The Proactive Pro

Most people think that work-at-home professionals are less-exposed to health hazards because they work in the safest possible place they can be — their home.  But what’s the real score?  Could working at home expose you to some health risks?  Listed below are some health conditions that a work-at-home professional may be prone to.

• OBESITY - This could be one of the most common health problems that a work-at-home professional could have.  Obesity may be due to inactivity.  The work-at-home professional usually tends to sit for long periods.  Also, the snacking is easy to do at home because there are no imposed restrictions with regard to bringing food at the workstation (unlike in offices).  You can have a bag of greasy, salty potato chips or sugary cookies right beside your laptop or desktop computer.  As most of us know, obesity can lead to a lot of serious health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, etc.
• BACK PROBLEM - Sitting for many hours can strain your back.  Spinal disc herniation, sometimes called "slipped disk," can result from prolonged sitting.
• DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS - This is also caused by prolonged inactivity or being on your butt for long periods.  DVTs are usually the culprits behind strokes and heart attacks.
• STRESS - When you work at home, the line between your home life and your professional life becomes blurred.  Mixing your concerns at work and at home could double the stress levels that you usually experience in an office outside your home.
• INSOMNIA/SLEEP DEPRIVATION -  A lot of work-at-home professionals are workaholic (like me).  We think it’s okay to spend more than 10 hours on the job just because we work at home.  Sometimes, we try to get by with just four hours of sleep. But what can lack of sleep do to the body?  Headaches, increased blood pressure, increased risk of diabetes, increased risk of fibromyalgia, memory lapses or loss, and obesity are just a few of the effects of sleep deprivation.
• CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME - Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by the compression of the median nerve traveling through the carpal tunnel.  The symptoms include numbness, tingling, or burning sensations in the thumb and fingers.  Work-at-home professionals who work online do a lot of typing.  Poorly positioned wrists while typing could lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. 

As the time-honored adage goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  Listed below are ways to prevent the above-mentioned health conditions.

1) SET A SCHEDULE FOR EXERCISE - You don’t have to spend a full hour at the gym although that would be great.  A 30-minute walk would suffice. 

2) MOVE AROUND A LITTLE BIT FROM TIME TO TIME - As you may have noticed while reading the preceding paragraphs, prolonged inactivity increases your risks of having three health conditions mentioned above.  You need to get off your butt once in a while.  Take a 5 to 10-minute break in between tasks and try to do some stretching exercises or simple calisthenics.  Or you can walk around your office. 

3) CONTROL YOUR EATING HABITS -  Try not to eat while working.  Have a definite schedule for your snack time.  However, if you must munch on something from time to time, have some fruits and nuts instead of chips or cookies.  Avoid junk food at all costs.

4) DEFINE BOUNDARIES -  Talk to your family members about your job.  Tell them that you can only be disturbed during your working hours if there’s a life-and-death situation.  As much as possible, don’t let the concerns at home seep into the concerns at work and vice versa.  You should draw the line between work and home life.

5) GET ENOUGH SLEEP - Make time for power naps.  Getting enough sleep will help you perform better at work.

6) LEARN OFFICE ERGONOMIC BEST PRACTICES AND APPLY THEM AT WORK - Here is a short video from YouTube that will teach you some of the basics of office ergonomics.







Remember, health is wealth. You don't want to spend your hard-earned money on medicines, doctor's fees and hospitalization. Knowing the health hazards of working at home and how to overcome them, you can now adopt health and safety practices while on the job.

It's been four years since I first became a work-at-home professional.  I have peddled my services online and have earned quite a substantial income for my efforts.  First, I worked as a home-based call center agent, then a transcriptionist which I still am. I've enjoyed the comfort and convenience of working at home.

There have been some issues that I've had to deal with, though.  As I've mentioned in my previous blog post, loneliness is one of the challenges work-at-home professionals face, particularly if they're single. I have realized that I've been too busy for other things.  I seldom leave my work station.  I have a family to support so I have to earn every penny I can, but I also am a person and I have needs to fulfill.  I need to find a way to maximize my earnings while minimizing the time I spend in front of my laptop.

