Compelling workers to work from their employer’s premises is now a much less prevalent employer philosophy and, in your job, you may find yourself faced, possibly for the very first time, by the prospect of remote working.
I personally spend a considerable amount of time working from home. I find I’m much more productive than in an office when it seems like every minute of every day somebody wants to interrupt me!
Here are my personal 10 top tips for working from home:
- Establish a routine. Don’t let chaos reign. Try to work set hours with set breaks and don’t give in to interruptions.
- Don’t allow the boundaries between your working life and your private life to become blurred. Keep the two as separate as you can.
- Brush your teeth, have a shower, get dressed, etc. in the morning before you start work, just as if you were going to a ‘real’ office. Get in the right frame of mind for work.
- Try to work in a completely separate room – preferably one where you can close the door (a) to keep disturbances out and (b) to keep the work in and out of sight!
- Avoid having a TV in the room where you work – and certainly avoid having the TV on whilst you work!
- You may find work more enjoyable with music in the background but make sure you turn it off whenever you are on the telephone.
- Recognise that you will be responsible for motivating yourself and maintaining self-discipline. Make a continual conscious effort in this respect.
- Be aware that you might well suffer from feelings of loneliness and isolation. If this is the case then take positive steps to counteract this, such as seeing friends for lunch.
- Make sure your friends and family (and maybe you too!) understand and appreciate that working from home means that you will actually be working. It’s not a sort of semi day off!
- Don’t allow others to make you feel as if working from home doesn’t constitute real work. Home workers often work pretty hard – and are generally highly productive.
