I don’t think it sounded harsh at all and was really spot on with how to make the most of your time.

Great article, so many of us who “work from home” go through all of these same things.

“I would never go back to the commuting wage-slave days.”
- Amen to that! Having briefly participated in the six figure slave labor racket, I have no interest in EVER doing it again.

I’ve known people who make a half million dollars a year salary and have no life to enjoy it. What good is all that printed paper if you don’t live your life?

As for home life, people by nature push boundaries. And if they see that you’re not really “busy”, i.e. you can always stop what you’re doing and play or whatever, then they’ll always do that.

Jennifer and I have a firm process around this – of course being full partners in our business does make it so much easier – no need to explain to your spouse why watching that cool YouTube video constitutes “work” and leads to revenue generation.

Every day we have our early morning walk around our beautiful neighborhood, have a light breakfast, and then “get to work”. Meaning a 4 or so hour productivity period where we (mostly) ignore distractions.

If you want an awesome process to help you get a LOT more done (being OCD and a chronic “idea guy” this really helped me) – try Simpleology. It’s a free program, and helps you figure out what you NEED to do every day.

For “needy” clients, the great thing about working from for yourself is you can fire them. Simple as that. You get to choose who you want to work with. And there are a lot of reasonable people out there who will work with you in the way that you choose to work. Again, it’s about setting those clear boundaries from the beginning.

With family and friends, a few gentle but unyielding reminders that “you’re at work now” – and staying in your office to finish what you’re doing – will help set a firmer structure there.

After all, would you rather do that, or go back to a job so they perceive you as being truly at work?

We uninstaller IM programs a year ago, they’re a huge distraction and productivity killer.

Phone is just as bad. My phone hasn’t made a ringing noise in years, it goes to voice mail. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message, and if it’s really important, I’ll take time to call back.

And for email, we usually answer within 24 hours. Most of us check email all the time, which is a very damaging habit (that we’re guilty of too). Fact is, that is a huge continuous context switch, and context switches kill productivity.

Sure, time sensitive stuff comes by email. We’ve gotten booked on several radio and TV shows where answering right away was key to landing that appearance. But if you’re like us and get 200+ emails a day, you can spend all your high brain power focused time answering emails, when most can be answered later in the day after you’ve “hit your targets”.

Your time is your most precious resource… don’t let others command it. Not a slave driving employer, and not a slave driving client.

Some of this stuff may sound a little harsh to some, but I think it’s necessary. It’s ok to push back a little and choose what you do with your time.

Have an awesome day!
Dan & Jennifer

I have a flexible schedule too, but you have to let people know that: although your schedule is flexible, it’s not THAT flexible. You can’t be expected to drop whatever you are doing the moment someone wants you to do something. You tell them, if you let me know in advance, I’ll schedule other things around it.

Being a teacher I do a lot of power point work at home too, along with research. I identified a lot with your article. It all comes down to personal boundary setting.

YES!!!!!!!