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More and more of us are working from home nowadays. With fast broadband and mobile phones, we’re no longer tied to an office. Employers are becoming increasingly willing to consider remote working arrangements, and you may well have taken advantage of these yourself.

Alternatively, your whole job may be home based. Perhaps you’re a freelancer or you run a small business. Maybe you’re fitting in some part time work or even studying around looking after your family.

There are lots of advantages to working from home – flexibility, no commute, and the ability to take care of any little chores that crop up during the day. There are also down sides – it can be much harder to focus with interruptions family or flatmates, and you may find yourself constantly distracted by the television, computer games, the fridge…

Here are some ways to make it easier.

Set Working Hours

Having a “start” (and a “stop”) time for work is particularly crucial when you’re working from your home. It’s very easy to put off starting work in favour of doing the dishes, watching day time TV, or popping to the shops. If you’re a freelancer you might get away with this – though clients may well expect to be able to phone you during normal business hours. If you’re telecommuting and your boss realises you’re spending the morning in your pyjamas in front of the television, you could lose your flexi-work privileges.

By having fixed hours, you help train your brain to be in “work” mood at 9am (or whatever time you choose) each day. You also avoid letting work spill over into the evening or even long into the night.

Designate a Specific “Work” Space in Your Home

Many of us work on laptops nowadays, which can be extremely handy – but not if it means trying to “work” while curled up on the sofa with the television blaring a few feet away.

Just like having set hours for work, having a specific space where you work (even if that’s just a desk in the corner of the spare room) can help you to get straight into the right mood for cracking on with your task list.

Having a proper working set up also means you’re less likely to risk back ache or RSI from using computer equipment in awkward positions. You’ll find it easier to pick up where you left off, too; if you’re constantly moving your work around the house, it’s easy to lose important papers.

Close Your Door to Avoid Interruptions

If at all possible, make sure your workspace is in a room which the rest of the household won’t need access to during the day (so working at the kitchen table isn’t ideal…)

When you need to focus on a particular task, close the door. This lets everyone else know that you’re working, and that you’re only to be interrupted if it’s really important. Don’t feel that you’re being rude or inaccessible by doing this; from their point of view, they’d prefer to know when you need to concentrate so that they don’t annoy you by constantly popping in at a bad moment.

If you don’t have a door to close, try wearing headphones while working. You don’t have to actually listen to anything – but the headphones will stop people wandering past and trying to hold a conversation.

Get Out to a Coffee Shop

Finally, if you’re really struggling to focus when working from home … then don’t work from home! Grab your laptop and anything else you need, and head out to a local coffee shop. Without all the distractions around the house, you’ll find it easier to concentrate (plus, if you’re paying several bucks for a coffee, you’ll want to make the most of your time there).

If you find coffee shops too noisy, try your local library. In nice weather, you might even write outside in a park.

Do you work from home, some or all of the time? Have you got any great tips to add about staying focused?

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Starting your own small business can seem like a daunting task at first. This is why many people never attempt it. However, if you break up your duties into smaller tasks, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, if you follow these steps to starting a small business you may find that you’re a profitable entrepreneur in no time.

While you may not have to complete all of these steps, or complete them in this exact order, the following list should give you a better idea about the things you should be thinking about and planning for your business start up.

1.    Brainstorm Business Ideas. You may already have a business idea in mind, but it’s important to fully explore your options in the very beginning. Think about a few different businesses that you had in mind for yourself. Make a pros and cons list and see if you can narrow down your choices. Remember that starting a business is never something to be taken lightly, even if it’s just part-time.

2.   Have a Business Plan. If you’re starting your own small business, you must have a business plan. Even if your plan is simple, it should be written out for you in detailed steps. Too many people go in blindly without clear goals. They may end up profitable, but probably not nearly as profitable as a company with a business plan.

3.    Go Over Your Finances and Consider Hiring Help. Since you’re starting a part-time business, you might find yourself on a tight budget. This just means that you’ll have to plan carefully and make sure that you make some smart financial decisions. It’s a skill that every entrepreneur should work on in life. Also, the part-time nature of your business might mean that you don’t have a whole lot of time to invest. This means that you might need to look into hiring help, especially for some of the more tedious work.

4.    Come up with a Timeline. There are probably quite a few steps that you have laid out that need to be completed in order to reach your goals. Set out a timeline for every goal. Make sure that you set attainable goals, but still try to push yourself to achieve in a timely fashion.

