So you work at home. How satisfying is it for you?  Has it been as wonderful as you expected it to be or has it been a disappointment?

Most people who start a work at home career and enjoy being an important part of their children's lives and working in their bedroom slippers say they never want to go back to that nightmare of a workspace office that they used to drag themselves to everyday. Most people LOVE their work at home lifestyle.

But if your work at home lifestyle isn't everything you ever dreamed of, maybe it's time to look at your work at home situation to find out what may be detracting from the pleasure of your work at home experience.

Here's my list of Top 5 "Work at home Joy Stealers" and what to do about them.  Could something on this list help you become more happy with your work at home lifestyle?

"Now that I work at home I'm having more stress, not less!"

• This complaint is most commonly heard from parents who work at home while their kids are also at home. If you're a work at home mom or work at home parent, the chances are that the whole reason you wanted to work at home in the first place was to be near your children. But now that you are, you may find yourself completely shocked to find out that working at home with your kids is actually very stressful! If you have a work at home career that requires quiet so that you can concentrate or communicate on the phone, you MUST make sure that your work at home job and your children can co-exist peacefully in the same household or you will certainly experience great stress.  If you have very young children who can not be taught when not to cry or make other noise, you may need a work at home job that can be done with flexible hours while the children are asleep or when there is another caregiver in the household to care for the children.  When you work at home, you must be able to work without the fear of interruption, except in an emergency, of course. If your children are older and can be taught that while you're working they are to do their homework or play quietly and not interrupt you, by all means this should be taught and enforced.  Let your kids know that you have responsibilities and that your work at home career is important to you and you need their help. Let them know that in an emergency you are absolutely there for them, but at all other times when you're working, you're working and you need to have your own quiet time in which to work without interruption.

  "Hello, is anybody out there?"  

• When you work at home, sometimes you can start to feel somewhat isolated from the world.  If your work at home job involves alot of communication with other people, especially by phone, or you sometimes get out of the house to meet people or run erranDs, you're less likely feel this way. But if you work at home alone most of the time and you feel isolated, there are things you can do to feel more connected to the world. Pick up the phone and call your co-workers intead of emailing them.  (They may appreciate your voice as much as you appreciate hearing theirs and the whole talk will do you both good.) If you don't have co-workers you can call, take little breaks and call your friends or family. Although watching the news is like taking a poisonous negativity pill, if you work at home watching the news may help you feel more connected to the world outside your home.  If you work at home and don't have much human contact, try building some out of home experience into your daily routine.  A daily walk with neighbors or a friend, or a daily trip to the gourmet coffee shop for a fancy coffee beverage may be just the trick to help you feel more connected.

  "I hate my work at home job."

• Reasons for hating your job, whether you work at home or not, can be almost endless. First, check the usual suspects.  If you work at home you probably don't have co-workers with bad body odor or a boss who spits at you everytime he speaks, but you may have a boss who calls you at all hours or is abusive to you on the phone.  Someone or something else about your job may be trampling on your boundaries or treating you unfairly and making you angry. Try to identify these types of irritants and eliminate them. Even if you work at home, sometimes you're just in the wrong job. If you're a creative type who hates numbers and you work at home doing a lot of spreadsheet work, you may have a simple case of incompatibility. Maybe your work at home career isn't stimulating enough for you. Maybe your work at home job is too overwhelming and you hate your job because it's impossible for you to ever catch up. Another often unrecognized source of major job dissatisfaction is because your job is having a negative effect on your self-esteem. Make sure you're doing your job as best as you possibly can; it will be a positive boost for your self-esteem. If you work at home and you don't enjoy your job, try to identify the actual reasons that you don't like your job and then make the change necessary to solve the problem.

  "Okay, this work at home lifestyle is BORING.  Somebody save me!"  

• When you work at home you have the luxury of having less stress. Less stress from the commute.  Less stress from co-workers.  Less stress from Mr. or Ms. Boss. Less stress from interacting with a busy world every day. It may be possible that your luxurious work at home lifestyle is too luxurious and it's boring you to death. Try changing your routine, adding more human contact, adding more time outside the home, or my favorite trick: try to get all your work done in less time than you're currently getting it done.  Push yourself hard to finish the work.  Not only will your work at home job become instantly more interesting, but you'll suddenly have alot of extra time and you can do something very interesting with it!

  "I can't work at home. I can't stop goofing off."

• Some work at home careers involve a specific schedule or some type of outer force that drives the work inside your home, such as a business phone that just starts ringing and ringing. Other people who work at home find themselves completely responsible for having the initiative to get themselves to their work area and work. As adults we all have a responsibility to be financially responsible: to pay our debts, feed and care for ourselves and our families and earn enough money to support our lifestyle without being a burden to anyone. If those aren't enough reasons for you to get up every morning and do your work, you need more than this article to help you!  But sometimes it's just an adjustment. Designate a specific time of the day that you will work at home and a specific time that you will not work. Start today. Make a deal with yourself to work at the designated time and not work at that designated time.  Keep your deal with yourself.

It's amazing sometimes how little time we spend with ourselves looking inside to find out what makes us happy, what changes we could make to be happier or feel more satisifed with life. You made a big change with you found your work at home opportunity and started working at home.  If you're not enjoying it as much as you thought, maybe it's time to look inside and ask youself why. Once you know the problem you can spend a little bit more time implementing the solution.

If you work at home and take the time to customize your lifestyle to fit the needs of you and your family, then you really will have it all!