How to WIN at Working From Home
In today’s era, more and more of us are working from home. The digital era is ending the need for people to commute into the office. We now have the opportunity to work without being confined to an office.
And for most people, being able to work from home is a relatively new option!
If you’re looking into a work-from-home position or are about to start one for yourself, it’s a beautiful thing! You’ve instantly saved yourself a ton of time, gas, and money. You also probably earned at least an extra 30 minutes of sleep (or free time) every morning.
Companies that offer remote positions often find that work-from-home employees are more productive. That makes working from home a GREAT opportunity to increase:
Flexibility
Minimize travel time
Maximize your time
And, while you have avoided an office full of distractions, you did just add a house full of distractions to your plate. Be mindful that there are some downfalls to working from home::
With minimal human interaction, there’s more of a risk of isolation, loneliness, and depression
Dogs barking and neighborhood noises that might be unpredictable
You don't really MOVE, so book in time to exercise
It may be easier to procrastinate
Blurry lines between work and personal life
Getting distracted by household chores
With a whole new set of obstacles that come along with working from home, let’s talk about how you can WIN at working from home and enjoy an entirely new professional experience.
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS WHEN YOU WORK FROM HOME
We’re so acclimated to office life that the distractions and culture of that environment are something we should anticipate. When we start working from home, everything is new.
Suddenly, you’re repurposing a lot of your personal space to use for your professional life. Here are some of my top tips for how you can set yourself up to work from home successfully:
Create a separate space in your house. Your work area should be a designated comfortable, reliable, and quiet place for you to do your work.
Absolutely plan a few days a month where you will go to a coworking space or coffee shop to work and see some human faces.
Build a community of like-minded friends to get you outside of the house & that will hold you accountable to your work too.
Build in a routine for exercise because you are taking minimal steps by just sitting at your house all day. You can even set an alarm to remind you to stand up and move around every 30 mins. Or you can get a watch to measure your step count and aim for 10,000 steps per day.
Schedule or outsource cleaning the house. Just because you work from home does not mean you have extra time to clean or that you should take breaks to do laundry throughout the day. Schedule your gardeners, cleaners, pool cleaners, etc during times when you are not on calls or need absolute silence in your work environment.
Pretend you are going into the office every morning and dress the part.
Minimize the noise around you. Get a dog walker, put up a sign not to ring your doorbell for packages, or lock your office while you work to keep guests out.
To minimize distraction, put your cell phone on silent away from your desk. Keep it on airplane mode if you have to and only look at your phone during allotted times. Block off time on your calendar to look at your phone if you have to.
Do minimal multitasking! Folding laundry & taking a client call is really a no-no if you want to prevent mistakes.
Since you are not in the same space as each other, it might be easy to get disconnected from projects. Set up weekly calls or email check ins with your direct reports to ensure your expectations are being met
Have a way to connect with your team instantly, such as Skype or Slack
Taking all of these tips to heart will help you make working from home an enjoyable and successful experience.
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