Feel like a zombie.... working from home isn't that great!!

I think what you are going through is common when you start working at home. You are accustomed to the schedule imposed by work hours and job demands.

You need to set some sort of schedule. Have a morning and an evening routine. For me, a brisk walk in the morning is time to plan my day while I get the blood flowing and the brain working. It also exercises my dogs so they are ready for a dognap rather than needing attention when I'm working.

Then a quick shower and light breakfast - and THEN to work. Take a break every 2-3 hours to stretch and move around and if you get drowsy take another walk or a quick cat nap.

If you drink coffee, better to limit it to certain times of the day rather than ingesting caffeine all day long. Use it when you need a boost.

When you are finished for the day, quit. Don't keep going back to do one more thing unless you have a pressing project to work on.

At night set a certain time for turning out the light. I have to do this one as I have a tendency to keep reading a good book all night:p . I don't use an alarm but if you are sleeping too much, set an alarm for a reasonable hour until you adjust to your schedule. Too much sleep is about as bad as too little. Your mind and body will adapt quickly to a schedule once you start to live on one.

I think we all fall into bad habits sometimes. If you don't have some schedule to adhere to - even if it's flexible - you'll waste time and get less work done. At the same time, you'll feel guilty at what you didn't get done each day.

If all else fails, spend a week or two writing down exactly what you are doing every 15 or 30 minutes of each day. The results might surprise you.

kay

My schedule is pretty much the same as if I worked in an office, I just also put some hours in at night.

It's still important to schedule and order your day just as if you were working for someone else. I know the whole "work in your pajamas" appeals to a lot of people, but that's never been my thing. I always get up and get ready for my day.

From what you're describing, it sounds like your diet alone could be screwing you up. Always have breakfast in the morning. Eat regular meals with healthy snacks in between every couple of hours. You should never go more than three hours without eating.

If you have a hard time stopping what you're doing to eat, make up meals ahead of time and stick them in the fridge or freezer so you can just grab and go.

Working at home all the time can be annoying. Working usually means you work elsewhere, that's why I think some people hate working at home. Too much familiarity and boredom.

thanks guys. I really appreciate all of your comments and tips. I'll keep those in mind and hopefully I'll manage to get things straight.

I hear you! I work overnights at a group home type setting and when I come home I can only really put in about a few hours of IM a night and some stray jobs here and there while at work, than I end up sleeping from like noon till 11pm. I am finding it hard to create a schedule but it is getting better but at times I think it may kill my motivation slightly to be an IMer ...Good luck to you with all your future endeavourers my friend and hopes to you that you will find that happy medium.

I feel your pain! I have been working from home for years, and sometimes it does get to me. I force myself out of bed to an alarm. To see people, I make sure I go to the gym every morning and arrange a lot of happy hour appointments during the week. I also make sure that I dress and not work in my PJs, and eat at regular times. You also need to keep your work at your desk, and preferably in a place that is NOT in your bedroom. Also, if you don't have a separate home office, make sure you have a clean house before you go to bed at night...less distraction during the day.

David,

so you already see you're not alone, it's all very common, and it's really hard in the early months. Tips I learnt from my husband who's been wfh for seven years, and others have touched on already above:

- Arrange to meet a friend at least once during the working week: some get to work from home now and again or maybe meet other people who are also self employed and hook up with them - you can do this through local business networking groups

- Try to make sure you have an appointment committed in your diary once a week which means you HAVE to get up and dressed and out. There are only so many times you can go the dentist or get a haircut so maybe join something or take up a hobby which has a class you have to attend. Spread any appointments over a long period i.e. don't do haircut, dentist, doctor etc. all in the same week - do one thing per week

- Get outside in daylight hours - go and walk to buy some milk or a paper or stamps or any other supplies and don't get everything in one go, spread it out

- Set an alarm every day and commit to getting up at that time, it makes you feel in control of your day right from the start. And get dressed!

- Commit to a start time for your work - having done this for six months I now feel bad if I am not at my desk by 09:30am - again, gives you a sense of control

- Commit to a lunch hour - it was the only thing that worked for my husband and made him eat -I'd call him from work when I started my lunch and harass him to get his. Now I am with him at home, I leave my desk at 12:30pm on the dot and go and fix us some lunch. We're back working by 13:30. Oh yeah, and make sure you have stuff in for lunch that will tempt yo uto eat but be healthy!

- Grant yourself a clocking off time i.e. an official end to your day. If you decide you're into something and want to work later in the evening, go for it and enjoy feeling good about it, but never feel guilty about not working in the evening. I have found that to be the hardest part - even if I let myself stop working I felt tense doing anything else because I felt guilty. Now I allow myself down time guilt free.

