Arguably one of the best parts about working online is being able to do it in your pajamas, from home.

Yes it may not be the most conventional work environment but millions of people around the globe are making the shift from the office to the casa and loving almost every second.

As much as working in your trackies, sans makeup and boss free  can be the score of a lifetime, there are some bad habits that can lead you to lose your sanity VERY fast if you don’t firmly establish boundaries between your work and home life.

I’ve been working from home for about 3.5 years now and its been a steep learning curve, from both a professional and personal standpoint. I was not only dealing with working from home myself, but having my partner at home with me 24-7 too – an interesting challenge for any relationship, particularly a new one as ours was back then.

So how can you make working from home a success without going completely bonkers? I’ve put together a few points below that I hope will help you…

1) Make clear boundaries between “work” time and “home” time.

This seems like common sense but you’d be surprised how quickly the line can blur when your work is at your fingertips from the comfort of your sofa – at all hours of the day and night.

One major factor many work-from-home’ers find is that as technology becomes more and more a part of our recreational time, its easy to find yourself psuedo working even after you’ve “finished for the day.” It starts off with you just checking your Facebook or chatting online and then suddenly you’re scanning your email inbox, checking your sales reports and before you know it, you’re in fully-fledged work mode.

One great way to keep your boundary between work and home time is to set yourself a computer curfew – and try to stick to it for the majority of the time. When we’re not in full launch mode, Andrew and I try to switch off our computers by 7-8pm and enjoying other non-computer activities for the rest of the night. You’d be surprised how much this increases your productivity when you know you have to get xyz finished by 7pm or it’ll get tagged on to tomorrow’s task list. It also helps you recoup and relax so you’re better prepared for a killer work session the following day.

2) Define a “work space” within your home that isn’t used for any other purpose

Wherever possible, try and define a work space within your home that isn’t used for any other purpose. Having a specific “work” area allows you to get in the zone each time you settle in for a work session. You know you’re there to work and that anything else that’s going on in the house right now is insignificant compared to what you are doing in this moment.

You should especially try and avoid having your desk set up in the bedroom as that can seriously impinge on your ability to completely switch off. Working in the same place where you need to sleep and recouperate can leave you feeling drained and agitated.

3) Take small breaks outside your home frequently

When you work AND relax from home, you can become a hermit very fast without even realising it. One way to ensure that you keep the inspiration juices flowing, avoid getting burned out and get the most out of your work (and free) time is to take frequent breaks outside the home.

Andrew and I like to do coffee dates regularly during the week. Its an activity that doesn’t take much time but allows us to get out of the house, take a short walk in the fresh air, have some face-to-face conversation time and take a break from the computer screen.

You’d be surprised how refreshed you feel after just a short time away from the work zone, and how ready you are to conquer the remaining tasks on your list are a small interval.

4) Keep it tidy

Keeping your workspace, and house in general tidy can do wonders for your productivity and general sanity. The old adage of a cluttered desk equals a cluttered mind couldn’t ring more true than for people who live and work in the same area.

Having a clean and tidy space within which to work will allow you to focus all your concentration and energy on what work you’re doing, as opposed to whats going on around you. Taking half an hour every Sunday night (or Monday morning) to tidy your space and get ready for the week ahead will pay off big time!

Working from home is one of the greatest freedoms us “geeks” get to enjoy, so make sure you do it right!

Technorati Tags: how to work from home, online business, Working From Home

After basically inhaling the book “Rework” by the guys at 37Signals I simply had to share my favorite revelations with you all.

Yesterday I posted Part I, read that here now or continue on to get stuck into Part II!

Lesson #5 – Channel Gordon Ramsay

One of my major takeaways from the “Rework” book was the importance of doing less.

From beginning to end, the guys convey the message that it is important to…

- Keep it simple
- Focus on only the most essential aspects of your product/service
- Trim the excess – immediately!

Jason and David talk about how our natural instinct when something isn’t working is often to throw more at the problem. More time, more people and of course more money.

Unfortunately, all that does is makes the problem even bigger – and far more costly because of the increased resources that are now invested.

The boys talk about Gordon Ramsay and how one of the common issues he finds in failing restaurants is that they’re simply trying to incorporate too many dishes into their menu. By attempting to cater to everyone, they’ve produced a mish-mash of mediocre meals that leave customers unfulfilled and their business flailing.

