A Question for People Who Work Full Time at Home....

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   divacratusposted 14 years ago

   If you're working full time at home, do you feel that you are wasting your time even when you relax? My wish is to earn a decent enough online income and I read a lot, experiment a lot, learn from my mistakes and stuff like that. But when I decide to relax, I get this irritating feeling that I'm wasting my time and should start working again!
   
   Does this ever happen to you? Are you able to relax in peace?

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      okmom23posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I get some of my best ideas when I am relaxing! There are certain times blocked off in my daily planner for rest. Actually the relaxation seems to give me more strength while I am working.

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It happened only when I was a restaurant manager for a chain. As soon as I was out of that venue, I could relax (when the good ideas happen, as says our okmom23).

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         adrienne2posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         @Divacratus, I wouldn't say it feels like wasting time.  Since we are working at home, we have to be able to separate the work from the relaxation.  I will admit I do have the darnest time turning my work mode off.  When I am relaxing my mind is still going, but eventually I will ease into a good movie, or do something I enjoy to take my mind off work.

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      Article Magickposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's a sure sign that you are a true entrepreneur..;-)  The key to success is drive, determination and a lot of hard work .. and a little bit of good fortune along the way!

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      Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Sometimes. Nowadays much less than before.
      
      I usually work in spurts - I can spend weeks and months doing nothing or almost nothing, only absolutely critical tasks. The rest of the time is spent elsewhere, both online and offline. Then the spurt comes, and for weeks or even months I work 16-18 hours a day 7 days a week. Rinse and repeat

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      sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely!
      
      Forcing myself to enjoy myself at home and actually relax was an acquired skill once I was working at home full time.
      
      Like Misha, I now tend to work in spurts - Ive been "relaxing" for nearly 3 weeks now ..and no poorer for it!
      
      its hardest to "relax" when your income is below your expectations - but on the reverse, when your income exceeds your expectations it can be hard to get motivated to work.

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         simeonvisserposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I can imagine that to be the case

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      Suzanne Levacposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I do work full time at home and get very stressed about working enough hours at my business even if I work at least 50 hours a week at it. But when I decide I take an hour to relax, I totally enjoy it and put my business aside for that time. I need that balance and that is what allows me to work hard when it is time to work.

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      Mavis Nongposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I know the feeling... The key is to find a balance between work and fun. I left my 9-5 J.O.B. to work from home and have time and freedom. Now, I don't want to be slaving away around the clock! I deserve to take a break, relax and have fun with my family. I must admit, it's not always easy, but it's got to be done!

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      Sunnyglitterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Oh wow, I have the same problem!  And I really need to get it under control.

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   Mizzreneeposted 14 years ago

   I would have to say it is hard to just relax and at times I have to make myself stop working. It took me a while but I can comfortably say that I can relax in peace now, I give myself certain days of the week that I make them just me time!

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   kathryn1000posted 14 years ago

   There's a book by Herbert Benson called The Breakout Principle which is about how things/ideas just come to your mind when you are relaxing.After the initial work is done of course,

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   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I work from home and can tell you, you have to take some time to relax. Not all of my business is online but the parts that are require a lot of attention(except for Hubpages)
   
   The key is to get organized. I have many web properties but I just cannot work them all every day, not enough hours, so I have commit an allotted amount of time to each of them.  Even then, my offline business takes priority so I have to rearrange my scheduling. 
   
   If I don't find the time to relax then I have to ask why am I doing this?
   
   Stay organized and schedule your relax time and stick to it.

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   Bill Manningposted 14 years ago

   Yes. When I go away for a half day or so I'm always wondering how many emails I might be getting, if I got an order, if something is screwed up on a site.
   
   However when I'm at the desk working I find it hard to do much work for long. I'm always checking a site out, reading forums and taking breaks.
   
   I try to always go for a walk half way through the day or get out and do something. You need to take breaks. I just take too many.

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   mtalbot2987posted 14 years ago

   I find it quite difficult to relax because before my job I used to relax by going on the internet, playing xbox and general stuff that involved looking at a screen. But because of the nature of my work (internet moderating) I'm having to find other things to do that is away from screens. I think relaxing is really important to productivity and it improves the time when you do work. When I switch off after work it keeps me switched on for the next shift, otherwise I just burn out.

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   Karandaposted 14 years ago

   Luckily for me, my working life is winding down so everything I do now feels as if it is for my benefit, it's my choice. But I did work full time from home for many years. It is all about finding the right balance between work and home and knowing when to shut the metaphorical door.
   
   There are times when you need to close your mind to what you think you need to be doing for work and concentrate on family and taking care of oneself. Burn out is never far away, otherwise.

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