It all sounds a bit control-freaky but humans (and animals) generally respond better to structure. If you prefer a more relaxed approach then what about committing to a certain numbers of hours of work per day? You can tick them off and fit them around your other plans as you please, but you know there is finite amount of time you have to work?

But as others have said, getting some face-to-face time with other humans is the most important factor to keeping sane.

You can do this, it will be worth it in the end!

P.S. It's funny how many women are responding to this..... if we could bottle empathy and sell it we could take over the world!

Just pretend that you are still working for a boss who is insisting on your former work schedules. Then go from there to pretending that you have neck breaking schedules.
This attitude should get you to work more productively to start with before you begin to relax.
Relaxation should certainly not be our starting point in self employment, no matter how we see it. It will push more IMers towards laziness/idleness. We wouldn't be recording great successes from that standpoint.

Wow, thanks for the much needed tips guys.

I have a job now in SEO as well, but when I worked from home, I found it way too easy to get distracted.

I found that I worked much better outside my home. Could be anywhere with access to Wifi and coffee! Public libraries are pretty good and free, coffee shops obviously if you can find one without too much noise. I would probably consider getting a real office if you can afford it.

I also think it's a good idea to do some work with other people in some form. Working by yourself in your home can get boring even for the most independent. Perhaps do consultant work on the side. I would ideally prefer to split my time between consulting and having some coworkers and working on my own projects from home. I am definitely more productive on my IM days, when spend time in a productive and creative enviroment.

To start with if sunlight is hurting your eyes you should be getting out more!I suggest doing regular exercise at least once a day just to get out of the environment you're in.

You need to do a couple things.

First, set up a daily schedule for yourself. I highly recommend you work out outside (go for a run!) as soon as you wake up. Start the coffeemaker, take a shower, and start your day.

Try to leave the house at least once per day. Go get coffee at Starbucks. Go out to a business lunch. Do whatever you have to do.

Also, try to include some human interaction during your day. Sitting in front of a computer all day, every day will turn you into a "vidiot", as they say.

There is one thing I would like to add - not
sure if it's been said yet.

First, yes, working at home is challenging. We
lose the imposed structure and the inevitable
social interactions associated with most jobs.

I found a way to solve both: Join groups and
start hobbies.

For example, I started martial arts, which is
at 5:30-7:30Pm every day.

Also, joining a Yoga class at 8am-9am is
great since it makes you get out of bed in
the morning.

Second benefit, you meet new people and
have social interactions every day.

There are also 1000 other benefits which are
beyond the scope of this thread.

These are just examples of things I did, but
there are many things to choose from -
like joining a book club or take a course
at a school.

The key is social interactions and fixed
schedules (I also use 'personal challenge' and
'what I'm passionate about' too choose activities).

Yes, IM gives us freedom - but too much of
anything isn't good.

I wanted freedom so I could focus more on my
non-income-deriving passions, like martial arts
and other things.

So I use my freedom to pursue things that to
some degree limit my freedom. These things, however,
are my passions - so it is nothing remotely close to
having a job, and isn't as counter-intuitive as it may
sound.

Hope this helps!!

Bill.

It sounds like a common problem like me. I just make some short walks make some little travels to get my mood back and ready to work normally as a normal day walker

All great replies, and a wonderful post! I am totally attuned to all of this. I work from home as well, or let's just say I don't go to some office! It is definitely great to have a great routine where you're "mind and body" conscious. I love quick cat naps. Definitely have to eat right, limit caffeine and have strategies to change the actual neurophysiological state you're in (how you feel), if you're not in a high performance state. A rigorous run, or visit to the gym is incredibly important in the morning! Not only is it healthy, but it promotes the growth of new nerve cells, as well as strengthens existing ones in your brain because it creates BDNF, (brain derived neurotrophic factor). This helps your cognitive processes flow better and with people like us, that's an important thing! Great topic.

Hi David,

I like to change things up.

Recently I've worked quite a bit from the library. I toss away my car ways, which forces me to walk 40 minutes each day to and from the library. I get my exercise, meditate time in nature and workday all in.

As for hours work with your body but again, switch it up. Routines can make you feel like a zombie. Some life for them but I am careful to make things interesting every few weeks or so.

All the best!

RB

havent been here in a while. actually I started the gym and yup I feel better!! .although I feel swore almost everyday but its a start :p.

Glad you feel better David. Exercise really motivates you, and is great for body & mind. & it gets you out of the house.

It is a pretty lonely job, working at home on your internet business!
Its quite internal, as perhaps you are not interacting with other people face to face! Thats why its good to go out a couple of times a day, exercise, interact with others and have a laugh about it, or something. Stay light!

