Most people look forward to working from home because it offers a fleeting sense of freedom from the constraints of a traditional nine to five job. However, many people don't realize that working from home takes much more effort, and that the majority of business owners and home workers actually work more at home than they ever did in a traditional job.
First of all, you need to be fully prepared for, and willing to accept the often enormous workload that comes with working at home. If you are starting a business, this is especially crucial to your success. Work is never easy, and working for yourself is definitely one of the most difficult positions to take on. You will work more at home with your new business than you might have imagined, and you'll definitely work more than anyone told you that you would. Thanks to the explosion of the internet and e-commerce, more people are able to enjoy the flexibility and satisfaction of working from home than ever before. However, with this flexibility comes a much bigger workload, even if you are working for someone else's company. You are required to be your own boss, motivate yourself, meet deadlines, and there's no time clock to punch.
You could work more at home than you ever did in an out-of-the-home job, but if you're careful it won't be too much of an increase. As long as you stay focused and complete tasks in a timely and efficient manner, you won't spend your days doing nothing but work. However, if you spend the morning playing with the kids, doing laundry, or running errands, you'll lose valuable time in your work day, thus increasing your workload later on.
The best way to avoid this is to set a schedule, and stick to it. By setting "work hours" for yourself, you're lowering the odds that you will work more at home. Usually when people start working from home, they don't have a structure in place, which causes them to work long hours and days on end, because there is nothing telling them to stop. However, there has to be a point when enough is enough. If you used to hold a position where you worked eight hours a day, schedule eight hours (CONSECUTIVELY) that you can work without interruption and complete your duties. You can even schedule a lunch break to make the day a little more like a traditional job.
No matter what you do, be sure that you don't get burnt out because of how you work more at home than you would in a traditional job. Set up a schedule and stay organized and focused in order to succeed in working at home.