Making working from home, work!

So, you want to work from home? Great! Sounds awesome, right? You don’t have to go anywhere, you can just put yourself in front of a computer and there you are ready to go. Wrong. Working from home requires much more than a place to sit and crank out some work. Why? There are distractions at home. They are never ending. I know, because I work from home. It’s amazing how many things can pull you away from doing what you need to be doing.

Typical day
You sit down to watch the news … then you turn off Lord of The Rings, you look up at the clock and realize it’s 3:18 PM and you are still in your jammies AND you still have a full day’s worth of work to do – but you’re hungry – so you make yourself a peanut butter and banana sandwich with some Cheetos and the TV goes back on, and Oprah is on and she has on the guy that created the thing that helps you do something really great and all you have to do is buy his book – next thing you know it’s 5:00pm and you haven’t really done anything. Amazed at the time, and somewhat panic stricken, you have a moment of clarity when you realize that it will get done, but likely in the evening when you should be relaxing with the family or taking some time for yourself.

Here are a few tips that will facilitate a successful work from home plan:

1. If you can, set up an office, even if it’s a small one. This will allow you to sort of, ‘go to work’ and enable you to focus on the tasks that need to be done during your workday. Once in your office, you will likely not be distracted by the fact that the laundry is waiting upstairs or that there are unwashed coffee cups in the sink. You will be ‘at work’ and therefore not focused on those distractions.
2. Organize your day much as you would if you were going to an office outside your home. One of the unique advantages here is that you will have the option of starting earlier, and can possibly end the day earlier if you choose. You can make this a reality only if you focus your efforts and plan to complete your tasks in the same manner as you would in a traditional office space.
3. Develop a plan to respond to phone calls and emails on a schedule – not in real-time. Every time you shift from a task you are working on, you waste time – not because you are not doing something else that is valuable, but because it takes additional time to regroup and revisit what you were originally doing – for the average person it takes seven minutes to get oriented to a task. This is not just a work from home tip – this happens to us all, even those in an office. (In fact, it would be useful if I did this!)
4. Take a shower and get dressed. It is easy to fall into a pattern working in your jammies (like I am doing right now! Granted, it is only 6:00am, so I am going to cut myself a little slack.) Getting dressed gives a sense of purpose and sets the tone for the day.
5. Break for lunch. Don’t go all day without taking time off to eat lunch and relax a few minutes. This will keep you fresh and ready to return to work once you are done. Even half hour of downtime will leave you energized and ready to complete the second half of your day.
6. Don’t work around the clock. Working from home often means that you make yourself available for email and phone calls even when shop has been closed for the day. If you worked in a traditional office, it is likely that you would not be there at 7:30pm or 8:00pm. That being the case, you don’t need to respond to email or phone calls after normal business hours. A message will be left for you – waiting there when you return to work the following day. Additionally, responding to people after it’s supposed to be quitting time sets expectations that you will always be available. This is not a precedent you want to set.
7. Consider installing a dedicated work phone line so that you don’t start receiving calls from clients or other business associates on a personal phone number. There is no telling when your three year-old will decide to pick up the phone and engage someone in what is no doubt an intellectually stimulating conversation. Trying to get the phone back (I know this from experience!) can be a challenge while the other party listens to the histrionics of a youngster who wants to say ‘hello’.

Working from home can be a wonderful experience and highly rewarding. It allows increased flexibility. You can make your own hours and structure your day according to your needs. It does take some discipline though and thoughtful planning. I LOVE working from home! I still see clients, spend a lot of time interacting with people on the phone, and writing. I also get to see my kids, pick them up from school, give them snack and have lunch with my husband who also works from home. I’m not perfect; by all accounts, I work too much and don’t always plan appropriately. However, I do make time for myself and no longer have to rise at 4:00am to go to the gym before going to an office by 9:00am!

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Comments and feedback are requested and desired; and you are welcome and encouraged to submit questions to thecareerdoctor.

Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is the founder and Chief Career Strategist of ResumesDoneWrite, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries.

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