I think you just have to trigger yourself in work mode even if you are in your house. Taking a bath, wear great clean clothes, and if you could have a room specially for working would be even better so you can have the working mindset in that room even if you are in your house.

And definitely try not work efficiently and productively, and try not to spend so much time in the computer cause that will definitely take a toll on you.

I just had a migrane with vertigo because of working too much and my doctor told me that I have to rest for a couple of weeks. :S

So working too much can also be counter productive. Hope this helps

I work full-time now from home. I get up and get dressed and made-up as if I am expecting company! I work about 10 hours a day, taking a break for lunch and exercise bike (a half-hour each). Twice a week, or so, I get out of the house and meet with people about my business. I don't limit myself to the computer. That's important! When my husband comes home, I give him my attention. Family and Friends are important, too. (An unscheduled break never killed anyone!)

Create a schedule that allows a "balance" in your life, and STICK TO IT. Work is not everything. Money cannot buy love, happiness or health. So keep it balanced.

Success in business is a marathon, not a sprint. So take it easy!

Brother I understand completely what you are saying - about feeling tired and drinking a lot of coffee.

This is the same problem 99% of the IT crowd and video game crowd suffer from, and being only 20 years old, I have experienced it deeply already.

You will feel tired and sluggish and like you have a sunlight disorder, this is simply because you are sitting down, staring at a screen, concentrating and drinking a lot of caffeine.

I figured out how to tackle this problem and it's worked wonders for me - it simply involves getting up and walking around, doing some simple exercises like push ups and dips, bodyweight squats and toe raises every 30minutes.

Get up, walk about and have a good stretch.

Replace some of your coffee's with water or juice and make sure you take a lunch break of at least an hour - and actually go outside for it! Take a walk over the park or go and grab something to eat in a cafe.


The best way to do online work is to do it the same way you would offline work. Do whatever you would normally do in the morning before you head out to work, but then go for a little walk and then back to your house and get to work.


Try to only eat when you set yourself a regular break to eat, don't just snack whenever you feel like it - you have to self-discipline yourself because after all, there is no boss to keep you in check now, you have to keep an eye out for yourself!


I wish you all the best with your success brother,
Peace and love,

Zer0

i get energized most after clearly visualizing why i do my daily 3's

remember the instance when you made the decision to step out on your own, and the feelings it creates inside you, does that make sense?

Oops, your daily life is similar to mine when I was in college. Sleep til noon, only eat lunch and dinner, stay up til 4 pm for internet stuffs and sleep...
I felt like a total loser at that time. Years later, I regret doing that. That lifestyle destroyed my health, my social relationship. I got money for a nonsense life. I was addicted to the PC...
Now i'm free and find a proper work with friends and fresh air. althought it's a tight schedule, i still feel great and energetic. Schedule your life, my friend!

Daamn! I thought im alone in the boat.

It is ok for those able to make money online..but for those that havent, they must be felt even worser than a vampire. ^^

These are all good suggestions.

When you work from home, you don't have colleagues or coworkers to share professional ideas and gossip. There's less support and camaraderie when you're telecommuting. When your computer crashes or you solve an ongoing business problem, there's nobody next door to turn to.

But there are always IM forums to refer to others in the same or similar situation as yourself.

You can get advice or just "vent".

And it can give you a needed break.

Well, so your a vampire, i'm more of a werewolf. I work best when there's is a full moon.
Kidding aside, i think it's pretty normal for IMs to work unwanted hours. Like what i said in my other post, IMs has one of the most unbalance life ever. Compare it when you had a day job where the hours are fix. About the IMs freedom thing, pretty much the same for people who has jobs, IMs just own their time and its up to us to schedule that time not because someone tells us to do it but because we have to so we can make money.

The good part is, because of the chaotic hours we have, IMs have a better chance to grow, learn and make money than any other job. It just depends on our determination, patience and perseverance.

I think you are just a night person. Just wear some shades when you go out in the day time and for petes sake, cover your neck.
To keep in shape, just put an ipod with some motivation mp3s and walk for a couple of hours in the park. I do that everyday. Mostly afternoon.
But if you really want real freedom, like a 4 day a month thing, just outsource it, delegate the work, if you are up to it.

Jing Quimpo
"If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people."

Some great posts here. My thought would be that

'sounds like you need a personal mastermind group.'

Whether that be through reading more personal development books. Joining with some personal development gurus who send out regular cds to listen to such as Anthony Robbins, Steven Covey etc. Get regular and CONSISTANT training online Or even join a networking marketing company that has great personal development training - why?

Because this stuff will help you to stay focussed - teach you how to and why and to really remember why you are doing what you are doing

good luck