How to successfully work from home

Working from home has advantages and disadvantages.

Some of the good points are:

• you set your own schedule
• you can take a break when you want – and the kitchen is close by (maybe too close!)
• you don’t have to dress up
• save time and money by not travelling
• save money by not having to eat out at lunch time

A few of the negatives are:

• it can get lonely
• if you don’t have good self-discipline it’s easy to find reasons not to work
• if you’re self-employed you have to generate the work which can be harder when you’re at home
• if you don’t have a dedicated room for your office it can be distracting especially if there are family members around

I have been working from home as a website designer for 17 years and whilst I’m pretty good at self-discipline there are times when I will just walk away for an hour or two. Working in front of the computer all day is draining and being alone it’s often easy to forget to stop, stretch and look around! No chatting with colleagues in the kitchen/canteen. There have been times, especially in the winter, when I’ve realised I haven’t actually set foot outside the door for 3 or 4 days!

With this in mind, the following are things I have found to be useful and have become (mostly) part of my routine:

1. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you should sit around in tracksuits or PJs. I always get showered and dressed as if I were going out of the house – not necessarily dressing as well as I would for an office but definitely with that in mind.
2. Have a set schedule. Sometimes you’ll break the schedule but overall it’s better to have a framework of a schedule which I find helps stop me from skiving off! Have a start-time, break-time, lunch etc. And working from home you can always start earlier! There have been times when I’ve woken up at 6am, got up and been at work by 7am – when normally I’m not at work until 8.30 or 9.00. 9.00am tends to be the latest I like to start especially as I have clients who might be expecting me to answer emails of telephone calls.
3. When you first sit down to work in the morning write a to-do list. This is very important as a) it helps concentrate your attention on what needs to be done so you don’t get distracted and b) it gives you a sense of accomplishment to see things ticked off. I even go so far as to write down things I did during the day (that I had included first thing) and ticked them off so I know I’m definitely getting things done.
4. TAKE BREAKS! This is especially important if you’re working at a computer because it’s so easy to forget to do when you’re on your own. These are short breaks – get up, do a few knee bends, stretch, walk around a bit – just enough to get the body moving a little before continuing.
5. If you’re feeling particularly rough for some reason then take a break and go out. Go to your local coffee house and have a drink, look around at the people and just get your attention away from what you were doing. Although it might seem like you’re wasting time it will help you in the long run and you’ll be more productive later.
6. Go for a walk. This can be at a time of day that suits you best. I’ve gone through periods where I’ll go for a walk at the end of the day just to get my attention out and away from what I’ve been working on. I’ve also gone for a walk in the morning as if I was “walking to work” – this is a good way to give the day a real start.
7. Exercise. Include some kind of exercise every day. If you like going to the gym this is a good way of getting out of the house. Or perhaps walking in the woods, going to an exercise class, riding a bike etc. I personally like to use exercise DVDs and have quite a collection!
8. Limit your use of social media! It is soooo easy to go on Facebook, end up clicking on an advert or video and before you know it you’ve visited a number of different websites, watched a bunch of videos and an hour has gone by! I have to admit to checking Facebook first thing while my email is downloading and then after lunch. I use social media for work purposes so I definitely get distracted at times.
9. Set yourself a cut-off point at the end of the day. This may sound obvious and maybe you’re the sort of person who can’t wait till 5pm to down tools. However, when working from home it’s very easy to just keep going, just finish this last bit, check emails again etc. Of course you could spend the evening finishing the job for a client but only in extreme cases should this be done. You have a life – live it!