are watching TV with the family with your laptop in use.

4. Here is where your list comes in. Nothing feels as good as being able to

check things off your list.

Let me repeat that. ..

Nothing feels as good as being able to check things off your list.

You feel like you are really internet marketing. You feel like this really is important

and you are doing something toward your freedom from the JOB. You are really

working from home. IT IS GREAT! Try it!

5. Work your allotted time for the day. Check off a thing or two from your list.

Stand up feel proud and go cook dinner and oh, let the dog out.

Some Real Help to Get Started Working at Home

Feel Good About Your Accomplishments

Feel really good about yourself. You did it! You worked at your internet marketing

business. You know you can't help but be successful if you can behave as a

professional and take your work seriously.

Give this a real concerted effort. You may not be perfect at it for awhile.

It is really hard to get away from the email and distractions and it takes a minute

for the family to fall inline. But it will happen. I promise. It did for me. It will for you.

Please be good to yourself and keep working to quit your JOB.

So If you are working at home, how are you doing?

Are you making any money? That is what everyone wants to know

  • You bet, I am making my living
  • Not enough to quit my day job, but it is a nice supplement
  • I am making a little, but really having more fun than money
  • Not a dime!
  • It's too early, I just got started
  • I've got a lot of irons in the fire, we'll see what happens.
See results without voting

Share some of your work at home experiences, Good or Bad

LisaAuch profile image

LisaAuch 3 weeks ago

Yes a plan! once I had a plan it seemed to work!

nightbear profile image

nightbear Hub Author 3 months ago

Thank you for your comment. It is good that we try to help each other battle and win over all the distractions. We have goals and they are sidetracked by distractions. I appreciate your visit.

Sinea Pies profile image

Sinea Pies Level 6 Commenter 3 months ago

This is a great hub. You are so right. The distractions are great. I took the summer off to recoup from the deaths of my mom and mom in law but also wanted to do a lot more writing. I did more but not nearly as much as I thought I would.

The email thing is huge. That's why a wrote a hub on how to speed clean your email. It piles up fast!

nightbear profile image

nightbear Hub Author 4 months ago

I do understand I always have the best intentions and then...something happens. Thanks for visiting.

fanfreluche profile image

fanfreluche 4 months ago

it's difficult to stay focus with kids at home. I am far less productive than I used to be.

Rebecca E. profile image

Rebecca E. 8 months ago

This is so true even now, especially about the email part of it.

nightbear profile image

nightbear Hub Author 11 months ago

thanks Rebecca and you are so right about that! People just don't think it is going to be difficult at all. Boy are they in for a rude awakening. that is the point of this hub. Give them a heads up first. thanks for you visit.

Rebecca E. profile image

Rebecca E. 11 months ago

as always well done, and I've stumbled this for good measure. it's a work in prgress and most people don't "get" it is an online bsuiness, which means they have to "work" (I know bad words!)

nightbear profile image

nightbear Hub Author 11 months ago

Thank you so much Mar, I appreciate your comment and I am grateful to all of you that have stopped by.

marcoujor profile image

marcoujor Level 8 Commenter 11 months ago

nightbear--

I found this to be very useful and well written. It takes much structure and patience/ firmness with friends, who cannot see boundaries when you are home, but working. Voted UP and UA- have a good night, mar.

RTalloni profile image

RTalloni Level 8 Commenter 13 months ago

If you haven't seen this hubber yet, you might like to:

http://hubpages.com/profile/allstayathome

I laugh every time I see your cat. What a distracting start to this week I've had!!! :)

RTalloni profile image

RTalloni Level 8 Commenter 14 months ago

Good stuff. Your cat caught my eye, duh, but your info is both entertaining and helpful. Interesting comments too. :)

winepress profile image

winepress 15 months ago

Beautifully illustrated.

Thanks for sharing.

winepress

Minnetonka Twin profile image

Minnetonka Twin Level 7 Commenter 16 months ago

Firstly I have to say that I'm still laughing about Mulberry's comment about duct taping her husband. That was just hilarious:)

I want to thank you for this great hub because so many of us hubbers are working from home. Your right about whipping through emails and prioritizing. I am home alone with no retirees but I do have dogs. I take breaks from the computer every half hour to get things done and clear my mind.

P.S.-Love the picture of the stressed out cat.

mulberry1 profile image

mulberry1 Level 1 Commenter 17 months ago

I learned at my regular job that you can't let e-mails eat up all of your time. Now I just set my priorities, and e-mail falls to the end of the day. Now that my husband retired from his full time job I just need some duct tape for him ;)

nightbear profile image

nightbear Hub Author 17 months ago

thank you for stopping by Eva, I understand the struggles you are talking about. It is just so difficult sometimes. And Susan that is an excellent idea to keep personal and business separate. thank you both for commenting.

WhiteOak profile image

WhiteOak Level 1 Commenter 17 months ago

This is a hard situation for me personally. I did leave my day job to work online, and although I have good months and bad months, I keep trying to make it work. It is a slow process to learn all of the in's and out's. Its a double edge sword really. If not for my online adventures I would not have become a published artist, however I also do not sell my art on a daily base like that. But I feel I have too much invested to back away. I dabble a lot with this, I have tried the list, they don't work for me. I try treating it like a regular job it don't work for me. I will admit I miss my weekly pay check, but I love the freedom of doing something I love. So now it is a challenge.

Just Ask Susan profile image

Just Ask Susan Level 8 Commenter 17 months ago

Interesting Hub I must say. As far as the emails go I have a separate account for anything related to the work I do on the Internet. That way I can check that account easily throughout the day.

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