“The early bird gets the worm. A good start is half the battle. Early to bed and early to rise…”
Okay I’ll stop now before this becomes irritating but you get the idea. There is a reason why so many maxims about the benefits of getting up early exist: because it’s true. Yes avoiding the morning commute and having a leisurely cup of coffee when others are huddled together on public transport or bumper to bumper in traffic is one of the principal privileges of working from home however if you linger beneath the covers and that breakfast becomes more relaxed than it should, before you know it it will be 10.30 and you won’t have completed anything. Inertia begins to creep in. It’s almost time for lunch and your stomach begins to hint. So get up and get at it before time begins to tick away.
I can feel those of you who don’t function before coffee shaking your head at me as I type this but hear me out. Instead of getting up, showering and having breakfast before starting to work, do the reverse.
Get up and immediately complete one or two tasks. Then having breakfast and a shower will feel like a reward that you have earned rather than just something else you have to do. Plus if you mentally re-connect with your work in the morning it gives your subconscious the opportunity to work on ideas as you have your breakfast and shower. Then when you return to the desk you may find your productivity spike.
If you are working for a company but you mostly, or entirely, work from home do your best to keep in touch and maintain relationships with your colleagues. “Out of sight, out of mind”, as the old saying goes and that goes for promotions, wage increases and even, whisper it, a little office gossip that keeps you in the loop.
So think for a moment before you send that email to Karen. Perhaps a phone call might be warmer? The drive to the office might never seem appealing but the chat with your co-workers might be just the tonic you need. In short: don’t be a stranger and maintain your connections with your work base.
Working from home can cut us off from one of our main sources of adult interaction, for good or for bad, depending on how much you liked your colleagues. However the fact remains that we humans are social animals so avoid becoming a hermit.
If you live a family life of course you will see them on a daily basis in most cases but it’s important to maintain our friendships and healthy to belong to groups or clubs as well. Variety of company helps to keep us sane, improves our relationships with those closest to us and can be vital in helping us to maintain our mental health when we spend more time in solitude as working from home by definition requires.
This is a specific piece of advice that comes from a broader ‘make sure you are self-sufficient before you start to work for yourself’ school of advice. Make sure you have prepared the space, the internet connections, your family arrangements and so on but remember working from home is dependent on your computer and the internet functioning correctly and when things go awry you can’t ring technical support and have them sort things out. This article by Kerry Hannon on tips for working from home for Forbes magazine broaches the idea of buttering someone in the IT department up just in case but if you can’t find that special IT someone it would be a good idea to make sure you are ready to go it alone.
Having a designated office space helps you to differentiate between your home and your workplace and provides you with an environment which sets the necessary tone of discipline and professionalism. That’s not to say that it’s a pyjamas free zone.
You make the rules but try to honest with yourself regarding your own self-discipline levels and nip bad habits in the bud. If you find you work better fully dressed, even in office appropriate attire, then do what is necessary.
As well as creating a mental threshold for yourself having a designated office space can also be an important element of setting boundaries for other people who share your living space whether it be family or room mates.
Part of working from home is establishing that you are not permanently available to those around you and that if they do come calling on your office door that it should be for something important.
Writing this I am reminded of something my niece said when she was very young. We asked her where her mommy was and she said “She’s at work”. Then we asked her where daddy worked, my brother was at that time working from home, to which she replied, “Daddy doesn’t work”. My brother has since rented his own office space and things have never been better. Looking back the signs where there.
Having a designated office space may mean you also qualify for tax relief on business expenses and you don’t need to be completely self-employed to qualify. You may also be eligible if you work for a company as long as you spend more than 50% of your time working from home or you earn more than 50% of your salary from commission as well as having a specific part of your home that is a dedicated office space. For more information take a look at this article.
While your office space may be a fundamental tool in establishing boundaries regarding your workspace and times with the people you live with nothing beats good old fashioned communication. This really is a two way street. While you have a right to work from home they have a right to live at home, so seek to negotiate a happy medium and be as respectful of their rights as you hope they will be of yours.
In the absence of a tranquil, relaxing home working environment consider moving or, more cost-effectively, invest in a set of very good earphones or headphones.
Exercise. Change your workspace. Take a walk. Meet a friend for coffee. As with everything working from home brings with it positives and negatives so if you are going to give up the company of your colleagues, be sure to make the most of your new environment.
Working from home offers you incredible freedom so take advantage of it. Stretch beside your desk to alleviate the build-up of back pain. Take an energising walk with your dog and come back feeling refreshed. You can do some push ups and sit ups without anyone looking! Meet a friend for coffee and keep working in the café after they have left.
The point I want to make is this – use the advantages in ways that will nourish your health, fitness and overall wellbeing. Be conscious of your decisions and make positive ones.
Just as the power of the internet is our greatest friend in making all of this possible, so is it our darkest enemy who threatens to drag us from the summit of productive home-working to the deepest pits of procrastination.
So beware of and resist the urge. Look at installing barrier systems to inhibit your use of social media while you work. Social media blocking apps such as Freedom, Cold Turkey and Self Control may help you to stay productive and disciplined.
Written for CareerJunction by Mark Dempsey.
