5 Ways to Avoid Burnout When you Work for Yourself from Home

5 Ways to Avoid Burnout When you Work for Yourself from Home Working from home has many perks such as flexible hours, avoiding being stuck in traffic, and increased career satisfaction and happiness.  If there is one disadvantage to working from home though, it would be that it is harder to separate your work life and your personal life as both often co-exist in the same space.  Although most people would agree that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, burnout is still a possibility for those who work from home.  In what follows, are ideas of ways to avoid burnout if you are working from home. Set work hours and stick to them – Although your hours may be flexible, it is still a good idea to set your hours and stick to them as much as possible.  When you have worked those hours in the day, then you are done your workday, and it is time to put work away until the next day.  Because you work from home, it can be very tempting to work long hours, but do not get stuck in this rut on a regular basis.   Treat your work hours seriously – When you set your own hours, sometimes your family and friends may not understand that just because you are home, that you are not available.  For example, just because you are home, does not mean that you are automatically the backup sitter if your sister's daycare worker suddenly calls in sick.  It can also be tempting to meet up with a friend for coffee, but if that coffee date turns into a two-hour visit, that is two hours gone during your workday.  Instead, plan for meeting with friends outside of your set work hours.   In addition, be sure that you are not running errands during your work hours for your spouse, or that you spend your time doing laundry and the dishes instead.   Furthermore, if you have young children of your own, make sure that they attend daycare during your work hours as it is next to impossible to get much work done when they also need your attention.   Because no one is watching you, it is also easy to waste time checking Facebook and