Tips for working from home

Marketing expert Marc Gordon offers these tips for success:

• Have a designated work area.  Forget the kitchen table - have a room with a door to call your own.  Train your family to know you are unavailable when the door is closed.
• Keep set hours.  It can be easy to take a few hours off in the afternoon, then work till midnight.  The problem is that this can lead to you working too many hours or not enough, resulting in either exhaustion of a lack of business growth.  Try to keep your hours in line with the rest of your industry.
• Have a "second office".  A change of scenery can make you more productive.  So grab the laptop and head off to a coffee shop or local library for some creative thinking.
• Go to networking events.  It's easy to become solitary working from home, making you unmotivated and uninspired.  Meeting new people will not only keep you sharp, it may even bring in new business.
• Schedule your time.  Set aside blocks of time throughout the day and week for work, chores, meals, errand and "me time".

More tips from Gordon are on his website: www.marcgordon.ca and his online show: marctv.net.