The big thing about being a freelancer is that it is very hard to separate yourself from the computer once there is work to be done. In my early days of working from home, I only had a few hours of sleep everyday. Most of the time, I was in front of my computer trying to finish the project as early as possible so I could take on another one. Even when I was working as a virtual assistant with a schedule of 8 to 4 on weekdays, I was always tempted to find another project during the evening or on weekends. Most of the time, I could not find the time to relax and spend it away from the computer.

One of the most important things to master when you are working from home is to strike a balance between career and home life. This is very important if you wish to have a happy existence. The following are the things you can do to achieve it:

How To Separate Work From Leisure

• Designate a separate space from your home solely for working. This would allow you to get into the right frame of mind when you sit down to work and during the time when you leave the workplace after you have consumed the number of hours allotted for working.
• You have to make a plan. Set a time when you are going to start to work and when it is time to stop.
• Always have a set of goals to achieve during the day and leave the workplace once these are done.
• Limit the working time to a number of hours and take a break during lunch or by taking a walk outside of the house.
• Give your leisure time more attention. You have to plan it and stick with it. Do not sacrifice it for more work.
• Make a list at the end of each working day of all the stuffs that you want to get done the following day.

Most work from home folks tend to get lost tracking the time when they are busy working. This will lengthens the day and makes it hard for them to take the needed break away from the computer. Eventually, they can ask this question, “Is this what I want to be living my life for the long term?”. If not, then you have to make the decision of setting strict boundary between work and leisure and stick to it no matter how tempting it is to keep working. Discipline is the key to success and balance. You can have both if you commit to both. There will always be more work to do, so the only solution is to learn to self-regulate.

You can visit my blog, The Freelancer Notebook, if you’re looking for work at home opportunities online. Or, you might just want to browse through the blog and look for some tidbits and info.

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