Working at home can be tricky. While there are many perks to working from home, there are also so many distractions that can take you away from the actual work. But with a little planning, you can have the best of both worlds. Here are 9 tips to make working at home run smoothly:
1. Establish a morning routine: When you commuted to the office, you probably had a morning routine. Continue one now. “Get up, shower, eat breakfast, then go to work even if that just means going to the part of the house where you do work/have your computer,” says Robert Gilbreath, vice president of marketing of ShipStation.com.
2. Stick to a schedule: Remember you are going to the office, albeit your home office. “You know what time you start. You know what time you end. You know that this is your period for high productivity,” notes CEO and career coach Lee Evans, of employment site Free-Job-Search-Websites. You turn to various tools to help keep you on schedule. “Use time trackers like Klok to make sure you are staying on track. A lot of times, it feels like you have put a full day of work in, but between the kids and other household duties, it might turn out that you haven’t. Klok keeps you honest with yourself,” suggests Brandon Kay, co-founder, SmartIntern. Or, he offers, “sign up for a service like Motivateer, which features a daily phone call to ensure that you are staying motivated and on track.”
3. Factor in break time: Get up from your desk and do something else. In a traditional office setting, you have your co-workers to mingle with. At home, you have to make down time as well. “Give yourself a ‘break time’ in the morning for 15-30 minutes and in the afternoon for 15-30 minutes, and limit your laundry, cleaning and other households tasks for those times,” says Nora Schaper, president/owner/operator of Bodylish body care, which she runs out of her home.
