Working from home has many advantages. You no longer have to brave the elements, traffic or race to make the 9:00 AM bell. And, you’re the boss. However, you do have to remain disciplined and complete tasks on time and sometimes distractions in your home can cause you to produce less work and thus lower your productivity level. There are some things you can do to achieve a desirable environment and enjoy taking on the role of the self-employed without taking a hit to your wallet.
A designated office space
In order to complete tasks and make money, you need to have a separate area in your home that’s solely for work. When you enter into this space, you’re at work. The best place to set up your office is a spare room or a portion of the basement. This way you can head downstairs or shut the office door and achieve the workplace environment.
Your office
In order to feel like you are at work when you work from home, you need to create a workspace that resembles that of a real functioning office. You need to have one or two computers, a printer, a large desk, a comfortable chair, a clock and a filing cabinet. It’s also essential to have a land line instead of simply relying on your cell phone. To cozy up the space and personalize it, bring in your favorite family photos, plants, and collectibles. The nice thing about working from home is that there are no restrictions on creating a space that is truly yours. Just remember to set the room up as an office.
Make schedule and stick to it
One of the many reasons people choose to work from home is that they don’t have to commit to the 9 to 5 work schedule. They can enjoy sleeping in, avoiding terrible weather and traffic and attend a child’s school play or football game. These are all important things to you. However, in order to enjoy all of these benefits you need put in the hours at work. If your child has dance class a few afternoons you can work a split shift to have these hours open and available without basically taking the day off. While you don’t want to miss anything, you may need to choose events that are the most important to put enough hours in each week.
Make sure you’re getting work done
The hardest part of the transition for you as a mom first and then as a worker is staying in your chair every time you hear the baby cry or a child upset, or worse a soft knock at your office door. Distractions like these can really affect the amount of work you can accomplish in a single day. Before you take on the role as self-employed, it’s best to have a family meeting and iron out the potential problems.
You can explain to children that when your door is closed you are working. If they are older you can extend it further and advise what hours you are working for the day. If you have a baby in the home, it’s best to hire a nanny rather than try to handle the feedings, diapers changes and crying during one of your conference calls. If that’s not a possibility, then create a productive work schedule around your little one’s sleep pattern. If you find that your baby simply isn’t sleeping long enough, you may need to make changes to their diet or invest in a new baby mattress.
Use computer for work only
Social media and email are just two of the forms of communicating today. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are wonderful to check and see what family and friends are doing, but they have no place in your office. Once you sit in your seat, your day begins. In order to avoid the temptation of checking the status, leave your iPhone on ‘do not disturb’ during your working hours and use a separate email just for the office. This way those distractions won’t pop up when you are in the middle of writing or talking job-related stuff on the phone. Also if you like to use more than one browser, use one for the office and one for your downtime.
Working from home lets you enjoy spending more time with the things that matter most in your life: your family. As a mom, you can do this. Create a real office, flexible time slots and get the family involved with the transition process. Once you get past the first few months of growing pains, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.