Working from home has so many advantages. You can cut out the commute, saving vital working time being wasted. It is a real cost saver for your employer on office costs etc so if you can make it work it can be a real winning situation for both parties.
However, there are various things to consider for it to work well. Here a five things you need to successfully work from home:
The Correct Attitude
Attitude is a key part of making the home working solution work as it is for any work position. Distraction and procrastination are a couple of the principal pitfalls that can derail the home-working set-up. So it’s important to start out with the correct attitude with which you would like to continue with.
It’s good to think of the situation of being that you are not ‘at home’ but at the office in your house. You might want to dress as if you are actually going to the office as this will put you in the working frame of mind even though you are working from home.
A Good Internet Connection
A good and reliable internet connection will be an indispensable requirement of home-working. These days any worker will, no doubt, require access to email, cloud storage and the internet for research purposes. But with home-working then other online facilities such as video conferencing may be required. If you have a poor or unreliable connection it can really make working from home a real task, so make sure you know you are getting the broadband speeds you are entitled to and if not then it may be time to consider switching providers.
Adequate Break Time
You may not feel as motivated to take the full break times you would otherwise be entitled to were you working at the office amongst all your colleagues. But being a remote worker it’s probably even more important to take adequate break time, being stuck at home can get a little claustrophobic so getting out for a break, even for a short walk, can really help you break up the day.
Even get a few luxuries for your break times, I find having a quality drip coffee maker a must to give me what I need to refuel for re-starting work.
Dedicated Work Space
To even consider home working then your home office should be exactly that: a proper office space that is dedicated to work and work alone. If you don’t and just decide to work in another area of the house then it’s going to be increasingly difficult to separate work and home life. If you have a separate space set aside then you can at least shut that door and effectively ‘close the office’ at home time and enjoy your personal and family life without feeling like you’re perpetually at work.
Good Communication With The Office
Finally once you have a really good set up then it’s key you have good lines of communication with the office and have an effective strategy for being kept up to date with what is going on at the office. There should be occasions where you will have to come in for some meeting but at other times you should be kept informed.
Do you work from home? Let us know in the comments below!
