Running a business from home doesn’t need to be a nightmare. In fact, it could actually be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life! The key is to establish some rules for yourself (and your business) to ensure that you can be productive and build a business that lasts for years to come. So, let’s take a look at 5 tips for running a business from home!

Set clear physical boundaries

Everybody who works from home needs a home office. You may like to lounge around in bed while you’re writing emails, but this is not a good long-term plan. When you start doing “work” tasks in areas of your house that are usually dedicated to leisure, it can blur the lines between your work and free space. As a result, you need to set physical boundaries and stick to them. Your home office is for work, while the rest of your house is for leisure and fun!

Set clear temporal boundaries

Physical boundaries can help you psychologically distinguish between work and leisure spaces, but temporal boundaries can help ensure that you maintain good mental health habits. Working yourself to the bone will eventually cause burnout and hurt your business. So, always remember to set specific work hours. The exact hours will depend on your business, but ensuring that you have enough time at the end of the day to decompress is vital for keeping your energy up and your business running smoothly.

Delegate time-consuming housework

When you’re working from home, it’s easy to get distracted with chores and other tasks around the house. Perhaps you need to clean out your pantry or trim the hedges. While you could do these things in your spare time, you could also focus more time and energy on your business by simply delegating these tasks to someone else.

Focus on the long game

Whether you’re a freelance web developer or you run an online print business, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day routine of work. While every business owner will have to accomplish certain short-term goals, you should never lose focus on the long game. This means that, at times, you may need to sacrifice short-term rewards to ensure long-term success. Ultimately, the more you do to build your business for the future, the less you’ll have to do later on down the road.

Find little ways to be productive every day

As previously mentioned, you shouldn’t overwork yourself. However, being productive is a key part of running a successful business and maintaining a positive outlook. So, even if it’s your day off, try to find little ways to be productive. For example, you might read an article about your industry to gain useful insight for the future. Alternatively, you could spend just a few minutes and make a to-do list for the week. Either way, you won’t have to expend much brainpower, but you can rest easy knowing that you were still productive for the day!