How to make the most from a home office experience

Dear Professor Bruce: I thought that I would love working from home and for the most part I do; but sometimes I really miss the company at the water cooler. It can be very lonely working by yourself. Any suggestions? Answer: Most people who work from a home office experience the same feelings of isolation at one time or another. According to Jeanne Kaplan, Certified Energy Leadership Coach, Kaplan Coaching, "Just because you work from home doesn't mean you have to stay at the "office" all day". -Go to a networking event-Pack up your laptop and head to the local coffee house or bookstore. Most places now have free WiFi connections expressly for you the solopreneur. -Schedule outside appointments, (if appropriate for your line of work) -Schedule fun appointments. One of the biggest benefits of working from home is flexibility; so use it to you advantage and not just to work all the time. Schedule some personal fun time: a round of golf; a massage, a movie schedule lunch to reconnect with an old friend.-Build a support system.-Seek out the support of other solopreneurs, through organizations or SIG's (special interest groups) join a mastermind group or peer advisory board. -If you are not able to leave the office look into on-line networkingSo sometimes it's as simple as just getting out. Other times it's not. What if you feel lonely even in a crowd? Then your loneliness stems from the relationship you have with yourself. Do you have a personally effective style that positively influences how you approach your day? Do you spring out of bed every morning excited about the day ahead knowing it's going to be a great one or does the thought of another day alone weigh you down? Have you chosen to make it a great day? When you recognize that you have the power to choose what kind of day you are going to have, you can make it a great one working by yourself and isolation will not get to you. It starts when you have an effective personal style of leadership that positively influences and changes the way you look at your day. You are a leader, either by choice or default; regardless the first person that you lead is yourself. Leading is the way you move into action. One requirement of becoming the ideal leader you want to be in order to manage your day effectively is having a positive attitude. Having a positive attitude will enable you to motivate and inspire yourself to do extraordinary things.This will lead to you having a more productive, fulfilling day and feeling of contentment when you are working by yourself in your office. For further information, please www.KaplanCoaching.comBruce Freeman is president of ProLine Communications, a marketing and public relations firm in Livingston, NJ and co-author of Birthing the Elephant (Ten Speed Press). E-mail questions to Bruce(at)SmallBusinessProf.com.(Bruce Freeman is president of ProLine Communications, a marketing and public relations firm in Livingston, NJ and author of Birthing the Elephant (Ten Speed Press). E-mail questions to Bruce(at)SmallBusinessProf.com.)