This week during a coaching session, one of my clients shared her ongoing struggle with managing "breaks" throughout the day. Whenever she felt the need to get up from her desk and stretch her legs, she found herself in the kitchen.
As a result of this habit, she is now 20 pounds heavier, very uncomfortable and extremely unhappy with herself.
Unfortunately this phenomenon is all too common among entrepreneurs who transition from the outside work world to working from home.
Home business presents challenges not normally experienced while working in the corporate or "outside" world and managing breaks is a big one.
When you work outside of the home, a break might be spent by a water cooler, in a lunchroom, or outside on a bench chatting with a co-worker. When you do spend your break in the company lunchroom, you seldom find a fully stocked fridge and cupboards chock full of food at your disposal.
When you work from home, your break locations aren't quite as extensive and because it's very unlikely you would spend this time sitting in a bedroom or talking to yourself in the bathroom mirror, the kitchen is the most logical destination.
How you spend your breaks at home requires a little creativity and A LOT of discipline. By giving yourself options, setting limits, and creating healthy habits, it won't take long for you to re-direct yourself when you find yourself drifting towards the kitchen.
Here are 7 simple options to get you started:
1. Grab your remote telephone, head outside for a lawn chair and call a friend. This not only addresses the "break" issue but also combats the feelings of isolation that often affect home-based business owners. The important thing to remember here is set limits for yourself. Institute a 15-minute break rule and enforce it, otherwise you can lose an entire afternoon.
2. Pick up your mail. Whether the mailbox is at the end of your driveway or just down the street, this is the perfect opportunity for you to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.
3. Play your favorite CD and listen to song that takes your mind completely off your work. Enjoy a cool class of juice or a tasty cup of tea while you immerse yourself in the music. If you're feeling a little sluggish, pop a lively tune into your boom box and kick up your heels! There's no better energy boost than a good boogie!
4. Take a walk around the block. Take your puppy with you and light two candles with one flame. Get to know your neighbors, keep your pet healthy, and enjoy the great outdoors.
5. Meditate. There's nothing like a midday meditation to free your mind and relax the body. The benefits are immense and impact all areas of your life and business.
6. Set kitchen hours. Establish certain times throughout the day when the kitchen is off limits and stick to them.
7. Sweep the entryway or vacuum the living room. It may not be exciting but it will give your mind the break it needs, and will save you time elsewhere so you can spend it with family and friends. A few little cleaning breaks throughout the day really add up.
What other ideas come to mind for you?
Your success and wellness all boil down to discipline, creative thinking, and being gentle with yourself. Don't beat yourself up if you've created habits that are counterproductive. Instead, seek solutions and take appropriate action.
It's all about developing structures and processes and when you realize you have the power to design your own activities, you will create amazing results for yourself.
2006 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source
7 Ways to Manage Breaks As A Home-Based Business Owner
10 Home-Based Business Ideas for Work at Home Moms
Copyright 2006 Stephen Ashton
Work at home moms make up a significant portion of home-based business owners and work at home freelance professionals. While there are a lot of perks that come with working at home, the appeal for mothers is often that they’ll be able to spend more time with their children. Keeping that in mind, here is a list of ten home-based business or freelance job ideas that will allow for a flexible schedule that can be worked around family time.
Freelance Writing – Work at home moms can find numerous opportunities for freelance writers, both online and off. Because writing can generally be done at any time, it would be ideal for work at home moms who might only have time to work during occasions where their children are in school or napping. A good resource for moms interested in finding freelance writing clients is www.WritersMarket.com.
Blogging – Similar to other writing fields, blogging can be done at almost any time of day. Most blog networks that hire freelancers have posting requirements on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule, but the time of day that you post is completely adaptable to your own schedule.
eBay – Starting an eBay business is a great option for work at home moms, because most products will sell on a 24-hour basis online without too much supervision. To make an eBay business even more ideal, drop shipping would remove the necessity of storing and managing inventory and making regular post office runs when you would rather spend time with your family.