5.    Setting up a Business. You might want to ask the advice of a local accountant about your particular laws when it comes to setting up a business. This is just because every country, state, county or even city may have special rules that you need to follow. There are usually many hoops to jump through right at start up, but once you get through it maintaining your various licenses from year to year shouldn’t be much of a problem.

6.    Taking Action. Your next step is to take some bold action to achieve those goals. Your business is not just going to launch itself. Starting a business takes especially hard work right at the beginning.

7.    Using Your Plan B. Sometimes everything will not go according to your plans. This is why it’s usually a good idea to have a Plan B in place. Your Plan B may end up getting you out of a tight spot.

8.    Evaluating Your Progress. As you continue on your journey as an entrepreneur, you’ll want to pause to evaluate your progress at certain intervals. Check on things like your profits and efficiency. See if you can make bolder goals, or maybe you need to scale back a bit. You should be constantly striving to be the best you can be.

9.    Maintaining Your Business. In the end it’ll come down to maintaining your small business. One of the final steps to starting a small business is to just keep doing what is working for you, but never fall into a pattern where you stop trying to better yourself. Your part-time business likely has the potential for full-time income and then some.

Discover how you can achieve all that you want in life in The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author this success eBook that spells out all the success secrets. Claim your FREE copy of the eBook now at http://www.77SuccessTraits.com.

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Here is a list of things to consider before you fire your boss:

1.    Have a Plan. When you’re unhappy with your current situation, you may be tempted several times a day to just storm off and say “I quit”. However, you need to avoid letting yourself get to this point of burnout.

    First you’ll want to do a thorough evaluation of your life and why you’re unhappy. Are you struggling because you hate this specific job and would like another one, or are you struggling because you don’t like the idea of working for someone else? The answer to this question will help you to determine your next steps.

    Next you need to decide what you’re going to do if you’re no longer working at your job. You should shoot for doing something that you enjoy that also makes money in the process. Remember that you can always start your own business. The best way to fire your boss is to become your own boss!

    Think about what you’ll do if everything doesn’t go according to plan. It’s always a good idea to have a back up plan too. It’s difficult to muster up the courage to leave the security of a job, but if you plan properly and have a back up, you should be in good shape.

2.    Develop Your Skills. Remember that you should always be working on your skills. Let’s say the job you have your eyes on requires skills that you don’t currently have. You’ll want to develop these skills while you’re still working at your other job. You don’t want to quit your job before you know that you’re fully prepared to move forward with your other plans.

3.    Test the Waters. People tend to always have a “grass is greener” mentality. This just means that you might be envious of something you don’t have, but once you do have it, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. Remember that you don’t want to quit your job and go full force into something else only to realize that you’re even more unhappy in the new situation. Do what you can to research and participate in your new plans to make sure that it’s the right path for you.

4.    Start Your New “Job”. The best way to test the waters is to actually start your new job. While it’s not always feasible to start a new job when you’ve already got one, you might be able to. This is especially a good idea if you want to start your own business. You can work your day job and then spend your evening developing the new business. Not many people have large amounts of available funds to launch a business and deal with the fact that most new businesses are not profitable right away. So if you’re still gathering income from your other job while you launch your new one, the transition won’t be as difficult.

5.    Don’t Burn Bridges. You might be tempted to use some choice words when you fire your boss for good. Maybe this person deserves it for treating you unfairly, but you must be polite and think about your future. What if you change your mind and want to return to your job in the future? If you leave on good terms, maybe that could be a possibility for you. Also, you never know when a former employer can be of help to you, so it’s always best to remain on their good side.

6.    Sort Out Your Finances. It’s always best to sort out your finances before you quit your job. If you’re struggling financially, it might not be the best time for you to take a risk. Your best bet would be to make sure you have at least a saving of a couple months’ worth of expenses before you embark on your journey.

Author’s Bio:

Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you FREE and you can grab your free copy now at http://www.77SuccessTraits.com.

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Have you ever thought about quitting your job and working for yourself? Maybe it’s an idle whim that you have from time to time – or perhaps a much more serious intention. Whether it’s your two-hour commute, your gossiping colleagues, the office politics, the boss, the boring work or the inflexible hours, your job just isn’t much fun. It’s definitely not your true passion.

If “quit the day job” is one of your resolutions for 2010, you’ll find lots of encouragement around the internet. I’m a fan of plenty of freelancing and self-development blogs, and many writers can’t wait to extol the virtues and pleasures of being your own boss and working for yourself.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy working for myself; I get to work in the comfort of my home, doing what I love. But I’m going to be brutally honest in this post and offer you six reasons to reconsider working for yourself – before you end up making a move that you might regret.

