Bare Essentials: Add a Touch of Color

File and fold

You may work in your home office day after day, but some days it’s better to mix it up and work somewhere else. When you need to take files with you, the Bungalow file tote can handle the job. It’s sturdy enough to hold plenty of letter-size hanging folders, yet folds up for easy storage. It also works well for storing files in your home office, but something this stylish deserves to be taken out once in a while.


Stick with it

One of the (many) things I don’t miss about my corporate days in a stuffy office is my old, grey desk accessories. I’ve done my best to make sure that my home office doesn’t resemble anything close to my old corporate office. Instead of bland accessories, I have colorful and functional ones. The Poppin tape dispenser definitely fits into that category with its selection of eight colors.


Stick ‘em up

There’s no doubt that a valuable photo or piece of art is worth framing. But when you have inexpensive art that you may change out soon anyway, why bother with frames? The Re-stickable Decal Photo Frame makes framing simple, and hanging even easier. The best part is that you can move the frames from room to room without putting any holes in your walls. Each pack comes with eight frames that stick to your walls or windows and won’t damage walls or paint.

 

When Do Business Favors for Friends and Family Go Too Far?

Would you do a favor for a friend or for someone in your family?

Depending on the favor and the friend or family member, most of us would. Sometimes, though, the favor isn’t worth the aggravation it causes.

Last year, a friend asked me to look at the plans for her new house and to give her ideas for improving them. As a favor to her, I spent two hours reviewing her plans and gave her several suggestions. After her architect made the changes, she asked me to look at the plans again. I spent another hour looking at them (still part of the favor) and made a few more changes.

When she called two months later to ask me to help her pick out lighting, with an offer to buy me lunch, I said no. She had crossed the line from asking a favor to taking advantage of my time and expertise.

After that experience, I’ve changed the way I do business with friends and family. Consider these tips for avoiding a similar (uncomfortable) situation. [Read more...]

Make Room in Your Garage for a Home Office

Garage owners usually fall into one of three categories: those who fill every square inch with things they don’t need, those who keep their garage obsessively clean and organized, and those who start businesses in them.

The third type is more important than the other two types, especially when it comes to making money. Those are the people who have figured out that a garage is a viable option for a home office.

But unless you enjoy sitting at your desk in the winter with your teeth chattering, or you like sweating like a marathon runner in the summer, you’ll have to make a few adjustments to convert your garage into a home office. [Read more...]

Time-Wasters You Need to Avoid

Ask any mompreneur whether we could use more hours in the day and you’d be hard-pressed to find any of us who would say no. There always seem to be more tasks to do than time to do them.

Whether you realize it or not, your day is full of time-stealers. Checking e-mail one too many times and taking calls from chatty friends are clear time-wasters and ones you can avoid. But what about the other time-wasters that aren’t so obvious and can take minutes, even hours out of your day?

Before you can eliminate these time-stealers, it’s important to identify them.

I have the privilege of guest posting at an awesome website called The Work at Home Woman. Read the rest of the post above by clicking here.

Checkup From the Desk Up: A Real(tor) Mess

Analysis:

Clients calling at all hours, weekend showings and indecisive buyers can take their toll on any businessperson, including a realtor. This 24/7 realtor has been working from home in the same spare bedroom for 16 years. She was fine working in her “creative” space until some important papers got lost in the shuffle (literally). [Read more...]

Don’t Judge a Business Owner By the Pajamas She Wears

Lately there’s been some home office bashing on the Internet. Some writers claim that you can’t be a serious business professional if you’re working from home, and especially if you’re working in your pajamas.

Does the suit define the man (or woman)?

Would Mark Zuckerberg be a few billion dollars richer if when he started Facebook, he wore a business suit every day and worked in a corporate office, instead of working in a dorm room wearing a t-shirt and jeans?

Working in a business suit or anything other than pajamas, or um, nothing at all, doesn’t determine how well you run your business. Instead, your business skills, leadership abilities, and your staff (or the freelancers you work with) can make the difference between your business stalling or succeeding. [Read more...]

What Do You Do When Your Horrible Boss Is You?

The movie Horrible Bosses opens soon. While I didn’t write it, I could have inspired it.

I used to work for a horrible boss. This boss demanded long work hours, allowed limited breaks and scheduled deadlines that were impossible to meet.

The horrible boss I worked for, was me.

If you’re ready to work for a boss who is understanding, reasonable, and respectful of your time and talents, there are a few simple changes you can make.

  • Limit the number of hours you work each day. When your commute is only seconds away, it’s easy to go to work early and stay late. The key is knowing when to stop working and when to start enjoying your personal life.
  • Keep your to-do list reasonable and remember that you can’t do everything. Instead of scheduling a long list of tasks to finish in one day, limit your list. [Read more...]

How Do Your Home Office Walls Inspire You?

To the right of my desk is a metal sign that reads, “It’s all about you.” It makes me smile when I look at it because it’s something I say to others while kidding around, but it also reminds me to do something for myself every day and not take myself too seriously.

When you’re working from home, especially when you’re working by yourself without anyone around to encourage you, you may need a little extra push. Whether it’s a funny cartoon, a famous quote, or photos from your last trip, find something that inspires you to keep working, get new clients or even go on vacation more often. [Read more...]

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