Child Care – Work at home moms would be ideal for the child care field. If there’s a need in your community, some options would be setting up a home-based day care center or even an after school program for older kids. Depending on where you live, you might need special certifications or licenses, but you would have the added perk of having other children around for your own to play with and socialize with.
Graphic or Web Design – Most design work can be run as an online-only business, meaning you wouldn’t always have to run out to a client’s location for meetings. As long as you regularly answer your email throughout the day, you can concentrate your actual design work during quiet times when the kids are otherwise occupied, or even handle the design work during the evenings.
Tutoring or Lessons – Having students come to your home for tutoring sessions with their schoolwork, or even music lessons, can be easily adapted to fit your family’s typical schedule, such as your child’s nap time, or on weekends when someone else might be around to look after your kids.
Arts and Crafts – If you have any artistic ability, an arts or crafts-related business can be ideal for a work at home mom. You can design jewelry, paint, make candles, or just about any craft you can think of. There is definite potential as you can work on your craft during quiet times or in the evenings, and sell your crafts or art at shows on the weekends. Or, you can sell your products anytime with an online store that will work for you 24-7.
e-Consulting – Similarly to how you can do design work almost entirely online, you can do the same for various forms of consulting if you have the proper training. For instance, you can consult on Web content, do marketing or SEO consulting for website owners, or adapt any kind of expertise into your very own e-consulting firm. Research – Individuals and companies in just about every field have a need for someone to conduct research for them. You can do anything from genealogy research to market research by conducting surveys right from the Web.
Selling Information – Information is still a hot commodity, and these days almost anyone can set up a website. If you create a basic site, you can sell anything from ebooks to podcasts to databases of industry contacts or job listings. The possibilities are endless.
Accountability and Its Powerful Role In Creating Home-Based Business Success
It's so tempting to take the easy road sometimes.
It's even easier to just put something off altogether and say, "next time". We procrastinate by saying, "I'll make twice as many tomorrow", or "I'll do it with twice the effort next time." And what happens? Tomorrow and next time come, and we put it off yet again.
Having an accountability partner on your success team plays a powerful role in helping you keep your eye on the "bigger" picture and your head in the game.
Going it alone may be considered admirable by some who feel the need to declare, "I did it all by myself!" as though it were the ultimate demonstration of strength of character, however, it is by no means the best or quickest way to make your dream come true.
Choosing to build your business or pursue any significant goal without an accountability partner will increase your chances of failure or may severely impede your progress.
It's human nature to back off when things get a little uncomfortable or challenging, and it's at these times more than ever, you need someone in your corner, edging you on and pushing you further.
A perfect example of the power of accountability was demonstrated this morning as I contemplated my workout appointment at the gym.
I have worked out off and on for years and as soon as I felt discomfort in my muscles, I would quit, thinking it just wasn't worth the pain. If the planets weren't in alignment, my morning toast was slightly burned, or it was one degree hotter or colder outside than I cared for, it was a good excuse for me not to exercise.
I won't beat around the bush when it comes to admitting I don't like exercise, but at the same time, there is absolutely no denying its importance in maintaining a high quality of life and optimum health.
When you're not physically healthy, your energy levels are compromised, your mind doesn't function at optimum efficiency, your moods may be altered and heavy, and an imbalance may be created that will affect all areas of your life and business.
When one area of your life suffers, they all do, and if an area requiring attention is a major challenge for you, this is where the need for accountability is paramount.
In my case of physical fitness, I knew I would never stick to a program or hold myself to a certain standard without a partner to hold me accountable, so I hired a personal trainer.
I explained to her that I hated exercise and if a magic "fitness" pill was invented, I'd be the first in line to buy it. I also asked her if she could do the workouts for me so I could increase muscle tone through osmosis. (I think it was at that point she realized she had her work cut out for her.)
Because of my trainer's courage in taking me on, and her belief in and dedication to my success, I will move heaven and earth to make her proud. Today I amazed not only her, but myself.
Over the past three weeks, we've received more than 100 cm of snow. Last night we received another major dumping that was formed into high drifts by powerful winds from the north. It was one of our coldest mornings this winter at almost minus 40 degrees with the wind chill.
