4 Tips to Work From Home Successfully
Working from home is a dream scenario to most – more flexibility, no commute, and more time with family. But once you’ve landed a home based job, how are you successful in it? It’s not quite the same as a traditional office job, so different things need to be considered.
Read along for some of our tips to ensure success in a work from home position.
Clear distractions
As much as possible, clear distractions from your home and work time. If you know you’re going to be on an important call, place a note on the door to ask people to not ring the doorbell. If you have dogs, exercise them early and put them in their crates or on beds when you’re trying to get work done.
If your kids are home on summer break, work out some playdates or child care when you really need to focus. Often times we can manage to fit all of this into our work days, but sometimes we need a break. Keep in mind, if you worked in a traditional office, you wouldn’t have the same distractions.
Be independent
Being a successful home based employee comes down to working independently. Sure, you may have a supervisor or head boss that you report to, but it likely isn’t regulated the same way as an office job.
To get work done, stay on track, and avoid overwhelm, it’s so crucial that you manage yourself. Keep tabs on how you’re spending your work time with a simple spreadsheet, and make to do lists your friend!
However, independence doesn’t need to carry over into your personal life. Be sure that you’re making time to be social and get together with co-workers or other home based workers when you can.
Manage yourself
Along with being independent, in a lot of cases you might have to manage yourself. Some home based positions tend to be more freelance in nature, so while you have a “boss,” it’s not in the same way.
Manage yourself with to do lists, as well as clear check ins with your immediate supervisor. Whether it’s a daily summary of work or a weekly check-in call, it’s up to you and your boss. You can create a schedule of communication that works for all involved, and this will allow you to stay on track with your employer.
Motivate yourself
Working from home offers a host of benefits, but motivation can be hard to come by. It can be tempting to spend the day watching Netflix, or doing something fun with your kids. While this can be part of your day from time to time, you are still working from home.
Do your best to save other activities for breaks or after work hours. When you commit to a typical workday and a set amount of time and hours, you’re providing yourself with the structure and boundaries to get things done.
Staying motivated to do your work will come from having a solid schedule and process for accomplishing tasks. This may be challenging at first, but once you find your rhythm, it’s easy to stay on track!
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