Having a good work ethic can be damaging when it comes to working from home

[Jon]

This is just my experience but my general attitude is one of always going the extra mile to earn money if it is available


This is fine, do an extra hour Field Agent or spend a bit long logged into 63336 to earn some extra cash - however with me it doesn't seem to work like that and it's starting to do my head in a bit


With a fair bit of 'earning from home' there is never an end point in sight. With the likes of Leapforce / 63336 etc you just login whenever you want and earn. Earn by hour, earn my question whatever, it doesn't matter. The problem comes when you don't know when to stop which I don't seem to be able to.


There's been a ton of work going on recently, lots of Field Agent stuff, Leapforce has been chocker the past few days and I continue to work before my main job and again in the evenings. If the other half is watching celebrity big brother I don't go and do something else, I think 'well I can just do another hour of leapforce while she is doing that'


This can't be right can it? I just keep going and going and going because the work is there and money can be earned. I can't moan about lack of money or opportunity if I don't take what is available right?


I've always worked hard in whatever jobs i've done but those all began at 9am and finished at 5pm. Working from home stuff just carries on and on and on. You go to pick up one mystery shopping task for the week and before you know it you end up having your entire Market Force calendar full for the week.


I think it need to separate my full time mindset and my working from home mindset as apart from the money i'm not sure I am doing myself any favours by acting like this

 

[spike241]

I'm the same with uTest, although I don't have a 'proper' job so it's not quite so bad.
I was working Christmas Day and my birthday. It wasn't for long but just a 'let's see what's happening, ooh there's a bug' kind of thing.
It is a bit addictive.

 

[Jon]

Good to hear it's not just me!


I've lost entire Friday and weekends to Field Agent tasks!!

 

[Twiggy]

Maybe set yourself a certain amount of extra income per week or month as a goal and then anything over and above that is because you WANT to. I do all my online stuff sat in front of the TV and have began to feel like a couch potato even though I'm earning money from it.

I do know where you are coming from in the sense that LF has been very quiet and then loads for me today but after 6.5 hrs I need to stop and I did have a pang of 'but I need to make hay while the sun shines'.

I really don't know where you find the time.

 

[Jon]

Maybe set yourself a certain amount of extra income per week or month as a goal and then anything over and above that is because you WANT to. I do all my online stuff sat in front of the TV and have began to feel like a couch potato even though I'm earning money from it.

I do know where you are coming from in the sense that LF has been very quiet and then loads for me today but after 6.5 hrs I need to stop and I did have a pang of 'but I need to make hay while the sun shines'.

I really don't know where you find the time.

It's that 'unrestricted' thing I guess


there is NO LIMIT to how many FA / Mystery Shopping tasks you do. No limit to Leapforce work or 63336 etc...


Self regulation obviously doesn't work for me and it tends to take another family member shouting at me to get me to stop lol


Not good at all

 

[alditoharrods]

I think I mentioned something similar a few months ago. The thing is, we need money. I thrive from making money. It is a hobby. I enjoy doing it. So every chance I get, I try to do something that earns me some extra cash. I have really had to teach myself how to relax!

 

[Jon]

I think I mentioned something similar a few months ago. The thing is, we need money. I thrive from making money. It is a hobby. I enjoy doing it. So every chance I get, I try to do something that earns me some extra cash. I have really had to teach myself how to relax!

does the lack of personal time and generally pissing off those you live with not annoy you?

 

[Blackpepper1]

I have found that I tend to do to get distracted and go on longer than I mean to. It is difficult to decide when to stop but there has to be a cut off somewhere.

 

[alditoharrods]

I think I mentioned something similar a few months ago. The thing is, we need money. I thrive from making money. It is a hobby. I enjoy doing it. So every chance I get, I try to do something that earns me some extra cash. I have really had to teach myself how to relax!

does the lack of personal time and generally pissing off those you live with not annoy you?

Ah see, Mr Aldi To Harrods works nights, so I'm home alone most of the time anyway

 

[Pheebs]

I think it's a balance that you have to create yourself.

When I first started working from home I would feel bad whenever I wasn't working. I found it almost impossible to relax, and that's not healthy.

After a while, I found the best thing to do was to set myself hours to work. I kinda feel like I've been working normal shifts for quite some time now. It's much easier to relax these days when I log off.

 

[Scratch]

I do a certain amount of hours and then I stop, and I certainly didn't work on Christmas Day or my Birthday. I actually considered doing a few hours on 63336 on my Birthday but I came to my senses. It can't be all work and no play

Plus, I think if you do too many hours the quality of your work could suffer... if it's repetitive you can get bored/distracted/complacent

 

[queen81]

I do a certain amount of hours and then I stop, and I certainly didn't work on Christmas Day or my Birthday. I actually considered doing a few hours on 63336 on my Birthday but I came to my senses. It can't be all work and no play

Plus, I think if you do too many hours the quality of your work could suffer... if it's repetitive you can get bored/distracted/complacent

I actually logged onto 63336 on Christmas Day - but only to see what the crack was lol

 

[RickyRaj]

I think it's important to get the balance right.