Brrrrr!
This morning was the big test. There was no way my trainer could be disappointed in me if I didn't show. I had a foot of snow in my driveway, the winds were raging outside and it was the coldest morning of the year. My snowplow guy was swamped clearing driveways and I probably wouldn't see him for hours. I had an out!
Now, I easily could have crawled back into bed and put off exercising for a day, but it isn't so easy anymore. Someone else is now holding me accountable and isn't going to let me fall back into my comfort zone.
What did I do?
I put on my snowmobile suit, warm knit hat, skidoo mitts and ski goggles, and got shoveling! It took almost an hour and thankfully my dearly beloved came home from night shift and helped me finish, but I cleared a path so I wouldn't miss that workout!
The funny thing is I didn't feel harried or frustrated by the event. I only proved what is a well-known truth. We can accomplish anything if it means enough to us, but even more so if we have an accountability partner in the process.
As you set your goals and plan your ideal future, make a point of surrounding yourself with people who believe in you and who will hold you accountable for your actions.
It's so easy to fall back into what is undemanding and comfortable that failure to move forward is always a looming threat.
As you plan to create success in your life whether it be building a successful business, improving your financial situation, optimizing health, etc., make sure you have a coach or someone on your success team to hold you accountable and keep you in action.
The power of accountability is incredible. Add this ingredient to your success plan and you will amaze yourself by revealing how capable you really are!
© 2006 – Laurie Hayes, The HBB Source
10 Steps To Running A Home-Based Business
The failure or success of a business often relies on the most fundamental operations-the ones that often get overlooked as a tipping point process in the daily business cycle. Fortunately, one of the leading business sites, AllBusiness.com, offers advice and solutions that help businesses succeed. These 10 easy-to-follow steps will help your home-based business become a success.
1. Plan ahead. Take the time to make plans for every eventuality that may arise. From natural disasters to unexpected financial problems, you will need a plan that you can readily access to get you through a difficult time.
2. Put money aside. Don't begin your business with delusions of overnight success. You'll need funds to tide you over while your business grows. Put some money aside to tide you over until you do start earning revenue.
3. Organize your time. Being a responsible business owner means managing your time wisely. Initially you will need to spend extra time making your vision a reality.
4. Organize your space. You can't run a business effectively if you are wasting time looking for an important receipt under reams of loose paper. Take time to organize your home office and make sure you can function efficiently.
5. Stay focused. Family responsibilities, chores, TV and the warmth of your own bed can all distract you from the task at hand. Remove as many distractions as you can from your home office and stay focused.
6. Figure out tax laws now, before it is too late. Do your research now so you will be prepared come tax time.
7. Advertise. You can't afford to wait for your customers to come to you-you need to go out and get them. Advertising is an investment, and spending money now to market your business effectively can pay big dividends.
8. Get the proper equipment. Office equipment is an extra expense, but you need the hardware to run your business correctly. To compare features and prices, check out the Business Products comparison engine at AllBusiness.com.
9. Cover your assets. Don't wait for a natural disaster to destroy your entire inventory-now is the time to purchase the insurance you need.
10. Don't get discouraged. Success does not come overnight. It will require dedication, hard work and a lot of extra effort to make it a reality. This is your dream; do all you can to keep it alive.
Becoming Wealthy through the Home-Based Business Opportunity
Thanks to the Internet, more people than ever before are discovering that they can launch their own home-based business. Essentially, all you need is a computer, an Internet connection, and the right home-based business opportunity. The question then becomes, how to you select the best home based business opportunity? Here are four steps you can take to help you decide which opportunity is right for you.
Determine Your Goals
Before committing to an income opportunity at home, you first need to determine your goals. Are you interested in supplementing your income from your current job? Do you wish to stay at home with your children, but bring in a second income? Are you retired and want to supplement your pension or social security? Or are you tired of the nine-to-five grind and want to make a full time income by working only part time? Perhaps you have a specific financial goal in mind, such as a vacation or college fund, or maybe you want to harness the power of the Internet and become genuinely wealthy. Determining your financial goals will help you find the best home based business opportunity.
