Work From Home Success
Continued from Why I Work From Home, by Leah...
Action is essential to moving from where you are now to where you want to go. The following tips have helped me to work effectively from home.
The important thing to remember is that your home based job deserves the same attention and dedication as an office position.
Create a dedicated work space. Your dining room table shouldn't double as your office. Select a quiet space where you can work uninterrupted. It's important to have an area to look forward to working in each day. My office overlooks my garden. Take pride in your space. Your work area should be clean, with good light and air circulation.
Establish a daily work schedule. Build in breaks for lunch, personal calls, and emails just as you would in an office. Make sure you take a break away from the computer even if it is a trip to the kitchen for 5 minutes for a cup of tea.
Motivate yourself. This is critical for the work at home employee. In an office situation, you have a team leader and co-workers who motivate you every day. When you are working at home, you only have yourself to push you to succeed.
Maintain a professional attitude. Answer the phone or respond to emails in a professional way. A home office may be an informal environment that affords you the luxury of dressing casually, but client interactions should always follow certain standards. Keep your interactions business-like and professional at all times.
Give yourself space. If necessary, send you children to a daycare provider and don’t feel guilty about it. Those who have young children may find it difficult to attend to the needs of their children while fulfilling their job obligations. For this reason it may be worthwhile to have a daycare provider to care for your child during your working hours. I have tried to work from home without daycare in the past, but I'm no Super Woman. Daycare can really help with your work and your sanity.
Get out of the house. Go for a for a walk around the block in the morning, or get a cup of coffee. Come back into your office like you are going to work. Get yourself ready, just as if you were going to an office. If you feel like a professional, you’ll work like one. I get dressed and put make up on every day which makes me feel good.
Communicate. There's no need to completely isolate yourself. Use instant messenger to chat with the people you work with. Put yourself on away when you’re working, but be online and available for conversations when you can be. If you start to feel isolated, get involved in online communities that focus on your area of work to keep you updated on news and changes in your industry.
Be available. Always put your phone number in your email signature so it’s easy for people to call you.
Obtain good resources. A fast computer, high-speed internet access, mobile phone, printer and VoIP will help with your productivity.
Integrate household chores into your movements around the house. Pick up toys as you make your way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Throw in a load of laundry as you pass by the laundry room. Better still get a cleaner, I have one starting next week. Very exciting!
End the day with a clean desk. There is nothing worse than coming into your office at the beginning of your work day and facing a messy, disorganised desk. This is one task that you should do before walking out and closing your office door at the end of the day. I am a clean freak and I need to do this every day.
Maintain normal relationships. Have a date night with your partner or a friend once a week. The only time I fight with my partner is when he is feeling neglected and tells me I spend too much time in front of the computer. (I do, but don’t tell him that!). We try for date nights for Wednesdays. Our date night is nothing special and it consists of a cup of tea, a chat and a good DVD until such time my daughters sleeping habits improve and we can actually go out on a proper date.
Technology, computers and the Internet mean new and better choices for parents who want the lifestyle, flexibility and convenience of a career working from a home office. Working from home is not for everybody though. If you are organized, focused, a self-starter and in possession of in-demand skills, you could do well working from home. If not, your options are likely to be more limited.
Finding and landing legitimate work at home opportunities is not easy so we have provided an answer to this problem. Home Workforce is Australia's first full service employment website to focus strongly on genuine work from home jobs. The site provides job search, job posting, candidate marketing service, job emails and career advice. Not only can job seekers search for vacant positions through advertisements on the site, but job seekers can also be found by potential employers by registering their details on the database.
Sign up today and register your details. You have taken the first step towards landing your dream job working from home.
- Leah
Recommended reading...
All Blog entries...
09/02/09
Why I Work From Home
09/02/09
Work From Home Success