Working From Home: My Four Biggest Time-Wasters

Posted by: Lauren | Posted on: April 25, 2008 | Comments 21

OK, first off: the good news. Working full-time from home is great. On rainy days, you can't beat the commute. On sunny days, I pull my laptop onto my terrace and feel nothing short of smug. However, I've discovered the hard way that there are many pratfalls you need to look out for, lest you want to be working from home well into the night.

What is my biggest pratfall of all? I bet you can guess. Time-wasters. Here are the biggies:

* Personal phone calls. I have discovered that some people equate working from home with not really working at all. As such, I have fielded many a long, involved personal phone call at, oh, 10:30 on a Monday morning. Next thing I know, it's noon. I have found the solution to be as simple as it sounds - Caller ID. If it's not work-related, I call back on my lunch hour. No exceptions. I've become hyper-vigilant about this, and noticed a big difference.
* Unexpected Visitors. A friend of mine is an artist who lives six blocks away. Thursday is his designated day off, where he does errands and likes to catch up with friends. The first couple of times he stopped by unannounced, I felt it was important to show I could be spontaneous and take advantage of my work-from-home freedom. Next thing I knew, it was 10:00 pm and I was racing towards a deadline. The truth is, you need to be disciplined, not spontaneous, for working from home to really work.
* Email. Perhaps the toughest time waster of all. Many corporations ban internet email, and that's a smart move if you ask me. Without coworkers to banter with, I often look to email as an opportunity to connect with people in a limited, time effective way. I don't feel a need to reply to every email, and save prolonged communications for the weekend. Does anyone out there have strategies for effectively limiting your email? I'm all ears!
* The Ellen Degeneres Show. OK, this is one rule I learned hard and fast. No TV. Never. Ever. I watch the Ellen Degeneres Show on vacation, and it's all the sweeter.

Working from home has pros and cons. You'll work much harder than you ever imagined (time is money), and it can be lonely. But if it's what you want, it is so worth it. I'd love to hear your stories of working from home. Is it all you thought it would be?

