Michele’s Homebiz Blog

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Long before a new generation of Internet Wizards,  Affiliate Marketers, Article Experts and Home Business Entrepreneurs started slowing down because of summer, the great Nat King Cole already had this need to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

Will working on reduced speed reflect a lot on your PR, SEO, Backlinks ? I don’t believe so. Business in general is slow during summer and productivity drops in all business areas; Office employees think about weekends out with their family, moms are planning vacations, dads in Europe are following Euro 2008 Soccer, kids need more attention.

Our body needs to adapt to high temperatures, concentration is harder to keep, we become more social and want to be with friends sharing these moments of plenty nature is giving us. In a word we want to be outside and not locked up in an office or  sitting in front of the computer all day long. Be careful however and follow the rules of nature.

Take a while and observe your pet, it adapts to the heath; it sleeps much more, eats less, drinks a lot and slows down generally at lunch time … my cat at this precise moment is on top of the cupboard in the kitchen, it’s cool there, she feels comfortable… arent’ we all animals ? So let’s learn with and from them, they know how to listen to their body, they take care of their health and wellbeing. People in the Mediterranean change their habits and do “siesta” after lunch to compensate for the hours of difficult sleep at night when temperatures are still quite high. Stay out of the sun between 12Pm and 4PM, relax in the shade and enjoy your light meal.

So, what else should I do now? I’ll have a tomato salad and enjoy my afternoon nap ! Something wrong with this? I will be back later in the day. First things first …. one of the great advantages of working at home! Go with the flow, but stay alert! (my cat just opened one eye to check on me, talking about being alert?!?).

This is a time of great paradox : Globalization on one hand and Isolation on the other hand. Multinationals ask their employees to work from home. It reduces costs and increases productivity. At one time colleagues were an important part of the job. They became friends, Sunday barbecues were held, children grew up together. Now, you sit in front to the PC and work…alone.

A home-trainer is installed, Yoga books bought, 7 Steps to Meditation is studied. Sure, when you already work at home, why leave the house and drive miles to get to a gym ? Internet has the answer to everything, you have access to the largest encyclopedia in the world. Hungry? Here comes the Pizza Man. You can even start enjoying the pleasures of cooking.

Statistics show that more and more people live on their own; some by option, others not. It is so easy to stay in this little cocoon of safety and comfort. You don’t need to leave the house. Everything you need can come to you. Home Businesses appear like mushrooms, there are hundreds of affiliate marketing opportunities for you.

So at the end of the day, you work at home for your boss and then continue to have your own home business. Maybe you work in a big office, but isolated in your little room; you go home, have a bite and get to your home business. You might be a full-time affiliate marketer and spend hours a day changing your site, writing, blogging etc.

Working at home has great advantages…. wouldn’t I be a home working woman myself ! I did however start feeling the necessity of going out more. Over the last few days I received some calls which made me think. “Are you still alive, we haven’t seen you in ages”, “How about the round of golf we were supposed to have 3 weeks ago” , “Remember me? I am your partner”….

So enjoy your home business, work hard at it, love it, but don’t isolate yourself ! Give as much as you can to your family or partner. Go out and meet with people, socialize, practice team sports. Have lunch with a friend. One of the greatest treasures in life is human contact.

Many home business owners sit in front of their laptop or home PC for hours in a row. This is good for the business of course, but not very beneficent for general health conditions.

Quite often people hold tension in the neck and shoulders due to bad posture, continuous typing and reading on the computer. Also the eyes tend to be gazing at the same point, which leads to a lack of eye muscle strenght.

I would like to share some simple but effective exercises for you to do twice a day. Apart from toning the muscles of neck, shoulders and eyes, you will have a feeling of general relaxation.

Neck and Shoulders

First, drop the head back and then drop it right forward. Do this movement 3 times. Then, keeping the head erect, turn it all the way to the right, back to the centre and all the way to the left. Do this movement 3 times. Next, drop your head forward and roll it around in a wide circle. Repeat in the opposite direction. Do this movement 3 times in each direction. To finish, raise the right shoulder and drop it. Repeat with the left shoulder. Now raise both shoulders at once and drop them. Do this movement 3 times.

Eye Exercises

Keep your head still and the spine erect. First, look up, then look down. Do this eight to ten times. Look to the far right and then to the far left, repeating eight to ten times. Now imagine a large clock in front of you. Look up at 12 o’clock, and circle around it clockwise for three rounds. Repeat this exercise in the anticlockwise direction. Rub your palms together vigorously until they feel warm. Place your hands over the closed eyes. The heat and darkness soothe and relax your eyes.

The above exercises only take 5 minutes of your time and they will make your working from home much more relaxed.