Top Tips For Those Working From Home

On paper working from home is a great idea, you can wake up five minutes before needing to start work, you can stay in your PJ’s if you want and you can write articles and have conference calls from the comfort of your bed.

But working from home isn’t without its difficulties and trying to balance your personal space and work space can be tricky to master.

Here are some top tips if you’re someone who works from home:

Have a dedicated place to work

It’s important to separate your work space and your personal space to create a difference between the two. If you’ve got a spare room this can work well as an office, but if not get a desk somewhere which is only used when you work.

By separating the areas you’ll feel far more relaxed in your leisure areas and less likely to grab your laptop and check your emails when sat on the sofa.

Create a daily work schedule

By creating a daily work schedule and separating out the things you need to do into chunks you’ll find yourself far more productive than just heading to your laptop and winging it.

Having a structure to your day will help to prevent procrastination and stop you getting sidetracked by cat videos on YouTube or that new episode of Orange Is The New Black.

Set an end work time

Much like you have a finish work time you should create the same thing for when you’re working from home. Say to yourself that at 5.30pm you’re going to move away from your work area and relax, if you don’t you’re likely to get sucked into the notion of always working.

If clients and colleagues see you replying to emails at 8pm they’ll start to expect replies when they also e-mail at this time.

Set boundaries with your friends and family

Yes, you might find you have the odd social engagement during the ‘working day’ but for the success of working from home, you need to ensure that your friends and family know you are in fact working. The last thing you want are family members turning up invited during the middle of the day for a catch-up or a friend constantly calling when their sitter lets them down, because let’s face it you’re only sitting at home. Getting into good habits will ensure you manage to successfully work from home.

Schedule breaks during your day

A lot of people find themselves attached to their computers all day when they work from home and this can decrease overall productivity. Schedule small breaks during your day to grab a cup of tea or go for a quick walk. Make sure you take a regular lunch break just like you would at any other job, the plus being you can take it at any time.

When engrossed in work you might not even realise you are getting tired, hungry or need the toilet, so set an alarm if you feel you’ll forget to take a break.

Get up and get dressed

While it might be tempting to roll out of bed the moment you should start work and work away in your PJ’s it will do nothing for your productivity. If it would take you an hour to get ready to go to work, set an alarm for an hour before you want to start.

Have a shower and put on fresh clothes as you’ll feel far more motivated to work when you’re awake, feeling fresh and not sat in your Disney PJ’s and bed hair.

Stay connected

While you’re not in an office environment you might lose the social aspect of working with others so make sure you stay connected with colleagues, clients and friends and network accordingly. This could be through forums, Linkedin or just emails but don’t let this take over your day.

Start preparing for your taxes

If you’re self-employed then it’s never too early to start preparing for your taxes. Keep a spreadsheet of all your payments coming in alongside invoice numbers and dates, and also log all your outgoings.

Remember if you work from a separate room which is your office you can even claim for part of your rent/ mortgage. Keep filled and labelled any receipts or invoices you’re going to use as expenses. You’ll be thankful when it comes time to file them.

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