How to be Taken Seriously When You Work From Home

The other afternoon when I went to Costco, I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in years. He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt so I figured he’d been laid off. I was wrong.

Later that day, I called a mutual friend and she told me that six months ago my friend started his own business and was doing well over six figures. As I clicked off the call, I realized that I did to him what others have done to me for years. I’d assumed that because he was running an errand in the middle of the day and was casually dressed, he wasn’t working.

It’s no wonder that others have trouble taking us seriously when we work from home. Consider why:

• You can go to your child’s events during school or anytime in the summer.
• If you want to take the day off to spend with your family, you can.
• You can sleep late and work through the night because you don’t have to wake up early to get to work.
• You can schedule repair calls or deliveries anytime during the day.

Those of us who work from home “get it.” We have flexibility that our corporate counterparts don’t have and at times, don’t understand. There are a few things you can do to help others realize that even though you have a home office, you’re still working.

• Set guidelines and boundaries with your family and friends. They need to understand that you can’t take personal calls all day or at times you need to work uninterrupted. It’s a balancing act that can be challenging.

• Learn to say no when friends or family ask you to wait for the repair person or a UPS delivery. They need to know that although you’re working from home, you’re still working.

• Treat your business as a business, not a hobby. That means that you don’t work for free. Your time is worth something to your clients. It should be worth the same (or more) to your friends and family.

• Use one e-mail address for personal use and another for business. The goal is to keep your business e-mail address clear for clients and important messages while your personal address is for annoying joke e-mails that your friends can’t resist sending.

• Set up two Twitter accounts: one for business and one for personal use. Your personal tweets can include cryptic messages to friends and the latest update of where you are, while your business tweets should be professional and helpful to others who can use your services.

The bottom line is that you can’t get everyone to take you seriously but then again, who cares? You have the freedom that others only dream about during their daily commute to work. Eventually they’ll come around — probably when they’re working from home too.