“Ramsay’s first step is nearly always to trim the menu, usually from thirty-plus dishes to around ten. Improving the current menu doesn’t come first. Trimming it down comes first. Then he polishes what’s left.”

You need to learn to shed the layers that aren’t important. The stuff that isn’t adding anything of real value to your product/service but is costing you and your team time, stress and money.

Lesson #6 – Go Evergreen

Too many companies focus all their time and energy on finding the latest “hot” thing and then wonder why their business fizzles out within a year or so and they’re back to square one.

If you build your business around a fad, it will have the lifetime of one.

The trick is to build your business around things that don’t change. You and your team need to provide a product/service that fulfils the evergreen needs of your target market.

Things like quality, usability and great customer service never go out of style.

Like Jason and David say in the book (regarding chasing fads), ‘That’s a fools path. You start focusing on fashion instead of substance. You start paying attention to things that are constantly changing instead of things that last.’

Build your business around things that don’t change. Things that people will always want and need. Go evergreen!

Lesson #7 – Just Do It Already

In the book, Jason and David challenge their readers to just get out there and do it already.

Too many people delay launching their product/service because of minute, unimportant details that tie up your resources and prevent you from getting out where the action is.

Holding off on your product/service launch because of finicky details doesn’t help your efforts. Of course you shouldn’t skimp on quality, but don’t find yourself getting so hung up on the small stuff that you miss the boat altogether.

From the book, ‘Don’t hold everything else up because of a few leftovers. You can do them later. And doing them later may mean doing them better.’

Seize your inspiration and drive, get the product done and get the product out. No decision is final. Edit and tweak as you go along, at least you’ll be doing it.

And that my friends was just a few of my favorite lessons from the Rework book.

I seriously recommend grabbing yourself a copy asap.

I’m sure it will help you get some clarity and perspective in your business and perhaps even be the kick up the butt you need to get you out there and taking names – sooner rather than later.

Thanks again to the guys from www.37Signals.com for creating such a fantastic manual for business owners!

Technorati Tags: 37 signals, jason fried, practical business advice, rework book

Thanks to a recommendation from my Twitter pal Todd Herman I picked up “ReWork” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson on the Kindle last week.

Devoured in 24 hours, “ReWork” is one of the books I’ve come across for a number of reasons, namely:

1) The no-BS writing style, Jason and David get down and dirty from the very first chapter.

2) Lack of unnecessary “filler” content that seems to be horribly synonymous with business books of late.

3) Simple but profound messages that you can inhale, digest and implement immediately.

At final count I’d taken 23 Kindle pages of notes, safe to say I got a LOT out of this book, too much for just one post.
So today, and tomorrow you’ll get to see just a handful of my favorite takeaways from the book “ReWork”.

Lesson #1 – Ignore the “Real World” Mentality

You need to learn to ignore – and remove yourself from – the people who throw the “that would never work in the real world” line your way.

As Jason and David said in the book, “this real world sounds like an awfully depressing place to live. It’s a place where new ideas, unfamiliar approaches and foreign concepts always lose.”

The online industry at large defies the “real world” test in almost every way. Making money on the couch in your pajamas defies the “real world” test for almost everybody.

And yet these things do happen, in fact, these things are part of our everyday reality as online business owners.

We don’t live in a “real world” so our ideas don’t need to be constrained to fit in one. Shrug off those pessimistic real-worlders and let your ideas soar into new dimensions.

Lesson #2 – Learning From Success is Far More Fun Than The Alternative

You often hear the titans of industry describe the need to fail often, fail well and learn from your failures – note that fail was used 3 times in that sentence.

Too many people focus on learning from mistakes, finding lessons in failures when they could be finding successes from which to build upon.

Failure doesn’t need to be a precursor to success. And while I admit that it will most likely be part of your journey (in some capacity) it doesn’t need to be your focus and/or your point of reference.

Jason and David shun the “failure is guaranteed” approach in the book, and instead adopt a “lets learn from the good s***” attitude (my words, not theirs).

Which leads to one of my favorite lines, “Success gives you real ammunition. When something succeeds, you know what worked – and you can do it again. And the next time, you’ll probably do it even better.”