Related tags: friends, telecommuting, time-management

21 people have responded so far. Add your comment below.
Viviana said:
04.25.08 10:20 p.m.
I tend to eat less regular meals and more SNACKS when I work from home, which is even worse than a time-waster (though it is that, too).
kevin said:
04.25.08 10:37 p.m.
regarding email, Tim Ferris's "4 Hour Work Week" is a great productivity book to read. On his blog he posted "The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now" which received 131 comments - one tip hit home when discussing checking email - "Get off the cocaine pellet dispenser and focus on execution of your top to-do’s instead of responding to manufactured emergencies. Set up a strategic autoresponder and check (email) twice or thrice daily" - http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/08/16/the-not-to-do-list-9-habits-to-stop-now/
Emma said:
04.26.08 3:58 a.m.
I have found that working on my own brings an enormous amount of tasks to be fulfilled, this poses its own problems as of course they are all urgent, i write a list but then find that i receive some information through by email that pushes my priorities onto something else or makes me think of a great article that would suit my site perfectly and with one click of the mouse i am away researching... at the end of the day i feel like i have not achieved much as my list of tasks are still there - not yet completed. The fact that it all normally comes together by the end of the week does not help the daily frustration...
Emma said:
04.26.08 3:59 a.m.
Sometimes i wish i could leave the house, the housework, the cleaning, the phone etc. and work in an office but then i truly don't want that either, i love the flexibility home working brings - although i still do not understand the concept of being off and tend to work until late at night. my conclusion is that this type of work is a huge learning curve and tests everything that we are as humans - can we curbe our curiousity and need for social interaction and still get the job done to the highest quality?
Sookie said:
04.26.08 1:59 p.m.
Emma, sometimes if you look at your list and see what you have accomplished and how well it was accomplished as opposed to what you didn't finish makes you feel like you have had a good day. Just take that list prioritize then move what you didn't get to, to the top of the list for the next day. Don't aganize over what you didn't finish.
Jane Chin said:
04.27.08 1:58 p.m.
My 2 biggest - email and "free associative" browsing of the internet. What I mean by email - as explained by everyone else; I used to be able to control this by setting up my outlook to prevent automatic notification of incoming emails, but since I switched to gmail, it's been difficult. What I mean by "free associative browsing of the internet" - I'd be looking up something for work, and end up surfing on a link I thought was interesting, which took me to another whole area of links, and then one hour goes by and I realized I still haven't answered the original question I was surfing for.
Renata said:
04.27.08 8:35 p.m.
Agreed. The free-associate-browsing thing's a killer. I've employed a mental invisible fence around this one... otherwise it's an hour gone and nothing but a random ebay purchase to show for it.
Dorinne said:
04.29.08 9:15 a.m.
Congratulations to the winners! It will be interesting to see how they progress and what we can learn from it. I have many questions that need to have real life answers. A big thank you to Rachel M. for sending me valuable info! Thanks!
Viviana said:
04.29.08 5:14 p.m.
Thanks, Dorinne--The powerhouse team that will be mentoring the finalists plans to drop in here on the fwm blog and also on the Seeds For Success Mentor's blog, and I'm sure you'll get some answers to those real life questions. If you don't see your exact dilemma, be sure to ask--we love your contributions here and, well, just having YOU here. :-)
Dorinne said:
04.29.08 8:53 p.m.
Thanks Viviana! I was just handed two projects today by Main Street(they fund our markets)they want me to submit psa's for the summer market and to write a report on the success of the winter market, this will be published in trade journals. Plus they want me to submit a proposal to the city council for proposed use of the building and expansion for next season. I am very excited about this! I am helping to shape a market, I plan annual events for a city and will be published! How awesome! This is to much fun! I eagerly look forward to the grand opening of my outdoor cafe. I have laid the groundwork and people are excited about it. Now I have to deliver! I do have serious questions about the economy and how it will affect spending habits.
Cris said:
05.01.08 10:43 a.m.
Wow, I read some great emails on working from home. I truly been looking and searching to work from home. I do not want a large start-up cost. I have lost so much money in the past. I thought about answering surveys (on-line). I want to start off by making 1500 a month. Can I do this and if so where are the reputable, legitimate websites? Some one please help me. No scams accepted!
Viviana said:
05.01.08 11:02 a.m.
@Cris, welcome! There are so many disreputable outfits out there--I hope you find what you are looking for. Telecommuting jobs that are true jobs do exist, and many people here can attest to that. Hopefully some other members have suggestions for you. I did a little Google research and the survey-answering work seems to get mixed reviews. I know that it has been many people's experience that telecommuting jobs are often borne of "traditional" jobs. In other words, an employee who was once on-site and had an opportunity to develop a good work history is given an opportunity to work from home. What type of work have you done in the past?
Jane Chin said:
05.01.08 3:42 p.m.
Cris, you may want to start by defining what exactly you mean by "working from home". I've been working from home for almost 10 years, both in field-based jobs and as an entrepreneur. However, I do travel as part of my work from home, and sometimes this traveling may be substantial depending on what I'm doing. I assume you mean a web-based business, which allows you to work from home, but then you may not need to travel anywhere. Is this (i.e. 100% virtual) how you're defining working from home?
Dorinne said:
05.01.08 5:52 p.m.
Try guru.com and sologig.com
Tosin said:
05.04.08 8:49 p.m.
My biggest time wasters are surfing and pinball (I swear this game just won't let me delete. Must be a Windows bug). So now, I have a certain profile set up on my computer that bands certain websites and also, has all the programs I need ready on the desktop. I think focusing starts mentally before it reaches the physical.
Martha C. Wood said:
05.05.08 6:25 a.m.
Is there anybody out there who can help me package myself? I'd like to contribute the following about working at home as told by the writer, James Michner. Evey day he did his run and ate a small breakfast after which he had a shower, and donned his work clothes (which in his case was always white). He then would sit in front of his empty paper (keyboard) and work for four hours without fail. He gave us a vision of the world in these regular, disciplined hours. Gald to find you, Moss
Viviana said:
05.05.08 7:13 a.m.
Glad to find you, too, @Martha! In what way are you looking to package yourself? Are you a writer, or are you launching another type of business?
kalisa said:
05.06.08 8:19 a.m.
I'm enjoying this web site because it is very important to my reasoning life.
Viviana said:
05.06.08 3:56 p.m.
@Kalisa, welcome! We're glad you're enjoying FindingWhatMatters. Tell us about yourself--what matters most to you right now?
Marcia said:
05.30.08 4:01 p.m.
My biggest time waster...Housecleaning! It started back in college... my room was spotless during finals! I can't settle in to work on something if my surroundings are amiss! I have to clean the kitchen before I cook and I can't fold clothes until the bed is made. I've learned to spend 15 minutes (thank you FlyLady!) tidying up the area around me so that I can settle down.
Lelani said:
05.30.08 5:27 p.m.
Emails for sure! And all those places where I blog .. And this might become another one to add to the list.
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