Working from home can be highly rewarding and fulfilling. It’s also a hot-button issue with many others who are not quite so supportive of your efforts. No matter what the reasons (jealousy, worry, fear, honest concern, or insecurities of their own), those Negative Nellies can leave you feeling deflated and unmotivated to achieve the success that’s waiting for you. Here's how to properly deal with that negativity and get back to your productivity.

Explore the Cause of the Negativity

Sometimes, there are valid issues at the center of the negative comments and attitudes coming from family and friends. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Have you established office hours? Are you keeping them? Are you making time for friends and family or have you become chained to your computer at all hours of the day and night? Are you making money yet? Or, are you investing money into your business hand over fist with nothing to show for it?

Other causes of negativity are generally petty and sometimes spiteful in nature. They include things like feelings of jealousy, inadequacy, and inferiority. Then there are some people who are simply negative.

Knowing why people are behaving negatively towards the idea of you working from home can help you more effectively manage their attitudes.

Ask Them To Stop

Sometimes, people don’t even realize they’re behaving negatively. As odd as it seems, it’s true. They’ve just fallen into a rut of seeing the glass half empty and it spills over into conversations and attitudes about other people as well.

If this is the case for your friends and/or family, it may not end with the request on your part to stop. The request may have a backlash of its own, but it’s better to point it out and ask them to stop in an effort to save the relationship than to allow the relationship to be destroyed without trying.

When it works, it may be a gradual effort on the part of your friend or family member but it can certainly salvage the relationship.

Focus on Your Success Instead of Their Shortcomings

It hurts when you feel as though people you love are being overly harsh and critical. There’s no denying that. However, if you turn that hurt into productive energy, you can prove the naysayers wrong while making your business stronger than ever before at the same time.

The real key is to prevent their negative attitudes from becoming your own negative attitude. The more you work on your ability to remain positive and devote yourself to your work, the better your income and the brighter your future will be.

Distance Yourself From the Negativity

Unless close family members, like your spouse or your children, are the people being negative, it may be in your best interest to distance yourself from the negative people in your life. This doesn’t mean you need to cut them out of your life completely. It only means that you need to limit your exposure to them and their poisonous thoughts and attitudes.

Your responsibility is to your immediate family and to yourself. Knowing that negativity is contagious, it is sometimes best to step back and find more positive influences for yourself, your business, and the people who matter most to you.