Working at Home Without Losing Your Mind - How to Create a Sacred Space to Perform at Your Peak

One of the biggest struggles of working from home is creating a space to perform at your peak. Ringing phones, you've got mail, kids tugging at your leg, laundry piling up, dog barking to go out...sometimes it seems you'll never get anything done. How will you ever raise your kids and be able to provide for them with your home business if you never get your work done? Here are seven tips to help guide your way to getting things done:

Working At Home: How to Create a Sacred Space to Perform at Your Peak

1. Set Goals and create rewards for achieving them. You should have personal and work goals for yourself, but it is crucial to also set goals with your family. Give everyone equal input and have a family vote if you can. Let them know what the benefits are to them when the goals are achieved. The sooner mommy gets her work done the sooner we go to __(insert reward here)__. I am an advocate of quality time goals. This is what your kids truly desire. You might even find your kids want to make a contribution to your mission when they realize they play an important part in it.

2. Determine your prime focus work hours. By now you have probably figured out what the best time of day is to dig in and work without interruption. Now you need to carve out and set aside that time and space in advance on a regular basis. This means you have a clear start time and stop time. Knowing that you have this block of time already reserved for your work allows you be fully present when you are with your kids because you know you have already carved out an created a sacred time for your work.

3. Arrange for a sitter or loved one to watch your kids during this time. If your trusted friends are also working at home, you can swap babysitting time. If your next door neighbor takes your kids in the morning, you can take her kids in the afternoon and make it an even trade. You will have the peace of mind that your kids are safe and nearby in case of emergency and that they are in good hands.

4. Make a declaration: put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and close it, turn off the phone and let others know that you are in the sacred work zone. Make it fun, let your kids make the sign saying something like "Mommy's Work Space, Employees Only." Remember you must treat that time as sacred if you want others to treat it as such. If people see you doing laundry, socializing, watching tv or surfing the net during that time, you are violating that space and inviting others to do the same. Clarify what a real emergency is so that everyone understands what is urgent and what can wait until you are finished.

5. Carve out a space. What area of your home will be command central aka your workspace? Locate a quiet, private place and rope it off so that the kids understand when you're in it, you mean business. If you can find a room with a door, even better so you can close it... and lock it. Gasp! Disclaimer: you only lock the door if you have some sort of responsible babysitter or childcare arrangement. Your kids can be in the house but you have to have the peace of mind of knowing that they are in good hands, safe and sound. If you must, you can set a time on the hour to peak out, stretch your legs and check in with what's happening outside. But be sure it's an official check in, reassure the kids that you are near and retreat back to your work space.

6. Protect Your Work Space. For some reason when you work from home, people treat your time like a hobby. They assume if you're at home, you must be free to socialize and entertain when they drop by unannounced. When your kids, friends, spouse or neighbors disrupt this space, you have a responsibility and duty to protect it. Gently remind them by saying, "I am working on my/our dreams." If you allow interruptions, you encourage more of it so be sure to draw a clear line in the sand and honor it. Never reward behavior that you don't want more of. Trust me on this, if you let it go, it will arise again.

7. Before You Begin Your Work, Know Your Priorities for that Time. To keep myself laser focused during my work time, I created a productivity theory called The Priority Principle. This means not only do you create an action list, but you also determine your order of priority in advance and then complete the action plan in order. Without priorities, you are doomed to do what feels convenient instead of doing what is important and necessary. Often the order in which you do things makes all the difference in the world. Think of baking a cake. What if you put in half of the ingredients, put it in the oven to bake, then put in the remainder and mix it. It doesn't work. Create your winning recipe in advance and then follow it.

While initially it was not easy to transition into working at home like a pro, I made progress and saw the results quickly. I can tell you first hand if you do not treat your endeavor like a million dollar business, it won't perform like one. Once I got clear and drew my line in the sand, I went on to generate over $ 26 million dollars in business from home and I'm still going strong.

Be consistent and be clear about your Goals and what you want to accomplish. Knowing this and knowing that you have a sacred time and space carved out will help you perform at your peak and be more productive. Creating and honoring your boundaries is the key to having more fun and getting more done. You will be a better parent and your kids will enjoy being around you even more when they feel they are supporting you.

Live Your Dreams.