Melissa Rich-Landis Author – Your Virtual Home Office Can Be a Reality!

A home office and working solo certainly provides a great deal of peace, free of typical office drama; however, that same sense of peace can also lead to a sense of monotony, repetition, and boredom.  There are days where the excitement of pursuing a new opportunity brings about the “thrill of the chase” invigoration; by more often than not, my home office operation is not full of excitement, but rather “ho-hum”.

Some days, I need a change of pace; so I seek out new tasks that will bring about a feeling of invigoration.  On those ho-hum days, I spend time looking towards the future and developing strategic plans to move towards that new goal.  That planning process allows me to get enthused, renewed, rejuvenated, and excited about the future.

Maybe you should spend some time reviewing your long range home office plans and get excited about the future!

I hear all the time from people wanting to find a job working from home. My daughter is now seeking a work from home position. It sounds great but how would you get started? I started my work from home journey back in the day when work from home was in its infancy and it was really hard to locate the companies that were real but at least there were not as many scammers.

Most of the companies then wanted you to purchase their book of companies that offered work from home or charged money for special software. The best advice I can say to those seeking a work from home position is: Take a look at your skill set and move forward with your experience. If you are experienced in the Insurance industry, seek businesses that offer virtual positions. Finding a job in today’s economy is not easy especially if you really don’t want to work.

I believe the jobs are out there for those that want to work.

Beware of the scammers! If you think something is to good to be true..it usually is.

Check out this site that lists the companies that are legit:

http://www.jodisjourney.net/2008/09/legitimate-work-home-companies.html

If you need help deciding how to start your work at home adventure-check out Melissa’s book-“ Your Virtual Home Office Can Be a Reality!”

How can you reach out to new customers when you are not out in the workplace? Take time to build a website and let others know what type of business you are offering by word of mouth. Take the time to become a local member of your community with organizations such as Chamber of Commerce or sponsor a little league team. Working from your Virtual home office will provide unique challenges such as advertising but once you have all your ducks in a row, the opportunities are endless.

Recently the afternoon temperatures have been as high as 102 degrees and the hot weather shows no signs of letting up.   Summertime can be a time for extra leisure and spending time with the kids.   Summertime can be quite enjoyable, but yet you still have a job to do and must dig deep to find that extra motivation to keep on track.

Setting a strong work schedule will ensure that you can enjoy summer activities, while accomplishing the necessary tasks.   Posting that schedule for your spouse and children will allow them to respect your work time, while showing them that you still have together time for family.

Planning your work from home job is almost more important that a brick and mortar job. Usually if you go to a building to work, the schedule is provided for you. If you work from your virtual home office, you are required to fill your weekly work schedule. Plan weekly for work and projects in place and then make plans for future work.

Careful planning will make or break you in the virtual world. With the Virtual worker, work can be feast or famine. If you need help planning. check out Melissa’s book- “Your Virtual Home Office can be a Reality”

Not everyone can work from home in a virtual situation successfully. What personality type is successful working from home? Answer:  People that have great time management skills and those that are organized and productive during working hours. Working from home is a great opportunity but not everyone can work without supervision or the flexibility that comes with working from home. If you need help with time management, read Melissa’s book-“ Your Virtual Home Office can be a Reality

In order to plan, you need to have the right tools at your fingertips including calendars (paper daytime planners or calendar applications) and an appropriate place to make solid to-do lists.   Start with an evaluation on what tools will help you and then using those tools to plan ahead.

If you are an independent contractor or employee working from your home office, it is generally your responsibility to keep up with equipment. Make sure you are updating virus protection as well as computer and software updates. Many things of those maintenance activities cost money but some of them are just a matter of completing the updates.

Some virus protections are free as well as Adobe reader products. I have found certain software will not function properly without all of the components which might mean windows updates or Microsoft office products. Keep a planner or notebook that gives dates of current updates to keep you on top of equipment and software. This will keep you up and running in your virtual home office.

For me, the view from the home office is so essential.  I recently moved my office from a small room without much of a view to a larger office with a great window and a great view.    For more tips on the ideal home office locations, please review chapter ten of the book.

I love my career working virtually from my  home office. It gives me the flexibility to contribute an income to our household, as well as enjoying life along the way. In my position as a Program Consultant, we have hired many people that share the same attitude towards working from home except for one small thing..they really don’t want to work. People that think they want to want to work from home will find many reasons to keep them from doing their job:

The cable man is coming; I need to take off the day.

The kids have a dentist appointment; I can’t work today.

I am just not feeling well.

How about if I get started on that tomorrow?  Or next week?

Working from home is very flexible and that same flexibility is one of the greatest reasons to work from home; but working from home is still work. If I don’t complete my scheduled working hours, I will not have a job or future work.  If you need help with time management, check out Melissa’s book:“Your Virtual Home Office can be a Reality”