Hard to convince people that you are working!

trick-r-treat · Hard to convince people that you are working!

Most people think that because you are home, they can just call or drop by, or have you run errands for them. You have to let them know that you are "working" from home, and you can't "work" if you are doing any of these things. People really don't get it sometimes!

mamab

I agree. It's really difficult to maintain a sense of professionalism if people think they can just drop in unannounced. They wouldn't go to a factory or office building and think they'd actually get to see you there. Why should it be any different if you work from home?

WiccanSpirit

Hi all, nice to meet you! Yes, i know exactly what you mean. I find the best way, and this had my friends laughing at first but then they finally started to respect it, is i would put a little sign on my front door with my "office" hours. LOL It worked like a charm. Yea, i guess i'm kinda nuts but you go with what you've got right? lol

Take care! Smile

tater03

That's funny because I have resorted to putting a sign on my front door. I just started a job where I need to be on the phone and the worst is when someone selling something comes knocking on your door. I am fairly new to all this and the last thing I want to do is get into trouble because someone wants to scrub my carpets for free.

admin

These are all very true.
What about with your children. I found when I started working at home, it was hard to get it across to my kids, that just because I was at home, did not mean that I was available to them at all times. I had to set hours for them, also, and they to pretend that I was not home until after 5pm.

Best work at home resource
www.workingfromhomeresource.com

dlow

I WISH my friends would drop in sometimes, but they all seem to work outside the home LOL. Not really, I guess because the interruptions would not be good...but sometimes...

My problem is my kids get home from school at around 2:30 and that seems to be when I need my day to end, but I pretty much have just gotten done with the errands and have returned home to work. Not that I am not giving my kids the attention they need (they are teenagers) but they interrupt me for trivial things and THEY don't respect that I am working.

Also, how do you convince three dogs that you are sick of being interrupted with their barking to go outside...etc LOL

WiccanSpirit

Hi again everyone! lol I know exactly what you mean dlow! You are lucky that you only have teenagers to contend with. I don't know how some mom's do it with the young ones! I have a 5, 7, and 10 year old and i have the same problem with them. As for the dogs, lol tie them outside or buy a cage for them. lol
Good luck! Razz

wawamama

It takes people (family) a while to understand that just because we work from a home office doesn't mean we are available to chat, do laundry and housework, run errands in the middle of the day, etc. I've been working from home for almost 10 years and there are still days I have to remind people.

tater03

I have a seven year old that is in school and a five year old that goes to preschool three days a week for about 3 hours. What I have done is work my phone work while they are at school and my Mom will pick my youngest up a couple of the days from preschool for me and keep him for a few more hours. So basically I am here when my oldest gets home from school. I am looking into getting some really good earphones. I have heard that the Boom set works great. That you can have your kids in the same room with you and they cannot hear the backround noise. But they are rather exspensive.