Tag Archives: working from home

Ways to Turn Off the “Time Wasters”

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Today, there are many people who work from home. There are freelancers whose entire career consists of working from home. The best way to ensure productivity while you are working from home is to turn off the “time wasters”. Before you can do that, you must identify the things that are slowing you down. Social Media Social media can be tricky for freelancers. Writers and bloggers are often working on assignments that require them to write about the “hot topic” of the day. Social media, especially Twitter, has become the go-to for the latest news. The goal is to find … Continue reading →

Challenges in Working from Home with Teenagers

Many people who operate home businesses are parents. In fact, this is oftentimes the main reason a person decides to work from home, so they can be available to their children. I didn’t get my start in working from home until my children were older, so I have never had to deal with running a home business with small children. I completely understand that the dynamics to that type of setup will be very different. Many a blog has been written on the challenges of working from home with small children. So it might be assumed that if your children … Continue reading →

Benefits of a Self-Evaluation

One of the things I always dreaded doing when I was in the workforce outside of my home was a self-evaluation. Many employers now require that not only do they give an appraisal of your work but you give one of yourself. My last job outside of the home was as a preschool teacher. I remember being handed a four-page self-evaluation form to fill out and inside, groaning. You find yourself in a real struggle. If you give yourself a higher rating it may sound like you are being prideful. If you give yourself a lower rating it may sound … Continue reading →

Easy Ways for Single Parents to Make Extra Money

One of my biggest challenges being a single mom is dealing with finances, especially around birthdays and holidays. However, I have discovered some easy ways to make a little extra money when times are tight (well, tighter than normal, anyways). eBay and Craigslist Ebay and Craiglist are excellent places to sell your old, unwanted things online. I usually put smaller items on eBay and larger items on Craigslist. I can typically earn an extra $50-$100 selling mostly old clothes and toys on eBay. Craigslist has always been hit-or-miss for me. I once listed a treadmill for $75, and it was … Continue reading →

Balancing Act

Recently I watched Graeme Base, author and illustrator, being interviewed on the ABC show Talking Heads. It was interesting to hear him talk about the struggle for the creative artist to balance work, even when they work at home,with family and time with their spouse. It really hit home to him one time when his son tackled him about not being there for him and he said, ‘But I’m always at home.’ ‘No Dad, you’re always working,’ his son replied. That is a trap for those of us who work at home, finding the right balance between time spent working … Continue reading →

Working Anywhere and Everywhere (Getting Up to Speed on Mobility)

I am a recent convert to the world of the laptop computer. I know that there are those of you who are shaking your heads and wondering how I could even call myself a writer for all these years when I have been tied down to the cumbersome desk computers. The truth is, I genuinely liked having an organized workspace and being able to compartmentalize my work life with other aspects of my world. Strangely enough, while I entertained the idea of getting a laptop in the future, and I fantasized about what it might be like to be a … Continue reading →

Jobs in America

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I hope y’all will indulge me today. I have been thinking a lot lately about America and the way our economy is set up (capitalism, of course) and I wanted to share those thoughts with my readers. In case you missed it, my husband is losing his job at the end of month, and apparently I just love to worry about whether or not he’s going to find a new one. 😉 So last night, as I watched the fireworks exploding overhead in amazing brilliance, my mind started to wander, and I started to think about how in America, you … Continue reading →

Reason #197 to Work from Home

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We recently got word that my husband’s long-time employer, a sign company, was closing their doors come August 1st – the owner was retiring and wasn’t selling the business but instead just shutting it down. As we debated what to do, we finally decided that moving was our only option. We live in a small town, and there isn’t exactly a plethora of graphic artist jobs in the offing. We will be moving to a larger town about two hours away, where there is a plethora of sign companies who hopefully will want to hire my husband. Hopefully. 😉 But … Continue reading →

The Downsides to Having a Personal Blog

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We just finished covering the great part about blogging for yourself, but there are also some really big downsides, such as: *There is no guaranteed income from it. In the first month of my personal blog, I made $0.02 from the ad income. When I told people I was “putting my two cents in” apparently I meant that literally. 😛 And since that ad revenue was coming from Google AdSense ads, and you have to reach a payout of $100 before you can receive a check for the money, that meant that at a rate of $0.02 per month, I … Continue reading →

Control Over Your Blog and Income – Another Plus for Personal Blogs

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As I just said in my last blog, there are a lot of pluses to having your own blog, such being able to write as often as you want, the blogs can be as long as you want, and you can write on any topic you want to. These next pluses can be even bigger though; check ’em out: *You have complete control over how your blog looks, what the set-up for it is – all of that fun stuff. Speaking from experience here (I have changed the theme on my personal blog no less than 27 times) this can … Continue reading →