One of the great things about a home business (and, there really are so many) is the ability to break up the work hours instead of working a solid block of 8 or 9 hours at a time. With this increased flexibility, it’s possible to work an hour or two in the morning, go off to do other things or even work a more traditional job, and then return to work later in the day or at night. Being able to break up the work day has so many advantages (but a few disadvantages too)…
The trick, I’ve found, with breaking up the work day in a home business, is to schedule work time when it is both comfortable for me and when I can still get in touch with the people I need to get in touch with. While I can get plenty done via e-mail, if there are people I need to contact by phone, I have to make sure I’ve got some “daytime” hours. Local meetings and conference calls tend to take place in the middle of the day too. This means that even though I’d like to get up early in the morning and have all my work done by mid-morning or noon—it doesn’t always work out that way when I’ve got to work with other people and businesses.
But, breaking up the day also means that I can work for a few hours—go do something at my kids’ school or take care of housework or errands, return to work for a couple hours and then take a break again to prepare dinner or go to a meeting. It’s perfect for my personality as it keeps me from getting bored or feeling like I’m wasting away in front of a computer screen or at a desk. It also makes me feel healthier—I can take that break to go for a walk or do some stretches and, accept for long nighttime stretches when I’m working to meet a deadline, my eyes don’t get too tired or strained from too much computer time.
The only downside for me is that sometimes if I have to interrupt work to do something else, I lose momentum and have a hard time getting my focus and productivity back. All in all, however, being able to break up work hours and the work day is definitely one of my favorite perks of working from the home-based business.
See Also: One of the Best Things About a Home Business–Low Overhead and A Few Things I Love About Being Home-Based, Part Four–Rush Hour Traffic