Avoiding the "Trapped" Feeling of Working from Home

When you first started your work from home opportunity, it sounded like the greatest thing in the world. For the first few weeks, or even months, it was just that. Then, you started getting the feeling of always being trapped inside the home. You also started to see productivity drop and customers started to go elsewhere. What can you do to stop this spiral?

This is not as uncommon as you might think. Not everyone is cut out to work from home. Even those that are end up going through an adjustment period until they find the perfect mix. We have scoured the Internet looking for the most common problems people face and have found a few tricks to help make sure you stay focused and never feel "trapped" in your home office.

Get Outside

This may sound like crazy advice if you are working from home, but it really will help you become more productive. I have always recommended taking breaks throughout the day to at the very least stretch your legs every now and again. You should do this every couple of hours for about 15 minutes or so if you are working straight through your day. Chat with a neighbor, take the dog for a walk, just get out there and clear your head for a few minutes

When the weather is nice, why not move the office outside and enjoy the weather. Fire up the laptop and sit out on the deck for the day. After all, how many times did you want to do just that when you were stuck in a regular office job? Well, now you are the boss and you can decide where your office is located for the day!

Networking

This is something you must continue to do. Just as you would attend networking events when you worked for that big corporation, you should do the same when working from home. There is surely someone in the local Chamber of Commerce that can use your services or knows someone that can. Press the flesh and hand out business cards to everyone you meet.

Most of your communications is probably through email, so change it up once a week and call some of your clients. If for no other reason than to say hello, it will set you apart from your competition. With texting messaging taking over communications, the art of phone conversing is dying. Your clients will appreciate this personal touch.

Finally, stay active on social media. Let's face it, this is the way a huge percentage of people are communicating this way, which means it is how you need to communicate. Set some time aside each day to monitor your accounts and interact with your followers. Instead of merely posting, comment on their posts to let them know you are interested in them too. If they have forgotten about you, it may be just enough to create new interest and give them a reason to visit your website again.

*Photo Courtesy of Richard Bowen via Creative Commons License