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Suffering Fools in the Home Office in 3 Easy Steps
By Jeff Zbar | April 3, 2009
Dogs, kids (x3), neighbors, neighbors’ dogs (x3), laundry machines, vacuum cleaners, TVs, stereos…
The home office can be one foolish place. And it doesn’t even have to be April 1st.
How do you conquer the chaos?
Simple: Tell them, “Leave Me Alone.”
First, for the family, lay down the lay. You work from home, you’re not a playmate, house cop or errand boy. Keep the ruckus to a minimum. Set ground rules early, and get each member’s understanding. This may include that of your spouse or partner. Between 9a-5p, or whatever the office hours you keep, work is in session. Please respect my space and professionalism.
Second, for the neighbors. You work from home, you’re not there to greet FedEx, walk their dogs, or feed their fish. “Sorry, I cannot (insert task here) until after 5 today.” They don’t like it? They can bug some other home officer - or handle it themselves.
Third, for yourself. Set your own rules. But when enforcing rules upon yourself, you can be flexible. You will not run errands during the day (usually the most productive and profitable part of the 24-hour clock). Save errands for before or after hours. Want to be really productive, do your errands at a 24-hour store that you can hit when your circadian rhythm is best served (I’m an early bird, so hitting the store at 5am suits me best).
There. Home office chaos mastered — in three simple steps.
You (foolishly) hope…
ShareTopics: Home-Office, Time Management |