Like one of the other forum members suggested set yourself a weekly/monthly target. Also get yourself a hobby (other than making a few bob) to help you relax. I find going to my local driving range and hitting golf balls quite therapeutic, or going for a run listening to music or a good book.

I also go to the movies a lot and you can see quite a few for free with showfilmfirst.com. If you subscribe to The Telegraph or The Times they offer free film tickets occasionally. If anything it will get you away from the computer.

 

[alditoharrods]

This has given me a brilliant idea for a blog post - something about the balance of working from home, how to stay motivated whilst working at home and taking proper breaks!

 

[Twiggy]

I take my dog over to the wasteland mid morning and mid afternoon, this is a godsend for getting off the couch!

And hobbies away from the computer are a good way of getting a break, but I don't have too much trouble taking a break.

 

[StopdropNroll]

I know what you're saying and. I think when you work from home it's important to keep the work life balance right otherwise you'll end up burning yourself out or loosing contact with those closest to you. I have hobbies outside the home that are at set times so that help keep me on track.

I also think that having a good work ethic when you are doing work that's chargeable by the hour etc is sometimes detrimental as I think I'm too honest at times about my hours and as I can choose what I work I only charge for the time I'm actually working. Where as if I was office based I'm sure a lot of time gets 'wasted' with office chit chat, making non work related phone calls, browsing the Internet etc but when I take time out to do stuff like that I knock it off the time I'm charging for. Obviously it's better for the client but may be not so good for the worker.

 

[bordercolliefan]

I had burn out a good few years ago now! Not from working from home but from working two jobs. I didn't want to lose the money even though I didn't really "need it".

The thought of working from home does scare me a bit because I don't want to get into that mindset again. I currently have two part-time jobs and one of them has a "pool system" where they email everyone to see if anyone wants to take the shift. Again, I find myself not wanting to say no!

I think others have the right idea. Set yourself a time target and then force yourself to turn the computer off! I can see how the thought of watching Celebrity Big Brother would make you want to do something else though!

 

[Catwoman1975]

I feel incredibly guilty when I have a few days off or don’t log on to the PC to work for a few days. This week I have been very busy with my outside the home job and my daughters 18th and I feel bad I have missed out on Leapforce work. I have been working from home for 7 years and rarely take more than a whole week off a year, in fact last year I didn’t have a whole week off at all, just the odd day here and there.

I have a very quiet month at work next month and wish I could take just a week off to do nothing, but I know I will be logging on everyday when I can. My husband has a “normal” full time job and gets 3 whole days off a week, every week, plus holidays and I wish I had that sometimes. So much so I am trying to move away from working for home, but finding it difficult to find a permanent position outside the home with regular hours ( I am on a zero hours contract at the moment)

 

[nicki]

I'm on strict instructions from the doctor to loose weight (5stone to go!) so I have to make time to exercise. So I go out walking which is pretty much all I can do but then I can spend all day out the house so when I get home I have to do all the housework etc, and the Avon is mainly evenings so I need to do that as well and I'm finding I don't seem to have much time to do anything else. This has got to change. I need to up my income through other sources, I need to get my blog/website up and running properly, but I also need to keep time free to spend with my daughter when she's not at school, and I need to be able to have down time during the school holidays as well. Its a balancing act I'm not managing right now, but I need to get sorted :-[

 

[martay]

I'd like to offer a perspective, I am sure you have probably considered.

I know you guys mostly don't like the thought of mlm, sales based jobs, etc, so please, dont put any "labels" on what I am about to say;


The problem is not having a great work ethic, and working yourself into the ground, not having any spare time, etc etc. Thats awesome.

For me, I would say the problem lies in Never Building a Future.

you see, all these jobs you are doing (I am doing most of them aswell so dont take that the wrong way), they are all just that, "Jobs", they are not "businesses" or "future growing opportunities" or whatever else might be a good word.

As you know, if you dont do any work for leapforce, or any field agent tasks, you earn no extra money.


I put it to you, that it is of utmost importance for your future, to begin developing a form of "Long term Growth Income" (yes I made that up!!).

What I mean is, take this website as an example, you dedicate a lot of time into this website that does *not* neccesarily pay you up front per hour like leapforce, or per task like field agent.

however, the potential is there for it to earn you money week after week, even *after* you have stopped doing work to it.

Again, dont get me wrong, I know it is not as easy as that, but I also know it is entirely possible.

in recent years, I have ran websites that bought me in £1000 per month of adsense revenue, and they involved very little work after the initial burst of effort. That used to drop in nicely for around 6 months or so until my aggressive tactics backfired!!

So what I am saying is, if you could pursue avenues that potentially could yield long term income, it could be a more fruitful expenditure of your time. yes, there is the chance that you will spend time on something, that bears no fruit, I have wasted many hours (probably weeks and months in total) of my life working on things that didn't quiet work, but I have had enough taste of things that did work, I just keep trying as sooner or later I know I will achieve success in something that I can maintain and grow.

2c