SUCCESS SECRETS FOR YOUR HOME BASED BUSINESS

Article by Cinthia Singleton
Photo Credit: Spell & the Gypsy Collective
Magazine: Issue #33

So you gave The Man the Johnny Paycheck and shoved off. It was simply time to put up your own shingle. You’d either been moonlighting or doing it part-time and now it’s time to say no to the j-o-b and BECOME CEO OF YOU INC! Kind of scary but it can be done with some planning and a lot of discipline. Sure, there’ll be no checks on the 1st and 15th of the month. Then again, no one will be standing over your shoulder. It’s all YOURS, baby. How fulfilling is that?

So why’s it so hard for many? Because Boss Man, for better or worse, provides immediate:

structure
accountability
a sense of security
comrades, work-mates

The reason for today’s musing is not to help remind you to save the money for a safety net or to learn the best way to set up the books. It is to help you get into a steady, productive groove in the home office and learn to embrace it not fear it. For those who have the kind of personality that derives momentum from what’s going on around them, working alone at the kitchen table is what’s most difficult about being self-employed. No water cooler nor meetings, deadlines or performance reviews, the mind wanders like an untethered balloon. Many lose motivation, heart and fire.

How to best SUCCEED at this self-employment, home office thing? Develop a system that starts the moment you rise. Simple. Basic.

1 :: After a nice sleep - with the phones and computers OFF upon turning in because as we disconnect we recharge - open your eyes and before you do anything else - STRETCH. Stretch from ears to toes. Breath into it without a thought in the world, no agenda, planning, lists. If you meditate, now’s a great time. 5-15 minutes. Stretch again.

2 :: Roll out of bed and before you leave the room, make said bed. No, we’re not worried about how you’ll fare during a bunk inspection. We just want you to turn the page between home and home office; the bed, the bedroom is where your day begins and ends. Even if all you do it pull the comforter over everything and fluff the pillows, you’re saying to the world, “Game on!”

3 :: Get dressed for your day. That means get out of the robe and actually getting dressed. Not that you have to don a power suit and full make up but be conscious about putting together an outfit that helps you be comfortable AND feel put together. Don’t just grab the closest thing and/or what you wore the day before. Get dressed. As Karl Lagerfeld says, “A respectable appearance is sufficient to make people more interested in your soul.” At your home office, the respect starts with Within and so does the pride for Self.

4 :: Before heading over to the [ phone, computer, desk, dining room table ] take time for some grounding morning rituals:

Wash your face.
Eat your healthy breakfast.
Juice your even healthier shake.
Enjoy a quick walk with the dog or cat.
Brush and floss your teeth.
Fix your hair.
Follow the news.
Put on your favorite musical jam.

THEN you begin your day and so the work day begins. YOU, not the boss, gets to craft the day around YOU. Things to do. Tasks to complete. Orders that must go out. Appointments to be kept. When it comes time to take a break, luxuriate in choices:

lunch at a table
reading a magazine article
tea in the middle of the afternoon
working out to a youtube exercise video
walking outdoors
meeting a friend for coffee

Finally, learn when what tasks are better performed. You’re a whiz with numbers in the morning not so much in the afternoon? A.M. might be the time to prepare invoices. Perhaps your reading comprehension is clearer after lunch? Afternoons are when to read those heady reports. We all have different optimum times of day for certain activities. Schedule yours accordingly, enjoying the freedom to do so.

Each and every day in your home office will be different; how enjoyable it is, depends on the structure YOU give it not no Boss Man. Just remember to turn the pages and close the doors between the worlds; find balance between the healthy lines.