Lesson #3 – Long Term Planning Is Messed Up

I’m a major planner, in fact that is probably even an understatement. I plan everything from the grocery list to what flights we’ll be taking in November.

However, I am the first to admit that planning way into the future is more often than not, impractical and unrealistic. Most long term plans are hard to correlate with reality. These plans don’t stand the test of time and can often prevent you from jumping on new opportunities when they arise.

The problem with planning long into the future in business is that, as business owners, you receive the bulk of your information while doing it – not before. Considering that logic, doesn’t it seem absurd that we plan months and months into the future before we’ve even executed the first step.

One line from the book that struck a chord with me was this, “Working without a plan may seem scary, but blindly following a plan that has no connection to reality is even scarier.”

Don’t bury yourself in plans, in the “guesstimates” of what you think might happen and how you think it’ll work.

Run with your idea, put the steps in action, jump on new possibilities and most importantly make decisions based on what works for you now!

Lesson #4 – Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Too many people focus on being the biggest and the best. Ego infiltrates every element of their business and heavily influences the direction they take and the choices they make.

You need not be insecure about being a small business. This is one case where size really doesn’t matter.

In fact, many big businesses envy the flexibility that small businesses enjoy, the ability to change direction and shape as they please.

As the boys say in Rework, “Anyone who runs a business that’s sustainable and profitable, whether it’s big or small, should be proud.”

If you are happy, profitable and experiencing sustainable growth, then why not enjoy your agile smaller business.

Remember to check back here tomorrow (Friday) for Part II.

Technorati Tags: 37 signals, jason fried, practical business advice, rework book

If you missed my previous post on revamping your relationship, you need to Read it Here before you go any further.

I’m blogging this week about the importance of constantly nurturing your relationship and never settling for “fine” because that is a term suited only to forecasts.

Too many people let everyday life drain the love and intimacy from their relationship. People stumble blindly through day after day until they wake up one morning to a stranger with whom they’ve lost all connection.

Relationships take work, but its one of the most rewarding tasks you could ever take on.

It might sound obvious but remembering to engage with your partner is one of first steps that many people forget in the busy cycle of day to day life. I’m not saying you have to sit for hours on end in a candle-lit room reminiscing upon days of yesteryear – no, I mean quite literally t-a-l-k-i-n-g.

“Engaged” Should Not Be A Short-Term Relationship Status

Between everything else you’ve got going in your busy life you’d be surprised how many days can pass without you having a  real conversation with the person you love.

Failing to engage with your partner on even the most casual of levels (e.g. how was your day or how are things at work?) can lead to a lack of connection, understanding and intimacy because it becomes increasingly hard to acknowledge, relate or empathize with their thoughts and feelings when you don’t have the faintest idea of what has been happening in their world.

Getting Engaged Daily

Consciously – this means NOT while watching TV, tweeting, doing the dishes or emailing – engage in conversation with your partner every day for the next week.

It doesn’t have to be a long conversation but you both need to stop what you’re doing and actively participate for at least 15 minutes each time. You need to make sure to ask questions and listen intently during their turn, try not to interrupt so they can share everything that is on their mind – and your partner should then reciprocate.

There’s always something going on in your partners life that they’d love to share. Whether it is a bad day at work, an exciting new project, a problem they’re having with a friend or a quirky idea they had today on their commute.

Every day you practice communication – even on the most basic level – you are building skills and rapport that will improve your relationship. It’s these little moments of connection that can get you through the big storms when they inevitably arise.

You’ll be surprised how much closer and in touch with your partner you feel when you engage consciously each day. Your 15 minutes of focus will bring about years of loving connectedness.

Share Your Thoughts Below: How do you and your partner stay connected? How do you engage daily?

So there’s all this buzz about Twitter…

Anyone who’s anyone seems to have one of those damned Twitter account these days.

And while millions of people around the world are tweeting, twitting or twotting – many people still consider the Twitter groupies a bunch of twits.

5 reasons why you should stay strong with your twit-mentality and avoid the Twitter bandwagon like the plague.

1) You Don’t Have Time

Your schedule is jam-packed every single day. You’re struggling to just break even with your task list. You barely have time to take a toilet break, let alone build relationships that could open you up into a whole new world of business connections and potential revenue.

