There are so many jobs these days that give you the opportunity to work from home.  While this can be a very liberating feeling as you have ideas of working in your pajamas, cookies baking in the oven while you sip your tea and having the stress just melting away, at the end of the day work is work.  Set yourself and your home office up for success with a couple of these ideas.

A Place for Everything…

And everything in its place.  This includes where you will be working.  Designate a space and place that is for work only.  Not your kitchen or your bed, it needs to be a place where you know it’s down to business as soon as you enter.  This will separate home life from work time and is an important part of operating as a successful work from home employee. 

Time to Work

You will most likely be in charge of your schedule or work hours and just be left with deadlines and dates to adhere to.  You need to set your schedule just as you would at an office.  Taking into account your life and daily happenings, dictate the hours you will be working and stick to them.  Most people struggle with working from home when they can’t stick to a schedule and be their own motivation and accountability. 

Woman working from home

Goals, Lists and Notes, Oh My!

Just because you don’t have a boss physically standing over you doesn’t mean you won’t be held accountable for your work.  You will need to be very good at making your own goals and lists and managing what needs to get done when.  Invest in whiteboards, notebooks, planners, sticky notes – whatever it takes to stay on top of your tasks in a timely manner.

Man working on laptop from a home office

It’s Still a Day at the Office

Work is work, no matter what building you are in.  If you work at home and have pets or children, understand they can be distracting, and you need to have a good plan in place for dealing with distractions.  A common mistake is people think they can take care of their children full time while putting in the hours some online jobs require.  Be careful about what type of work from home job you accept and make sure your life or expectations won’t get in the way of being a good employee.

Keep it Moving

Working from home can also make you stir-crazy at times.  When developing your schedule, work in a small amount of time to get out of the house and do something else.  Maybe it’s going to the supermarket to get some food, a quick walk to get the mail, anything to give you some space and time away from home and work.  Just make sure it’s budgeted into your work schedule and that it doesn’t become a distraction from getting the job done.

Working from home can be a very rewarding option for our modern times.  Carefully considering everything you are gaining and sacrificing by choosing this type of career will put you on the right path from the get-go. 

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