10 Best Tips You Have to Know Working from Home
Are you about to quit your job because you want to start work from home?
Perhaps, you got enough of your corporate life and wanted to have more personal freedom?
It sounds so easy and simple, and something many of us want!
Imagine your mornings! Going from your kitchen to your office with a fresh cup of coffee, in pajamas and slippers, ready for work. Perhaps you regret it and want to slumber for another hour in bed before heading to do some work.
It sounds, like a dream right? The imagination many people have before they start. It is also the picture marketers use to sell their products, how you can grow your own business from your house.
When I got started, I had the same picture and dreams. I too saw myself wandering around with my coffee settling in for work, in my tempo.
Back then I was sick and tired of spending hours behind the wheel just getting to work. The opportunity to work from my house was a dream come true for me.
However, I quickly learned that with that type of freedom comes great responsibility. If you don’t take responsibility, it may all go wrong, and you will be heading back to corporate life.
With this article, I will describe some of the hurdles I went through getting started working from home. I hope you will find all my advice useful, in creating your business from home.
Don’t Do the Dishes When Working From Home
It is so easy to get caught up doing something you are not supposed to do when working from home!
Sometimes when you are stuck with your tasks, a sudden desire to do something other than work occurs. I am talking about things like doing the dishes, cleaning the house, or something completely irrelevant.
My advice! Don’t fall into the temptation just stick to your work and overcome whatever block you may. If you are stuck, then do some work that is easier to do until you get your inspiration back. But stay away from doing the dishes.
If you are still completely stuck, you could get started to do some backup of sites, documents, images, etc. Some of the stuff you should have done a long time ago. And again, don’t do the dishes.
Expectations From Your Family
A problem a lot of working from home people run into is the expectations their family puts upon them. They think that now you are home all the time, you will have plenty of time to do the dishes, clean the house, and pick up the kids.
But you don’t have the time; you are busy growing your business.
Set Your Limits So Everybody Understands It
When you get started, you must point out to your friends and family how it is going to be. That you tell everyone that it is your business and you have to take care of it.
Tell them, that they have to respect that you are not available during your working hours, the same way as if you had a regular job.
Write it down on paper and make sure everybody understands it and will respect your working hours.
Create a Balance Between Work, Life, and Family
A significant advantage of working from home is that you can set up your working hours just the way you want it. However, you may want to take into consideration that the people you are dealing with probably are working at a fixed time. It means you will have to adapt to their schedule in all communication you are having.
But if you are the person that is most productive in the afternoon or evening, you can set up your working schedule, so it matches your productive personality.
Living With Your Family
If you are living with someone, a partner and perhaps are having children; it is important to consider them when planning your time. It is important to set up a no-work schedule so you can have quality time with your family. Remember, do not have time with your loved ones, and they will feel you are unavailable, just as if you were chasing a career in some corporation.
Remember, do not have time with your loved ones, and they will feel you are unavailable, just as if you were chasing a career in some corporation.
An Example
Let’s say your partner works from 9 to 5 every day, but you are most productive between 12 and 9 in the evening. It may cause a conflict because at that time your partner is exhausted and ready to go to bed.
It means you are not having a lot of quality time together. And you will have to adapt your schedule because it will become a problem for your partner.
So one way to solve this is to spend some time early mornings, and you start to work earlier. If you both are working from home, it is easier to fix.
Creating balance is rather important for your business and you can learn a lot more about this topic in this article, How Do I Strike Balance Between Work and Family.
The People Closest to You May Not Understand It
Going from working for a corporation to working from home is a huge step. Psychologically it is important for you that you get back up and understanding from loved ones and the people closest to you.
Unfortunately, not everyone shares the same desire as you and me to start our own business.
If this is something you want and feel you can do it, you have to be robust enough to move forward, without the backup from your family. If not, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
But before you move on, you will have to be sure that this is more than a hobby.
Make Sure to Have Self Discipline
When you are first starting you are probably not aware of how important it is to have self-discipline. Sleeping late, working in your pajamas and who gives a sh.. are issues you have to overcome and get rid of.
You must have self-discipline and treat your working from home job the same way as if you were going to work every day.
Online Marketing
If you, like me are working with online marketing it is also important to have self-discipline enough to stay away from all the temptations online. I am talking about social media, kitty cat pictures on Facebook, and all the other distractions that will lead you away from your tasks.
If your job is with social media, you have to be careful and stick to your schedule and tasks.
Structure Your Working Day
If you don’t have self-discipline one way to get it is by creating some structure to your work and setting up project goals, milestones, and deadlines.
Remember, unless you have a project for someone or a client, you are working under anarchy because you have no one to be accountable. That is why you must set up your structures. Make yourself accountable to yourself, ensuring you finish up your projects, etc.
You can learn more about how to structure your work here.
Find Your Weak Spots
For some people, it is easier said than done to create your working structure. For example, my problem is that I always start something new before finishing what I am doing. It is so easy for me to end up with ten different projects you haven’t finished.
So work a little with yourself, find your weak spots, and be honest with yourself. It is the best way to know what to watch out for so you too can finish up your projects.
Create a Nice Working Area You Feel Comfortable With
But be careful with too many distractions! One thing I invested in was a good TV for my office. I am not watching it; I just like to have a little noise around, when I am not running a music playlist from YouTube.
It is important to make your office a nice place to be in but without too many distractions. Your office must foster creativity, and consistency, and inspire you to work efficiently.
Brush Your Teeth and Dress Up
I know, working in your pajamas all day is too good to be true for many. Create your morning schedule, have a good breakfast, brush your teeth, and dress up! It is important also when you work from home.
Mentally, it puts you in working mode and makes you more serious about the tasks ahead of you.
Remember your home or part of it, is your office so you might as well dress up.
Get Out of The House and Work
Working from home can be kind of lonely sometimes, especially if you have a period of long working hours. Therefore it is a good idea to spend a couple of hours weekly working somewhere else, where you are not distracted. Perhaps at a nice cafe, a park, or anywhere, you can have your peace, without too many disruptions.
Don’t Stay At Home When You Are Off Work
Make sure to get out of the house when you are not working. Go to the gym, do some activities, or do something with your spouse and kids.
For some people, it can be very annoying to have a partner who works from home. First, they don’t see how productive you are, they just see you as an introvert, sitting behind your computer all day with no new inputs from outside.
So make sure to go out, see some friends, and be an extrovert, not only for your family but also for yourself.
Make Sure to Attend to Conferences
For me, working from home is not about working two hours per day and then spending the rest of my time at the beach. For me, marketing and working from home are a continuous education where you have to make sure to stay on top of your game. Else, you might not be so privileged to be able to work from home in the future.
Going to conferences is a great way to update your knowledge and get the latest in your niche. It is also a great place to network and create new contracts.
So try to attend a few of them every year, but only the ones that are relevant to you. Conferences can be quite costly, especially when you pay out of your pocket.
Are You Ready to Say Goodbye to Corporate Christmas Dinners?
From the bottom of your heart and with your fingers crossed, are you ready to say goodbye to your corporate Christmas dinners and all the social life you have in your working environment?
It is so easy to become a lone ranger, a lonely wolf when working from home. Things you took for granted, all the social life, being a part of a corporation will vanish. Even if you still maintain contact with people you used to work with, a lot will still be different.
You will no longer be a part of a company culture, and you will have to do a lot of footwork to create your own new culture.
You have to ask yourself these questions before you start working from home.
The Greatest Benefit Work From Home
On the other hand, in my opinion, you are going to get the greatest benefit, you are going to be responsible for your life and for creating your path.
Feel free to leave a comment below.