Can You Sell?
Many times, a home-based business opportunity requires you to sell products. Are you a salesperson at heart, or does the thought of calling people and selling products make you cringe? If you're a born salesperson, there are any number of opportunities that allow you to excel. However, if you're not a natural salesperson, there's no reason to go outside your comfort zone. Even if you try, you probably won't succeed.
Instead, find a home-based business opportunity that harnesses the power of the Internet to provide you with an automated, hands-off lead generation and sales system. Typically, these kinds of opportunities offer products - such as software or information products - that essentially sell themselves. The companies that offer these kinds of business opportunities will provide you with the tools you need to help you succeed, such as your own website, training, and marketing support.
Seek Out Flexibility
You may be in the position to work predetermined hours from home, but the majority of people who seek an income opportunity at home need flexibility. Perhaps you have school-age children, or maybe you are a night owl and want to work from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. The best home based business opportunity enables you to work the hours that are convenient to you and that allows you to access the vital information you need 24-7-365.
The Right Compensation Plan
There are almost as many compensation plans as there are home-based business opportunities. When you're reviewing opportunities, make sure to compare apples to apples. Generally speaking, the best compensation plans give you 100% of every sale after your first two sales (which go to your immediate upline). You then receive the sales from the first two sales of each person in your downline, and their downline, and so forth to infinity. This type of compensation plan generally outperforms those that are commission-based because commission-based compensation plans typically are of greatest benefit to those at the top and leave relatively little profit for you.
When you find the best home based business opportunity, you can maximize your earning potential and truly become wealthy.
ACCOMMODATE A HOME-BASED BUSINESS
Efficient time management boils down to planning what you're
going to do, and then doing it without backtracking. Start by
making a list of the things you want to do tomorrow, each evening
before you go to bed. Schedule your trips to the store or
wherever to coincide with the other things you have to do, and
with your trips to or from work. Organize your trips to take care
of as many things as possible while you're out of the house.
take stock of the time you spend on the telephone---and eliminate
all that isn't necessary.
Whatever chores you have to do at home, set aside a specific time
to do them, and a specific amount of time to devote to them. For
instances, just one hour a day devoted to yard work would
probably make your property the envy of all your neighbors. Don't
try to do a week's work in one big flurry. Whether it's painting
your house, fixing leaky faucets, or mowing your lawn and
trimming your shrubs, do a part of it, or one particular job each
day, and you'll be amazed at your progress.
Take care of all your mail the day, you receive it. Don't let
those bills and letters pile up on you. If you're unable to pay a
bill immediately, file it in a special place that's visible, and
note on the envelope the date you intend to pay it. Answer your
letters the same day you get them.
Once you start listing and planning what to do, and then carry
out your plans, you'll find plenty of "extra time" for handling
virtually any kind of home-based income producing project. People
in general may not like routines or schedules, but without some
sort of plan as to what is supposed to be done, the world would
be mired in mass confusion. Laws, ordinances and regulations are
for the purpose of guiding people. We live according to an
accepted plan or way of life, and the better we can organize
ourselves, the more productive and happy we become.
The secret of all financially successful people is simply that
they are organized and do not waste time. Think about it. Review
your own activities, and then see if you can't find a couple of
extra hours in each day for more constructive accomplishments.
When you begin planning, and then when you really become involved
in an extra income producing endeavor, you should work it exactly
as you have organized your regular day-to-day activities---on a
time basis. Do what has to be done immediately. Don't try to get
done in a hour something that's realistically going to take a
week. Plan out on paper what you have to do--what you want to
do--and when you are going to do it. Then get right on each
project without procrastination.
Finally, and above all else, when you're organizing your time and
your business, be sure to set aside some time for relaxation. Be
sure to schedule time when you and your spouse can be together.
You must not involve yourself to an extent that you exclude other
people--particularly your loved ones--from your life.
Taking stock of the time you waste each day, and from there,
reorganizing your activities is what it's all about. It's a
matter of becoming more efficient in the use of your time. It's
really easy to do, and you will not only accomplish a lot more,
you will also find greater fulfillment in your life.