2) You Have Enough Money

You’ve got exactly the right amount of money. You don’t want a single dime more. You want your income to stay exactly where it is, no ifs or buts. Any extra revenue to be made from forging  new business partnerships or projects on Twitter would just make you angry.

3) You’ve Got All The Friends You Need

You have got enough friends. They all have their place in your life and you don’t want to interrupt the pattern and add a single other friend to the mix. You don’t want to meet anyone from another country, share a conversation with a multi-millionaire or learn anything new from anyone – you’ll stick to your non-Twit friends, thanks.

4) You Don’t Want The Attention

You’re not interested in getting all the attention. You like being the mysterious underground player and letting the limelight-seekers’ websites receive the exposure. Let ‘em have it, you say, I’m fine with my current customer base. I don’t want anyone else to know about us who doesn’t already have our business card in their filofax.

5) You’re Not Interested In Breaking News

You hate breaking news. You hate having to hear about it before any of the news crews get abreast of it. You hate having to read about it as it’s happening. You like knowing that tomorrow, when its all died down, you will be able to read a brief summary of events from a single journalist in Washington as you eat your cereal.

Don’t worry, I totally understand where you’re coming from.

I mean… what does Guy Kawasaki, the NY Times or Oprah know about business anyway. Pfft, try-hards.

Technorati Tags: 5 reasons not to be on twitter, Social Media, twitter

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your relationship is to just keep quiet, if only for a moment.

I’m obviously not one to bite my tongue and keep quiet (Andrew and basically anyone who knows me can attest to that) but “shutting up” is one technique I am trying really hard to consciously integrate into my life.

It’s amazing how many moments of tension and frustration can be avoided by simply letting the odd snarky comment, nagging request or bitter retort go unsaid.

Of course in any partnership, however loving, there are going to be times when your partner says or does something that has you ready to rip their hair out from the roots but in order to nurture love and growth within your relationship sometimes you need to just keep your mouth firmly shut and let the tension pass. It’s amazing how many things seem trivial when you reflect on them after a 30 minute breather.

I was recently reading “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin and she had some really interesting insights on how important it is to learn to keep quiet and let it go. Gretchen wrote…

In marriages, it’s less important to have many pleasant experiences than it is to have fewer unpleasant experiences, because people have a “negativity bias” our reactions to bad events are faster, stronger, and stickier than our reactions to good events.

Think back on times when you have been really angry at your partner, I bet at least 5 occasions come to mind almost instantly, no matter how amazing your partner is or how wonderful your relationship may be. Our crazy brains are programmed in a way that allows us to hold onto the negative memories far clearer than the good.

With that in mind, isn’t it far easier focus your energy on eliminating or at least reducing the number of negative experiences you and your partner share by utilizing the “shut up” technique from time to time rather than having to repair the damage from the destructive episodes when an off-the-cuff remark turned into a World War II enactment.

I must stress that by no means am I advocating you keeping things bubbling around inside when you feel your partner has really wronged you or has caused you intense pain. That is a disaster just waiting to happen -and a whole other blog post in itself.

I’m talking about the small things, the day to day squabbles that you could get past if you just bit your tongue for a few minutes and let it slide on by.

Real life example…

I am currently making a concerted effort to institute the shut up policy into my relationship. Lets just say that there’s often a little too much opening of the mouth coming from my half of the Hansen-Brooker household – I can imagine your surprise

In our house we agreed that because I am the one with the fabulous culinary skills (ha), I would do the cooking and Andrew would do the cleaning up. We’re both happy with that deal because I love to cook and Andrew loves to eat what I cook.

However, what Andrew (my darling partner and love of my life) doesn’t enjoy is doing dishes. No one really likes doing the dishes, but with Andrew we’re talking an avoid until we literally have 1 fork, a lonely wine glass and a bent teaspoon left to use kind of hate.

Now because of Andrew’s intense dislike for actually doing the dishes, and my intense dislike of a dirty kitchen we can often come into a little bit of conflict – and that my friends is where my unnecessary mouth opening often comes out to play.

And it usually ends up sounding something like this… “Andrew you said you were going to do the dishes, can’t you just DO them already.”

Now obviously I don’t like acting out like that, and Andrew sure as hell doesn’t like being on the receiving end of that.

