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 Working
From Home?
By Laura Koss-Feder
http://www.clubmom.com
When Trish Cetrone,
the president of a home-based public-relations-and-marketing
firm in Orinda, California, first started her business, she
avoided out-of-the-office meetings like the plague. "I was
really focused on billable hours. I didn't want to waste work
time fighting the crazy Bay-area traffic," she recalls. But
after a few clients insisted on some face-to-face sessions,
she realized that "efficiency isn't everything," and she began
to welcome the break. "When you work from home, you have to
force yourself to get out regularly," says Cetrone, who now
makes sure to plan meetings with colleagues and clients at
least once a month.
According to the
National Association for the Self-Employed, an organization
based in Washington, D.C., the nation has 17 million home-based
entrepreneurs like Cetrone, many of whom are constantly faced
with the isolation that comes from being a one-person operation.
The same goes for full-time telecommuters, especially long-distance
ones. While most home-based workers relish their situations,
spending the majority of your workday solo is inevitably draining;
virtual contact via email or phone can only go so far. The
adjustment is often especially difficult if you've just made
the transition from the busy, bustling corporate world to
the quiet of your home.
Finding creative
ways to beat this loneliness is important if you're going
to succeed long-term. "You have to create the right kind of
environment and schedule from the beginning," says Rudy Lewis,
the president of the National Association of Home Based Businesses.
"If you're alone too much, feelings of isolation can worsen
as you grow your business."
The only way to
beat isolation is to get out and make human contact. But if
you're trying to build a business-or please a faraway boss-it
may be a struggle for you to walk away from your desk, even
for an hour. "It's okay to give yourself permission to be
out of your office," assures Ellen Parlapiano, the coauthor
of Mompreneurs: A Mother's Practical Step-by-Step Guide to
Work-at-Home Success (Perigee). You may also find it difficult
to escape if one of your goals in working at home is to spend
more time with your children. "Even though you may be paying
for child care, you should still take a break and see others
during the day-just as you would if you were working in a
big company and went out to lunch with a coworker," says Cetrone,
who has two daughters, a six-month-old and a three-year-old.
Time-out Strategies
Replace your chained-to-the-desk
habits with these new ones:
- Get involved
with local chapters of professional associations in your
industry and/or your chamber of commerce.
This has the added bonus of allowing you to network. "Going
to business-related events is constructive for your career
and can keep you from burning out," says Deborah Arron,
a Seattle career consultant. Most organizations have monthly
meetings and various committees and boards that you can
join. To give yourself extra incentive to participate, offer
to chair a committee or organize a special event.
- Pay in advance
to attend events.
That way, you'll feel almost forced to go, advises Arron.
Knowing up front that you have a function to attend will
allow you to better budget your time while you work.
- Start your
own group.
Joining professional organizations is a good way to meet
other mothers in your field. Use this as a stepping stone
to form a small circle of such moms who meet on a regular
basis, recommends Parlapiano. She founded a group of her
own eight years ago.
- Consider
combining time away from the office with an outing with
your child.
New York City career consultant Eva Wisnik has taken her
six-year-old son, David, with her to clients' offices to
drop off holiday gifts. These brief meetings-five to ten
minutes each-allowed her clients to get to know her on a
more personal basis, plus they gave her son a taste of the
business world. But, she cautions, "I wouldn't do this with
an infant. Take a child who is old enough to understand
the concept of a 'client,' and keep meetings brief."
Laura
Koss-Feder is a business writer based in Oceanside, New York.
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1999-2006 ClubMom, Inc. All rights reserved.
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