There are many job opportunities offered these days where you work from home. Some people spend their entire careers cased from home, while other may only do so sporadically. However, some people find it rather difficult to get work done from home due to the tremendous amount of distractions. When you work in an office, you receive a regimented schedule, coworkers give you social interaction, and a boss gives you accountability. You don’t have these things when you work from home, so how in the world is anyone supposed to get any proper work done? The answer is that you need to find ways to make yourself accountable. Here are some tips you may be able to utilize when you work from home.
Wake up early. This may be the hardest part about working from home. When you don’t have an office to go to, you might be less than motivated to get up early in the morning and start your work. You might want to wake up later in the day, but it isn’t worth it. You need to train yourself to get up on time like you do with a more traditional job so that you will get into a routine that encourages productivity. Studies have shown that waking up early turns you into a more productive person.
Put on actual clothes. Another thing that might be incredibly tempting to do when you work from home is to wear the most comfortable clothes you own whenever you can. When you put on a certain item of clothing it is common to adopt the characteristics associated with that garment. In other words, if you are content to wear lazy clothes all day long when you work from home, you are probably more likely to act lazy throughout the day, and therefore you get less done. Now there is a limit here. I’m not suggesting that you have to wear a suit and tie every day or anything, but I am suggesting putting on actual pants.
Don’t work where you sleep. If wearing pajamas makes you lazier while working, working in bed triples that effect at the very least. It will also cause you more stress if you work in the same place that you sleep. It’s all about having a dedicated space of your own. A work room, for work only. Now I get that not everyone has space that they can dedicate to that. But if you do have the space, you should use it.
Make a schedule. Most people understand this, and maybe they even write one up, but they don’t follow through with it. However, most people will now be able to function properly working from home if they don’t have at least somewhat of a regimented schedule that guides them. The schedule usually depends on the job that you have. When you are first starting out, it may be helpful to actually write a schedule down.
Make outside interactions. Whether it is going on a walk around the neighborhood or going out with one of your friends, it needs to be done. You might start to feel really cooped up and blocked off if you don’t get out of the house every once and while. Even if it is just going to get groceries and talking with the cashier, something is better than nothing.
Working from home isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure. There are a lot of negatives that go along with the positives of working at home. There are plenty of things that you can do to make it easier for you to get your work done. These are just a few things. But it’s all about personal discipline, and finding the motivation to enjoy your work at home.
Resources:
http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/07/research-says-morning-people-are-more-proactive.html