So in that situation its obvious that by not shutting up I’ve created an uncomfortable situation in which we both lose out. I lose out because I’ve been “naggy” and end up feeling guilty about it. And he loses out because he has to deal with my frustration which creates a tense environment for him personally.

At the end of the day, its just dishes and they do always get done.

So what am I trying VERY hard to do now? I’m trying to just  “shut up” when it comes to things like dishes or other small occurrences that can be brushed past when, for that split second, you don’t say what first comes to your mind.

Now this doesn’t just apply to intimate relationships, imagine how shutting up in those momentary instances of annoyance would help your relationship with your colleagues, with your family, with your children etc.

Your Homework…

For the next 7 days, each time something small pops up between you and your partner (or anyone else in your life) exhibit ultimate self-control and keep quiet – clench your fists or bite your tongue if you need but do not let the angry retort escape.

Let the moment pass, leave the room and go for a quick walk, grab some fresh air, distract yourself with some tidying up around the house or even write your thoughts down in a notebook if you can’t help yourself.

It may feel like a painful task at first, but the sooner you are conscious of it the easier it becomes to recognize the value in holding back. You might require more “shutting up” moments in your day to day life than you think.

I promise you that you will feel the change almost instantly when you start to think about these moments throughout your day. You will begin to easily identify moments where “shutting up” is not only a more beneficial choice but a more reasonable one than engaging in negative conversation.

You will notice the difference because you don’t have to engage in negative interactions that leave you feeling unhappy and agitated. Your partner will notice the difference because he’ll start to recall more positive experiences than the alternative and consequently feel more connected and appreciated by you.

I promise that you will begin to enjoy a happier, calmer and more positive home with this one little step.

Technorati Tags: advice on relationships, gretchen rubin, loving relationships, nurturing relationships, the happiness project

Over the last 12 months I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog.

Actually, toying is the wrong word. Avoiding, is far more accurate.

There were a million reasons why I should have a blog, such as:

- Basically everyone in my line of work has one

- I could offload my many thoughts out into the universe (better out than in, as the saying goes)

- I love almost every blog I come across

- It would encourage me to learn, read and communicate more – gotta have something to write about after all

- I’m as chatty as hell, and it’s basically a miracle I haven’t been harassing you with my trials and tribulations for a decade already.

Given all of this, you might wonder why I have been avoiding this process like a low-carb diet during the festive season…

The answer to this is: I was 2 parts chicken s*** and 1 part MASSIVELY overwhelmed with how to approach the task.

I wasn’t ready to devote hours on end to “talking shop”. As much as I love what I do (and I really do), I just couldn’t face building a blog solely around the “how-to’s” of traffic generation and improving the sales conversions on a pseudo-Viagra product.

Another concern that hit me square in the face each time I moved closer to making the leap is the big question of what the HECK will I write about. Sure my boyfriend, Mum & a perhaps even a small handful of friends promise I’m at least mildly interesting (on a good day) but what if my thoughts, advice, passions are enough to put even the most caffeine driven reader into a vicodin-worthy coma.

And then the icing on wimpy cake… being just 21 – and of the uterus persuasion – in this industry can be mind-blowingly intimidating. Enough said.

Getting My A** Into Gear (albeit sweating my through every second)

Last week,  I was reading one of the most profound books I’ve picked up in a LONG time, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and it struck a chord with me. In her year-long quest for happiness one of the major challenges she took on was creating a blog – and sticking to it. That blog is now firmly planted in my top 5 favourite blogs I’ve ever come across, and all because she took on a challenge and ran with it – all the way to the NY Times Bestsellers list.

The itch that had been hanging around since @unmarketing planted the seed back on our coaching call in March 2009 was gnawing at my mind and this time none of my parts  (chicken s*** and overwhelm) could counteract it.

It was time.

It’s going to be a challenge, and there will be moments where I’m sure I’ll be gripped with so much self-doubt it’ll take a crane to get me out of my head but I’m ready for it – perhaps someone should warn Andrew.

I’ve got little to no idea how this is going to play out, what direction this is going to take but I’m hoping I’ll be able to share some insights that will touch at least a few of you on the way.

Please be patient with me, I’m sweating like a sinner here

Technorati Tags: elysia brooker