Work-at-home respect. Getting it from others. (Part deux)

  The ultimate interrupter: the darn dog.

A couple days ago I wrote about respecting yourself as a professional, today I discuss getting that respect from others.

When you tell people that you work from home, they look at you and have that knowing look in their eye.  They think when someone (make air finger quotes now) "works" from home it means endless soap operas, blissful afternoon naps, and bonbons.  There is a perception from friends, family and strangers that working from home isn't a real job.  It is going to be up to YOU to train others to respect your situation.

Again, I checked in with Julie Bestry, President of Best Results Organizing.  She pointed to one of her articles regarding interruptions.   The summed up version is below (my own remarks are in bold):

The home office setting is a much tougher place to draw boundaries and limit interruptions. First, you are drawn towards two separate areas of your life simultaneously– your work and your home/family—whereas at a non-home office, you can generally focus on work. But home and work are, and must be, kept separate entities. Your mental focus depends on delineating separate times and spaces for business vs. "life".

1) Set a schedule—On any given day, you should know what hours are "assigned" for work, and which for home. If you have children, this schedule may be limited by the hours during which they are in school. That makes it all the more important that during "work" hours (9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.?), you are not tempted by the washing machine, The View (and we all know how much we love Joy Behar), lonely neighbors or door-to-door salespeople.

2) Identify "allowed" interrupters – In lieu of key personnel, you might make it a rule that if you do work when your children are at home, only the babysitter, your spouse or the eldest child can come to you with issues, and preferably, only at designated times.  Be firm, and encourage your family and teach them how to recognize "urgent" and "important" (example: being out of ice cream is not urgent...most of the time).

3) Train your family members to be solution-oriented and come to you at the pre-determined times, with alternatives. This is quite possibly the best training you can give your children for succeeding in the professional world.

4) Schedule office hours – If your family is responsible enough to be left outside your eye-line (the kids are fine, it is the husband I worry about), schedule breaks between work sessions when they are allowed to ask you questions or seek your help. Barring emergencies (blood, smoke, flooding), set aside the last ten minutes of every hour to review with them. Our minds focus best in 20-45 minute sessions anyway, so this allows you to refresh yourself.

5) Arrange the furniture/workspace – Your office is adult space; your children should not be playing with Webkins on your office computer (webkins? shudder to think), anyway, as it prevents you from being able to take the home office deduction. Make a clear demarcation between office space and home space, just as you separate the time in your schedule.

6) Watch your body language

7) Use time-limiting phrases

As a business owner, you must be a leader. If you take your business, your priorities, your time and your space seriously, and lead by example, your family, friends, colleagues and staff will do so as well.

For myself, I am still learning and trying to discover my own boundaries and what works for me.  And exactly what DO I do about the dog....?