Working From Home Can Kill Your Relationship

By Audrey Bell
Posted Thursday, December 23, 2004

5 Tips For Adding Spice Back Into Your Relationship

Have you ever heard these comments before? “All you do is work”, “Things aren’t the way they used to be”, “When does your office close”, “You’re never there for me anymore”, “You’re a work-a-holic .

Well if you run your business from home and you are in a relationship, chances are if you haven’t heard at least one of them you will.

I know as a business owner working from home it is hard to just close the office when it is in the next room, but you must realize, that just as your business is important to you so is your relationship with your spouse. Let’s face it, you may be annoyed by the comments above, but what if you lost that special person to someone else who has more time for he/she than you do? This would make your personal life as well as your business life suffer.

Running a business, especially a home-based business requires the support of your family. But your family requires your support of them. Don’t let the business consume you. You have to divide your time between that special person in your life and work. The last thing you want to do is to loose someone one you love. Success Is Nothing If You Don’t Have Anyone To Share It With. I have listed 5 things that you can do to add the spark back into your relationship.

1. De-Stress Yourself. When you are stressed out everyone around you can feel it. So what you need to do is take some time for yourself. Go to a day spa; get a massage and your hair and nails done. You will look and feel great. When you feel great about who you are, that feeling radiates outside of you on to others.
2. Close The Office At 5:00pm. You have to set up specific work hours. You can’t work all day and all night. It is not healthy for your body or your relationship.
3. Send Love Notes. Just a little note to say I Love You is a great way to boost your spouse spirits. Put the note where they can find it. Slip it into a coat pocket, pant pocket, brief case or lunch box. Another good way to send an I Love You Message is by email. There are tons of email cards on the Internet that are free.
4. Make A Date. Just like you set dates for of the things on your to do list. Schedule in a date for that special person. Don’t tell them that you are putting them on your schedule. Just pencil them in and make the date. Make them a priority for that special time.
5. Take A Weekend Vacation. There is nothing in the world like taking a vacation, even if it is a mini vacation. Just that time away alone will do wonders for your relationship. There will be no work, no clients not ringing phones. Put you email on auto responder to let clients know that you are away and will be back on a specific date. Change the message on your voicemail and have you a wonderful time.

Audrey Bell is the author of From The Home Front: The Simple Guide To Starting And Running A Home-Based Business. She is also the publisher of Women In Business Today: The Newspaper For Enterprising Women. Audrey can be reached at 973-600-1611 or by email at ajbell34@aol.com. Web address (http://www.womenibusinesstoday.com)

About the Author
Audrey Bell is the author of The ABC's Of Self-Publishing: A Step By Step Guide To Publishing Your Own Book. She is also the author of From The Home Front: The Simple Guide To Starting And Running A Home-Based Business. She publishes a print newspaper titled Women In Business Today.