Plus, I’ll give you some tips on negating all six less-than-stellar aspects of the self-employed lifestyle…

1.    It Isn’t Stress-Free

First off, a lot of people think that working from home is going to be amazing. Surely freelancers get to sit around in their pajamas watching daytime TV?

The reality is that you’ll probably be ditching one lot of stresses for a different set. Sure, you won’t have the boss with the anger management problem any more … but you might be having a panic attack at the sight of your bank balance. You may also find yourself taking on more work, or more complex work, than you can comfortably handle.

Fix it: If you’re taking the leap into self-employment, be prepared for it to be stressful at times. Get honest with yourself: how much risk and uncertainty will you be comfortable with? How much down time do you need? You can determine exactly what you do and don’t do, so make sure you’re putting yourself in the best possible position right from the start.

2.    No-One Tells You When to Start Work

Yes, I know this doesn’t sound like much of a drawback! If you work from yourself, you can keep whatever hours you like. You don’t have to be at your desk at eight am. You don’t even have to get out of bed before noon. However…

It’s easy to end up wasting valuable time (and when you’re working for yourself, you’ll become all too aware of how time = money). If you work with clients who’ll expect to contact you by phone, or who want swift replies to emails during office hours, you might find that you’re losing out on potential gigs.

Fix it: Choose your working hours based on when you’re at your best. I’m a morning person, so I’m often at my desk at 7.30am; other freelancers work late in the evening. Be clear about which days are working days (it doesn’t necessarily have to be Monday to Friday). Try having a routine that gets you out of bed and into the day – like a brisk walk, a shower, and an energizing breakfast. If you regularly have a problem getting going, learn how to overcome procrastination.

3.    …Or When to Stop

The flip side to having no start time is that you don’t have a stop time, either. I wrote a piece about Why You’ll Never Be Finished in response to a question from a reader who said “Now I am working for myself I do find it hard to stop because who is telling me when enough is enough?”

This is a real problem for a lot of self-employed folks – and it can lead to substandard work, high stress levels and eventual burn-out. However much you love what you do for a living, you need time to rest and recharge.

Fix it: Recognise that when you work for yourself, your job and your hours of work can expand beyond all recognition. Give yourself a firm “stop” time each day (perhaps tied to your family or household’s schedule) and make sure you at least have a couple of hours of non-work time before bed. You’ll sleep more soundly for it.

4.    There’s No Guaranteed Paycheck

In a traditional job, you know exactly what you’re being paid and when. As a freelancer, you’ll find that cash flow is sporadic. This can be a particular problem if your self-employment involves a large outlay on equipment or materials of some sort.

Many freelancers either work on a succession of small jobs (with a few hundred dollars coming in from each – often not on time!) or have one huge project on the go (which could mean getting paid in large sums every few months). If you’re used to getting a paycheck every two weeks, you may end up running into serious financial problems – especially if you have a non or late paying client.

Fix it: Have an emergency fund or a buffer that covers you for late and irregular payments. When you get large sums, resist the temptation to splash out. Put unexpected bonuses, such as gifts, into a savings account. For big projects, bill in installments during the work. Get new clients to pay 50% upfront.

5.    No-One Has Your Back

In most office jobs, there’s a limit to how much you can screw up. Even if you do something so awful that you get fired, you’ll be entitled to some period of leave. And generally, it’s hard to make huge mistakes: someone will be double-checking anything vital.

When you’re self-employed, everything is your responsibility. If you forget to bill a client, it’s your problem. If you’re so poorly organized that your clients start leaving you, or if you can’t get yourself motivated to complete your work, or if you take on so much that you rush it all and do a poor job … you could ruin your reputation in the industry. You might even get sued by an angry client.

Fix it: Get professional advice where applicable (perhaps when doing your taxes or accounts). Depending on where you live, you may need to set up as a limited company – so that you can’t be held personally liable for potential financial problems. Make sure that you have the time and energy to do your best work, and be careful about managing client expectations – don’t promise what you can’t deliver.

I know I’ve struck a pessimistic note in this piece – and I’d like to end by saying that I have never regretted leaving my own day job and striking out on my own! However, personal experience has taught me that self-employment – like any worthwhile endeavor – isn’t always easy. If you’ve got experience of working for yourself, or if you’d love to quit your job, why not share your thoughts in the comments?

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