How to make working from home a good mix of flexibility and focus

One common dream of those who want to be their own boss is working from home. And it can give business professionals the flexibility so many only dream of. No longer are you gone from morning to evening five days or more a week. Instead, you get to stay home with your family, create your own schedule and work from the comfort of your own house. While this sounds ideal, this change is difficult for some people. Some find it hard to keep a solid schedule, too loud and distracting, and the temptation not to work too strong.

To help you find that happy medium of focus and flexibility while working from home, try out a few of these suggestions:

Take lunch breaks and eat with your family members. Just because your family members are usually the largest distraction (not always a negative but definitely true), it doesn’t mean you should shut them out for eight hours. You’re at home, so take advantage of your lunch break! Use this time to spend a few minutes with your kids, take your spouse out to lunch, or even help out around the house.

Don’t be afraid to let your kids into your office every once in a while. Yes, we know this sounds scary, but this can be effective. Not only will it give you short breaks to recharge, but it will give you a few minutes each day to grow closer to your kids (and hopefully give them less of an urge to come in and distract you!). Set clear rules (like 10 minutes a day) and use the time to show your children what project you’re working on or let them tell you how school went that day.

Embrace the flexible schedule. You work from home. This means when something important comes up, you better not miss it. If your child has a soccer game at 4 but you usually work till 5, either start an hour earlier, call it quits early, or don’t take a lunch. You get to choose when you work and when you don’t, take advantage of this!

Don’t always confine yourself to the office. If you find yourself losing focus or getting distracted, don’t be afraid to leave your home office. Just because you “work from home” doesn’t mean you have to stay there! You have the flexibility to work wherever you want! Go work outside, go to a diner, or anywhere else that you can think of.

Working from home can be a blessing – and a curse. If you can learn to stay focused while embracing the flexibility of your opportunity, you’ll never want to work outside of the home again.