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If you’re running a small business from home, you are probably getting calls from friends and family who call just to chat. This can become a frustrating experience for anyone that is relying on their business for their family’s financial stability and success. If this is something you’re going through please know you’re not the only one facing this. In this article I will show you how you CAN have a backbone and let family members know you’re not available to chat on the phone, without little to no conflict.
The fact that you are working from home you may be often taken for granted because your home and should be ready to talk at any time. This happens especially when they don’t understand that are working since they have not been in this situation. There are those who do understand and realize you may be working however they think you have a lot of flexibility to your schedule and don’t always think about a schedule or your productivity and time to complete certain tasks.
Often time we find ourselves needing to reiterate to family members that you are not always able to just stop every time they want to chat during your work hours. One way to send a subtle message is to have an answering machine or voice mail answer your calls. This is a hard thing to do often times when you see the caller ID however resist the temptation to answer it. Let the machine pick it up.
If you can hear the message as the caller leaves the message, resist the urge to pick it up if they say its important. Often times everyone has something that is important they need to talk to you about, however it is not always truly significant enough to make you stop working and break up your routine and achieving success.
If you find that this is a hard task to accomplish or just not possible, have voice mail added to your line so that you don’t have to hear the message right away. Then set a specific time each day to check the messages and return calls as necessary.
Sometimes this approach to the phone calls does not come across to some family members or friends. It maybe come an issue where you have to sit down and discuss the reasons and the importants of your time with these members.
One way that may benefit both you and those looking for a friendly conversation may be to give everyone a set time frame in which they can call you. This is one way to get your point across without making anyone feel like you are shunning them.
There will more than likely come a point in which, despite your previous attempts to get family members to call during certain hours, you will be receiving calls outside of those hours. If this happens, you have to be certain to let them know, in a way that they understand, that they are interfering with your overall productivity, as well as the way you make money to support yourself and your family. Remind them that you would not call them on their job unless it was an emergency and that you would like them to so the same respect for your work.
It may come to the point in which you really have to get point blank with your family members. Let them know, however, that you enjoy talking to them on the phone but that there are certain times during the day that are more appropriate than others. Eventually it will sink in!
It can be hard to tell those you love that you are unable to chat on the phone during the time that you are working. However, it is something that you will need to come to terms with and do for the success of your business. In the end it will be beneficial and everyone will come around.
How are some of the ways you have explained to family and friends that you are working and are not able to chat when ever they want?
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just tell them you are busy working – I don’t see what all the commotion is about – most people waste too much time chatting with relatives and friends as it is.
As I work from home, I really face this problem very much. I always set my status mssg as busy while working.