Although research has indicated that home-working can actually be more productive, daily distractions such as the postman, the lure of daytime TV and having the freedom to take unlimited coffee breaks away from the watchful eyes of a hovering boss means that teleworking as a professional choice has to be honed down to a fine skill.
Here are some handy tips that will ensure that working from home has all the kudos of a day in the office:
Establish a routine:
Breakfast at 7, desk at 9am and lunch at 1 whatever timetable works for you make sure you put it in place daily to to keep yourself from putting your alarm onto snooze and trying to squeeze a days work into a couple of hours.
Dress the part:
You may be working from home, but it’s best to dress as if you were heading into the office. Putting on an smart-casual outfit will put you in the frame of mind for work and ensure that you’re ready to take impromptu video conference calls.
Carve out an office space:
Whether it’s a corner in your spare bedroom or a swish shed conversion make sure you designate a working area in your home and do your best to keep it organised and well-equipped.
A stroll to a local caf� for lunch or even hauling your laptop outside to the garden for a spot of fresh air can all help to break up the monotony of working from home.
Manage your time effectively:
Use tools such as Outlook Task Manager and or Google Calendar to organise your days into manageable chunks and to flag important meetings.
Keep up a professional presence:
Get a Skype phone number to divert business calls to your own mobile, put a professional tag at the end of emails and set up your own simple website/business card to advertise your services.
Stay healthy:
Just because you’re working from home don’t think that regular eye breaks and ergonomic furniture don’t apply. Contact your employment union for advice.
Stay connected:
Remote working can leave you feeling as if you are out of the professional and social loop. Join a forum for home workers or organisations such as The Teleworking Association to meet other workers and to network.
Manage your money:
When you work from home it may mean that instead of a fixed monthly salary, payment trickles in throughout the month/year. Budget carefully so that your income matches your expenditure with tools such as the budget planner at moneysavingexpert.com and keep a record of your outgoings on a database spreadsheet.
Don’t procrastinate:
Deciding on the background colour for a website or spending an inordinate amount of time wording an email, whatever decision you need to make do it in a reasonable time-frame. If you find yourself drifting of task, switch to doing some office admin or make a few telephone calls to take your mind off things.