avatarJohn Teehan

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Top Tips For Working From Home

Working from home is great. Here’s how to keep it great.

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

I’ve been freelancing for nearly 30 years. For the past 20 years, it’s been my sole source of income. While working from home wasn’t my idea originally — I was downsized — I soon discovered I was much happier with working for myself.

While there have been challenges, I’ve never considered returning to a traditional work setup.

All that said, working from home takes discipline and practice if you want to maintain consistent productivity. The good news is that it’s not all that difficult once you get the hang of it.

Whether you’re working from home for a company or gone entirely freelance, here is some advice on keeping it sustainable.

Talk with the folks you live with

If you live with other people such as spouses, family members, or roommates, you should talk to them about your working from home and what that means.

Just because their work day has ended or they might have the day off doesn’t mean the same applies to you. You might still have work obligations to fulfill and still need to not be interrupted or bothered by excessive noise.

Nor is this the time for chores, video games, or chitchat. Ask them to respect you’re trying to get work done at home.

If there are children in the picture, you can talk with them as well. Kids are pretty good at entertaining themselves. Leave them to it, but ask them to keep the noise level down.

Remember your biggest motivation

I’m going to share my biggest motivation, and it’ll be quick.

Bills.

My electric bill. My gas bill. My mortgage. The whole stack of envelopes that get left at my doorstep demanding money.

I wish I could say I’m motivated by art or something lofty like that.

But poppa’s got to eat, and he’d like the lights on while that happens.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

If you find yourself flagging and losing steam, remind yourself that you won’t get paid if you don’t do the work.

And that’s when the wolves arrive at your door.

Get to work. Get paid.

Have a dedicated workspace

As much fun as working from the couch sounds, it may not be the most productive place to work. If you live with other people, you will have to deal with a lot of foot traffic. The same goes if you’re working at the kitchen table.

I recommend finding a corner of the bedroom, a spare room, or the basement that you can stake out and use exclusively for work. Make sure there’s plenty of light, and it’s within your Wi-Fi range. Try not to pick an area with a television or similar distraction.

Finally, choose a spot that has plenty of room for you to work, keep your work supplies, and not feel too penned in.

Schedule your day

If you’re coming from a work environment that revolves around a set schedule, don’t be fooled into thinking that working from home means no longer having to keep to a set schedule.

There are a few good reasons why you should set a regular schedule for your day and stick to it.

First, it helps if clients can know they can reach you at certain hours of the day without daily.

Second, having a set schedule helps maintain your work discipline.

And third, a set schedule makes planning projects easier. If you know how long it takes to finish a project and look at the open areas of your schedule, you can better work out a realistic deadline and suffer no surprises.

Avoid distractions

Turn off the TV. While many people work better with background noise, the video element of TV can often be too distracting. If you need background noise, play some radio at a low sound, or listen to a podcast you aren’t too invented in listening to.

You may be tempted to browse social media or the web from time to time.

Resist.

Photo by dole777 on Unsplash

Schedule a few breaks in your day for this sort of thing, and try to stick to it. When your fifteen minutes of TikTok scrolling time is done, get back to work.

Building this kind of discipline will pay off.

Practice computer security at home

Most people don’t think about securing their computers or smart mobile devices at home beyond password-protecting their Wi-Fi and letting their computers handle built-in firewall and virus detection procedures.

For most situations, that’s fine. If you’re working with particularly sensitive data such as health or financial records, you will have to step up your game.

Remember to:

  • Password protect your computers and mobile devices
  • Don’t allow anyone else to use your devices while you are working
  • Be suspicious of e-mail attachments from unfamiliar sources
  • Do not provide any private information in an e-mail reply. Call or visit the source’s secured website instead
  • Be careful downloading any files from websites you do not have 100% confidence in
  • Run virus and malware scans at the start and end of each workday
  • Back up your work files to the cloud or the company server daily

Keep lines of communication open

Make sure clients, coworkers, and colleagues can reach you when they need to and that you can reply to them promptly. Replying to e-mails is a great first step, but if your work or business could benefit from collaboration apps like Slack, Discord, or Google Hangouts, consider adapting one of these into your work routine. You could also look at collaboration platforms such as Google Docs, Google Drive, Dropbox Paper, and more.

Keep healthy

Take a walk. Get some exercise either at the start or the end of your workday. About halfway through, see if you can’t get outside for a walk around the block.

Fresh air and exercise will go a long way in re-energizing you, and the health benefits of exercise are obvious.

Photo by Balkouras Nicos on Unsplash

As far as foods are concerned, avoid excess sugars and starches. Got for nuts, cheese, yogurt, or nuts for some quick, sustainable energy.

You’ll last longer, feel better, and be more productive.

When the end of your workday ends, it ends

Just because you’re enjoying a more flexible schedule is no reason to go overboard and end up working more hours than would be healthy.

Set some boundaries for your time. After a certain point of the day, turn off the computer/drill press/sewing machine/whatever and spend time with friends or family. Read a book. Watch some TV. Play a game.

Make sure to set aside time for your most important asset:

You.

Cheers!

About John Teehan

John lives in Rhode Island with his wife, son, and dog. He specializes in tech, health, business, parenting, pop culture, and gaming. Visit wordsbyjohn.net for more info and rates. Twitter: @WordsByJohn2.

Do you like poetry, short fiction, and general oddities? Check out my new book, Life Among Psychopaths: an unexpected potpourri, now available on Amazon.

Work
Work From Home
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