Work from Home

Stop Feeling Trapped at Work and Start Experiencing Freedom at Home

5 Keys to Working From Home

Working from home isn’t as hard as people think it is. Honestly. For many of us, there isn’t that much of a difference between sitting in a cubicle and sitting at the kitchen table to do our jobs.

Sure, their distractions are different. And we might have family, roommates, or pets at home. But, the truth is, the distractions they provide are not different than those we find from coworkers or bosses in the traditional workplace.

Yet, so many people feel trapped when they work from home.

They feel this overwhelming barrier to enjoying the full freedom of working from home. And most of the time, our struggle with working from home comes from our own restrictions to getting work done.

Working from home can provide you with freedom, productivity, and joy you never knew possible. But we need to embrace it fully before we can truly experience these things.

This is why, I have come up with five very basic, yet very essential parts to finding success working from home. These are all things I do on a regular basis and they are the easiest things to breakdown our personal barriers to working from home.

You may want to bookmark this story to help you jump into the success you desire for working from home so you can reference it at a later time.

№1 — Create Routines

The first and most important tactic for successful work from home is to create routines. When we work in a traditional office setting, sometimes these routines are predetermined for us.

When we are working from home, our routines are completely up to us.

This is why we need to set up three basic routines to help us start, pause, and end work on a regular basis. These come in the form of a workday startup, lunch break, and workday shut down.

The Startup

When we start our day, we need to start it the same way every day. This helps us gain momentum, establishes a transition into work mentality, and helps with our productivity right away in the morning.

Lunch Break

While we are working from home and could just as easily work through lunch, it is best to establish a routine for actually stopping your work, eating lunch, and starting back up at work. This helps you rest your mind, breaks up your day, and provides you a base to jump back into work.

The Shutdown

When the end of the day is coming, the best thing to do is to set up a routine to clean up your workspace, wrap up what you are working on, and stepping away from work. This helps you bring a definitive end to work, transition you to home, and helps set up the next day.

№2 — Dress for the Day

We cannot work in our pajamas.

This is the reality for anyone working from home. That being said, you don’t need to get dressed up in super formal clothes. You simply need to start the day with your transition away from home just like you would go to a traditional office.

I have found one of the most useful ways to help me succeed at working from home is to change out of my pajamas into jeans and a t-shirt or some sort of workout clothes. This transition of dress helps prepare us to move into work.

And again, it doesn’t have to be overly formal.

It simply needs to be different. Some days I wear workout shorts with a t-shirt. Other days, I wear jeans and a polo, and most of the time it is some sort of combination.

My goal is to be comfortable, but not so comfortable that I never wake up. This helps set me up for success with working from home and keeps me motivated first thing in the morning to get my work done.

№3 — Establish Your Workspace

I have found the one way I can get more done with work in a short amount of time is having specific work from home space. In my house, I have three main spaces where I will work from home depending on my motivation and needs.

We have a den that I will work from, though it has the worst reception in the house for my wireless devices. It is a sitting desk, but comfortable, and very soundproof.

The next place I work from is our laundry room actually. It has the best reception for my wireless and a view of our property. It is also where I have a standing desk station. I spend most of my time here.

The third place is our kitchen island. When I am doing less detailed work and don’t have to be on the phone, I spend my time here with my family. I can sit or stand, get a decent cellular reception.

The key to establishing workspace is comfort, making sure you can actually do your work. Another important aspect is that you can close the door to get work done when you really need to do it.

When you have established workspaces, it helps you step into work when it is time to work. It also helps you be more productive to get things done. And it provides you with a setting to do your best work.

№4 — Connect to the Outside World

One of the most common barriers to working from home is feeling disconnected from your coworkers and people. Most people feel that when they work from home, they never actually see anyone from the outside world.

Which is simply not true in today’s world.

For many of us, our work has a multitude of ways to connect with the outside world and other coworkers. We can email, call, instant message, or even do video calls now.

And when we work from home, we have the freedom to go out or have someone stop by for a little bit. The fact is, most of us can have the same amount of interaction at home as we do at work.

The key is being intentional.

When you have to have a call with someone at work, use the video call instead of a regular voice call. This gives you face-to-face interaction. And it helps you get to know other people. It also keeps you from multitasking.

If you need a break or need to grab something from the store, feel free to do it. And when you are out, see if you can meet someone for coffee.

When we think about focused interactions, we get the connection we need.

№5 — Avoid Productivity Killers

While there can be plenty of productivity killers at home, there are three major ones that we need to address in order to make working from home an amazing experience. These three killers seem harmless, but they will stop you dead in your tracks.

TV and Movies

I used to think I could work with the TV on as “background noise.” What I have learned is that this simply pulls your mind away from what you are working on which adds strain to your mind. This will ultimately fatigue your brain and you will lose stamina to get work done faster.

Snacking

Specifically on garbage, junk foods. When I work from home and snack on potato chips or some sort of delicious baked treat my wife made, I peak in energy and then crash hard. Snacking on junk food will kill your productivity fast, especially, when you don’t notice that you ate the entire bag of potato chips.

Chores

I get it! You have the stuff to do around the house. Would it hurt to do some laundry? Probably not. What about vacuuming the house? That is probably an okay thing to do. However, chores tend to stack on each other. What might have been a 15-minute diversion could turn into two hours missed from work.

Keep the Killers Away

While these might seem very harmless in nature, the reality is that they don’t work with work from home. They are the small things that will derail you from getting things done and you will start to hate the idea of working from home.

Unlock the Gates and Be Free

Working from home has been one of the best experiences for me. It has brought such freedom and control to my life. And this is from someone who works for a company, not for himself.

My ability to do things on my terms because I am in my home helps me get more done in less amount of time. And it has helped me to find tremendous amounts of success with my day job and with other areas of my life.

Start focusing on these five keys to work from home success today. I promise you they will help you find freedom in working from home. And they will help you climb out of the cage of your cubicle job.

One last thing.

If you are working from home for a season (link), take advantage of trying to make this work. You never know, it might actually be something that will change your life and your approach to work.

Takeaways

Remember, the keys to finding freedom in working from home are:

1. Create Routines
2. Dress for the Day
3. Establish Your Workspace
4. Connect to the Outside World
5. Avoid Productivity Killers

If you can do these five things, I will believe you will enjoy working from home.

If you work from home, what are some keys to your success? Share in the responses below.

Jack Heimbigner is an author, creator, and coach. He lives in the country in Eastern Washington State with his family. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Start achieving your dreams with my 7-Day Living the Dream Email Course.