Working from home has become more popular in recent years. However, since working from home tends to blur the boundaries between work and personal life it can be a dream come true or a nightmare. Here are the top 7 tips for Effective Working from Home:
Have Your Own Work Space
It would be great if you could have a space, preferable a room in your house that you could use for working. You could organise it into a small office: put in a desk, a computer, have a telephone line and some shelves for filing. Thus you will put yourself in ‘work’ mode once you have entered the room.
Organise Your Work around Your Natural Schedule
When working at home you may have the luxury of making your own schedule. You might need to take your kids to school or walk the dog, so why don’t you organise your work around those activities? Make sure your boss is aware of the structure of your day in case he needs to contact you.
Make a To Do List
When working from home you are more likely to get distracted than when working in the office. If you are having trouble deciding what you need to do, you could lose motivation and end up drifting off your work. Making a to-do list will allow you to plan out what you need to achieve during the day, and the best time to do it. If you know what you what to achieve, it helps you keep focused and makes you feel good as you are making progress towards your objectives.
Keep Back Up Copies
It always a good idea to keep a copy of any files you need in case anything happens to your Internet connection and you need your files. When transferring any files it’s advisable that the data is protected, so encrypt it.
Keep in Contact with Colleagues
When you work from home you can sometimes feel isolated from your colleagues, therefore keep in contact with them on a regular basis. It will help you to be informed about any changes in the company, or projects you are working on. Make sure you have different technology in place, such as phone, email, instant messaging, so that if one way of communication goes down, you still can be reached.
Make Sure That Your Family Know You Are There to Work
There are things around the house that could potentially distract you from your work, such as doing chores or playing with your children. Have a talk with your family to let them know that even though you are at home you are unavailable to play or help at the present time.
Take Breaks & Don’t Overwork Yourself
If you follow the tips above, working from home will be a lot more productive, but don’t forget to take breaks every so often, go have a cup of tea or just stretch your legs. This helps you feel more motivated to carry on with the rest of the day, whereas you could give yourself a headache looking at the screen all day.
Once you have finished working for the day you can now sit back and relax. But if you cannot stop thinking about a task you need to do, or a new idea you have then the best thing to do is make a note of it and come back tomorrow. Don’t start working again, enjoy being home.
Check out our Time Management Articles for more information about managing your time.