In my former life, I was a developer of databases. I’d head in to the office, six, sometimes seven days per week and write code. Safely nestled in my cubicle, I was used to working quietly… In fact, some days I could go for an hour or two without hearing a human voice —Save for the sound of my own voice cursing at some particularly persnickety bug. In those days, my wife and I were childless, so even home life was pretty quiet.

Fast forward to Winter 2007. I’m a home worker now, self-employed, living with my wife and young son and loving pretty much every minute of it! But there are some things that take getting used to. SpongeBob is one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching with my son (—Hey SpongeBob’s a righteous dude!), but it’s tough to write about serious affiliate marketing issues with the sound of crabby patties sizzling in the background. Anyway, if you’re reading this, you’re probably at least thinking about becoming a work at home type, so here’s a few tips to keep you productive.

1) Set a specific work schedule and stick to it. One of the toughest things I had to learn to do was say NO to my son. Too often, I’d have my day mapped out, I’d be sitting at my desk when my son would come toddling in, tug on my sleeve and ask me “Daddy, do you want to come play with me?” …off I’d go, forgetting about that work until later. Now; I don’t regret a single time that I “ditched” my work to hang out with my son, after all, my son is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to become a home worker in the first place. However, I did finally realize that to be able to continue as a work at home Dad, I’d have to become a little more assertive. It helped that my son was getting older and could understand a little better that Daddy needs to get certain things done before he can play. Anyway, I developed a routine where I’d spend some time with my son in the morning, then I’d let him know that I had to “go” to work now but that I’d come and spend some time with him in a few hours. He would still come and “visit” me but I felt a little better about “reminding” him that “Daddy has to finish his work first”.

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2) Be Flexible. One of the great things about being an affiliate marketer is that you don’t have to worry about what hours you work. You can essentially do the same job at 3AM as you do at 3PM. I’ve learned to take advantage of that. For example, now that my son is in kindergarten, he’s out of the house all day until mid-afternoon. So most days, I’ll do the bulk of my work while he’s at school then I’ll take a break for a few hours between the time he gets home and the time he goes to bed. Once, he’s out for the night; I’ll spend another hour or so working. Then I’ll shut down my computer and spend the rest of the evening with my wife.

3) Get a laptop and go wireless I can’t tell you what a difference it made once I moved from my bulky old desktop computer to my snazzy laptop. Just being able to move freely around the house has helped me become more productive. I use a spare bedroom as my home office and that’s where I spend most of my working hours, but there are times when I’d like a change of scenery, it’s nice to be able to go work from the couch or sit at the dining room table not to mention sitting outside in the summer. It’s really great!

4) If all else fails – hit your local Starbucks Yep, there are times when there is just too much going on at the house – things like play-dates come to mind (ouch!). That’s when it’s time to take out the heavy artillery. Pack up your laptop and head off to your local Starbucks — most offer wireless internet access. For a few bucks, you can get access to the web for an entire day. Find a quite table in the corner somewhere and get to work. Just be careful how many cups of coffee you have.

That’s about it for now, it’s late in the afternoon, the sun is setting, in the distance I can hear those fateful words…

“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
Spongebob Squarepants”…

I have to go now, I have a date with my son!

Posted by David Olsen - Owner/Editor

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