Having a Bad Day ?

Here are a few suggestions for those of you who work from home on what to do when you are having a bad day:

Know when to stop. One bad thing seems to attract another and when you are feeling this way, it is far better to move away from what you are doing. Stop forcing yourself to follow up those phone calls, for example, when you are beginning to believe that you are only going to get "no's". Because that is exactly what you will get at that time.

Take a break. Go out for a walk, do some household chores, go out and buy a newspaper - it doesn't really matter what it is a long as you are able to distance yourself from the stuff that doesn't seem to be going your way.

Have a business buddy. A friend may not understand what you are going through if you phone up for a moan (and can quite often encourage you to moan even more if they are being sympathetic to your needs!) Having one or two business buddies - people you feel you can be honest with and yet can encourage each other to move forward with projects and ideas - can be a lifesaver on a bad day. Having someone who understands but keeps you on track with a little kick up the butt!

Play your favourite tune - playing your favourite upbeat music can lift your mood and make you feel motivated.

Make a daily list of achievements. Write down the 3 things you have been most proud of each day in a journal, diary or on your PC (or maybe even your blog). It could be as amazing as winning a huge contract or as small as making a call to someone you have been putting off for weeks. Whenever you feel like the business is against you, read through your lists and realise how much you have achieved already.

Remember that some days will always be bad days. Not every day is going to be a great day. There will be days that clients cancel, work goes wrong. You can't control other people's (and technology!) actions. The one thing you can control is the way you deal with those actions when they happen.

These suggestions came from the Karen Skidmore Kick-Ass blog (I edited them a bit but I don't think she'll mind !).

I would also add - connect to someone else who works from home using Skype. You don't have to talk to each other, but its kind of like being in an office environment in that you hear papers being moved, the phone rings and so on. You can always hit mute when you don't want the other person to hear your phone conversation. My friend Florence and I passed many a compainable hour working on the lectures we were going to be giving to our students with Skype open and every now and then exchanging a few words - we reckoned we were a lot more productive.