Helping family understand home office balance

Communication is the key. Keep the family informed and involved in what you're doing and how you have to juggle all of the pieces of your life - and theirs.

If you don't see progress from casual communication, plan and hold family "business meetings" to get everyone on the same page. Like any company manager, "home officers" are business owners who must be in sync with their home-based team.

Help them understand your issues, which are that your home office is a place of business and is not a playroom or a retreat for the family.

When you have these talks, be sure to ask for, and listen to, their side of the story. Living with a home office under the same roof as where they live is not easy for them, either.

Let the communicating begin.