I've always wanted to be an online entrepreneur. That is why I have been reading about the different aspects of Internet marketing.  I'm particularly interested bum marketing because I have very little money to invest.  Probably, the most that I can afford right now is a domain for my online business.  I have been writing articles that I will sell and post on money-making sites such as Squidoo, Constant Content, etc.  I will use my earnings from this site to start my online business.  I know I won't get substantial results overnight, but I am willing to plod through the long road that I have to take.  Patience is the key to success in Internet marketing.  I will need tons of it.

I just hope that when I finally achieve results in my Internet marketing efforts, I'll have the time to workout (I've gained a lot of weight from sitting at my workstation the whole day), date and find myself a husband (teehee!).  I want to be able the things that I've always wanted to do.

In the coming days, I will be sharing what I have learned about article writing and article marketing.  I will still share some tips on finding a work-at-home job, but I will now focus my efforts more on Internet marketing.  I still am a transcriptionist and I will be maybe for another year. However, I must not limit myself. Neither should you. We should always strive to improve our lot. I hope you will walk with me through my journey. I want to learn from you, my readers, and also, I would like to share what I will discover along the way. Wish me luck and I wish the same to you.

You might be a busy bee like me and need to organize your time.  You may also need to be reminded of the tasks you need to do at a specific time.  Well, fortunately, there are free productivity tools on the Internet. Here are two things you can do to organize your tasks and your time using these productivity tools.

The first option is to download Mozilla Sunbird. This is a stand-alone calendar application from Mozilla, the makers of the Firefox browser.  If you already have Thunderbird, Mozilla's free email client, you can download Lightning, the extension that allows you to manage your schedule within the email client.

To add the Lightning extension to your Thunderbird mail client, follow these directions:

1) Go to the Lightning download page. Download the extension and save it to your desktop.

2) In your Thunderbird mail client, go to the Tools tab.  Choose "Add-ons." A little window will appear.  Click on the "Extensions" tab. At the lower left corner of the little window, you will find a link that says "Install."  Click on it.  From there, go to your desktop folder and look for the extension that you downloaded earlier.

You may need to play with the application to be familiar with it and to learn how to use it.

The other option is to go to the Remember the Milk website and create a free account. Remember the Milk is a web-based application that can help you organize your time and remind you of your tasks via SMS, email or instant messaging (Supported IMs: AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo!).  It has an intuitive user interface that makes the application easy to use. It even has a task cloud that lets you see what you have to do easily.  You can also share, send and publish your tasks with your contacts.  You can also use the map to see where your tasks need to be done (useful when you are in the U.S.) and therefore be able to come up with the best plan. You can sync Remember the Milk with your mobile device. It's currently available for iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile. You can be reminded via your cell phone and access Remember the Milk from there, but you'll need to upgrade to a Pro account. The fee is just a measly $25 a year though. If you have an iPhone, Remember the Milk is available at the iPhone App store.  I just signed up for a free account and I have yet to see how useful RTM is going to be to me.

I just shared two free productivity tools that you can use to organize your time and make sure that your tasks are accomplished.  You don't have to spend a single cent for them (unless you want to upgrade your RTM account) and quite easy to use.  Remember, time is money.  We might as well manage it well.

After months and months of silence, I'm back.  I have been busy with my job and with various projects.  I'm still a transcriptionist. Well, I've been trying my hand at Internet marketing and so far, I have yet to make a dime out of my projects.  I have also been studying SEO and I'm also into article writing and re-writing now.  I miss this blog.  Proactive Pro had already been ranked by Google, but because of my inactivity, it lost its page rank.

It's okay, though.  I have learned a lot during my hiatus from this blog.  I have learned how ignorant I was when I started Proactive Pro. One thing I've learned is that I've made a lot of mistakes with this blog.  My blog visits have gone past the 1,000 visitors mark.  No big deal, because I had been away since last August.  I've just changed my blog's look.  Thanks to the Template Designer of the new and improved Blogger.  I removed the Entrecard badge.  I'm trying to figure out whether I should put it back or if I'm better off without it.

I will make it a point to post something helpful or entertaining at least once a week in the days to come.  I hope I won't be forced to go into a long hiatus again.

