Did you know that working from home used to be the way that most people made a living? Prior to the industrial revolution, people were producing all kinds of goods and services at home and selling them to their neighbors, friends, and people in their local communities. If you had a farm, which had cows but no chickens, you did not have to go without eggs. Your neighbor probably had chickens and was probably more than happy to trade you some of his eggs for some of the milk from your cows. You did not even have to have a … Continue reading →

Last month I wrote about the benefits of a self-evaluation. It is a great way to evaluate where you are at, what you would like to change and what you hope to accomplish in your career. Since those of us who work from home typically don’t have the opportunity to receive feedback from others, we can at least take a good look at our business practices and habits and take note of what could be improved and what goals we would like to set. A couple of weeks ago I finally went ahead and did a self-evaluation. What I discovered … Continue reading →

Why do so many people dislike Mondays? As someone who feels that Monday is just another day of the week, I have been curious about this for some time. There are a few explanations for why many of us feel such a strong dislike for Mondays. If you are a Monday-hater, read on – the first step to getting over your dislike for Mondays is to try to figure out why you hate them so much. Once you have identified the cause of your animosity for Mondays, you may be able to change the way you feel about them. One … Continue reading →

Do you ever have one of those days where you think to yourself “THIS is why I work from home”? I hope that at least occasionally you have a day like that, a day where you are filled with a sense of all of the wonderful things that can happen when you work from home. Lucky me, I had one of them today. I am taking the time to write about it so that when I am having one of those other days; you know the ones that leave you feeling negatively about the whole working from home thing, I … Continue reading →

In my last post, I described some of the ways in which people undermine their own success. If you own your own business, there is likely no one around (except perhaps a friend or a well-meaning spouse who may not want to bring up the subject) to suggest to you that you may be doing some of these things. As the owner of your own business, you are responsible for checking yourself to see whether underachieving is preventing you from reaching your full potential. George Eliot said, “It is never too late to be what you might have been”. That … Continue reading →

Has anyone ever told you that you are not working up to your potential? Perhaps you have said it to yourself. Some of us have heard it from other people – bosses, spouses, or our parents, and some of us say it to ourselves. It does not really matter where you get the idea that you are underachieving from, as long as you have that thought in your mind, it affects you. Kenneth Christian, the author of “Your Own Worst Enemy”, estimates that one in four adults is an underachiever. Underachieving is, simply put, falling short of one’s potential and … Continue reading →

Ask, and you shall receive. I was definitely in need of a bit of inspiration today, and I found it online when I discovered a fabulous resource for home based business owners. Today was my first visit to Entrepreneur’s web site, and I must say, I am impressed. From their Mompreneur Center that has inspiring stories and excellent advice pieces to their Home Office Savings Center that offers money saving tips and strategies, this web site is packed with quality information for those of us who are living the entrepreneurial life, and those who are curious about starting their own … Continue reading →

Yesterday I had a conversation with my husband that was a bit disheartening. We were in the car, on our way home from vacation. It was a long ride, and it did not take long for the baby to fall asleep. We were free to enjoy some adult conversation, which is a very good thing since we do not often have that opportunity. We talked about a lot of things and at some point, the conversation turned to the topic of work. As you know, I am a stay at home mom and I have a couple of home-based businesses. … Continue reading →

I know it may come as a shock to you—but I am not always motivated to work. There are so many days when I wish that I had the kind of job where I just showed up, brought my library book, and it didn’t matter if I produced anything, used my brain or talked to a single person—I could just get paid for showing up. The reality is, for most of us with home businesses, there are plenty of days when we HAVE to try to work, whether we feel like it or not. We cannot always be motivated and … Continue reading →

You are working from home and, hopefully, you are happy about it. If you have been doing this for a while, you have likely adjusted to a different pace and are learning how to keep yourself motivated as you work away at your home business. What can happen to many of us home business owners, however, is that we get isolated. We don’t want to forfeit our productivity so we work away hour after hour without taking a break. I am here to tell you that you will actually be MORE productive if you get out and go to lunch, … Continue reading →