1. Separation of work and family life, both in relation to space and time
2. Not enough space
3. Not being taken seriously
4. Distractions
5. Lack of privacy
6. Strain on family relationships
7. Tendency to work too much
8. Feelings of isolation
9. Poor self-management or self-discipline
10. Zoning; home- or condominium-association regulations

You'll notice half these problems involve mixing--or not mixing--work with home life. Personally, we've
found the solution to most of these problems is creating a physically separate space for our office, usually
a separate room. When that wasn't possible, we used a screen or other means to separate work space
within a room from personal areas. We found more than half the people working from home prefer to mix
or integrate their work space with their nonwork lives. We call such people "Integrators," and they
outnumber the "Segregators," like ourselves, 55 to 33 percent.

Work-at-home Integrators thrive on meshing their business, child-care and household tasks. They work in
multiple rooms of their homes and keep flexible hours. Segregators, on the other hand, thrive when the
business and personal facets of their lives are separated physically, intellectually and by the clock. Either
type can work successfully with a home-based business. The important thing is to determine whether
you're an Integrator or a Segregator, and structure your time and your space accordingly.

Segregators need to set up a dedicated home office away from the main traffic flow of the house. Having
fixed business hours also makes sense, as does getting other family members to agree to help you keep
them. Even Integrators should establish one desk at which they do most of their work, and designate other
spaces in the home for additional work. This helps you keep your papers in dedicated spots so your
business doesn't take over your entire house.