Meet Nicholi. He doesn't own a web cam, so he goes to an Apple store, does his thing, records and uploads this video, enjoying himself without minding the people around him. Days later, he finds himself on "Good Morning America."  He's one of YouTube's emerging stars.

What can you learn from this kid?

The idea of working at home seems to be attractive to most people especially during these times with the rising cost of transportation.  Some think it must be pretty comfortable to work in one’s pajamas without a boss breathing down one’s neck or difficult coworkers to contend with.

However, is working at home really for everyone?  Here is a list of pros and cons to help you see if working at home is really for you:

PROS:

1. You get to spend more time with your family.  You’re closer to your kids, an aging parent or anybody you need to take care of.

2. You don’t have to spend for transportation.  You save a lot of money.

3. You don’t have to go through the hassles of commuting during the rush hour.  No traffic jams.  Your office is just a few steps from your bed.

4. You don’t have to dress up, primp yourself up and wear makeup (if you’re a lady).  This saves you more time and money.  Heck, you can even wear pajamas to work.

5. You usually enjoy flexibility when it comes to schedule.  This means that you can work at the time when you are most creative.  (However, this is not true in some cases.  In my case, my work has to begin at a certain time and I have to beat some tight deadlines.)

CONS:

1. Distraction is one of the worst enemies of a work-at-home professional.  There are always chores that beg to be done at home.  There are always “emergencies” that need to be attended to (Sometimes, it’s just a neighbor who needs to borrow your measuring cup).  Also, there is the temptation to engage in non-work related activities like surfing for fun, reading personal e-mails, playing games, etc.

2. There is a lack of human interaction.  Boredom and loneliness could be a problem to most work-at-home professionals.  As I’ve said in my previous post, working at home can be very isolating. Also, there is very little opportunity to engage in healthy professional competition which could contribute significantly to professional growth.

3. No work, no pay.  You don’t enjoy a regular paycheck.  If you get sick and can’t work, you don’t earn.  Most work-at-home professionals work on a per-project basis.  Sometimes, the job ends when the project ends, so looking for a new client could be a problem.

4. You own the equipment that you use.  Sometimes, you have to rely on yourself for the troubleshooting.  You don’t have technical support unless you pay for it (unless you know somebody who would be willing to render technical services for free).  You are solely responsible for the repair and maintenance of your equipment.

5. Your image is less professional.  This can be a problem for work-at-home call center representatives and virtual assistants who need to interact with the clients’ customers.  Oftentimes, when the dogs bark or the kids cry, the person at the other end of the line gets turned off, which could mean lost business for your client and, potentially, lost business for you.

Some of the CONS May be Overcome.  Here’s how:

1. Develop self-discipline.  Self discipline is the number one trait that work-at-home professionals should develop.   When you have self-discipline, you are better able to overcome distractions.  There are also some techniques to maintain focus while on the job.  For more on this, read my previous post “Focus on Focus.”

2. Have a workplace that is free from distractions and noise.  As much as possible, don’t make your bedroom your office.  Talk to your kids and tell them that your home office is off limits.  Tell your family that you should not be disturbed unless there’s a life-and-death situation.  Perhaps, the dog can stay outside while you work.  If you can sound-proof your office, that would be great.

3. Look for long-term clients and keep them satisfied.  That way, you won’t have to worry about being out of work.  If you have an account with oDesk, Scriptlance and other similar sites, you should gather positive feedback from clients.  That way, other potential clients would not hesitate to hire you or they may even look for you.

4. The key to overcoming loneliness on the job is balance.  Working at home can blur the line between your professional life and your personal life.  We should not make our lives all about work.  For more on this, read my previous post, “Loneliness: A Challenge to Overcome.”

5. Invest in durable equipments so you won’t always have to go to the computer shop to have your computer repaired.  Perform regular PC maintenance.  It would be also be good to invest in good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. However, there are free alternatives that work well.  For a list of good Internet security and anti-virus, software click here.  I also have a blog post on PC maintenance tasks, which is right below this post.

Still not sure if working at home is for you?  Here’s an article from ABC News that lists some questions that you need to ask yourself.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=1059972