Ever since I switched to self-employment, I’ve had several people tell me their thoughts on whether or not working from home would work for them. Usually these people say one of two things.
One phrase I often hear is “Oh, you are so lucky to be able to work from home. I would LOVE that.”
The other phrase I hear is the exact opposite “I would absolutely HATE working from home. That would never work for me.”
I know several people who work from home and couldn’t possibly love it anymore than they already do (I’m in that group), and I also know those who have worked from home in the past and completely hated it.
Whether we’re talking about working from home for yourself, or working from home for others, those who work from the comfort of their home usually experience similar problems and situations.
Working from home obviously isn’t for everyone, but below is how I make working from home work for me:
I still have an office.
When working from home, you will most likely still need some sort of office area. This is so that you can have a dedicated work area where you can stay organized and stay on task.
If you have an extra room, then you may want to convert it into a home office. If you do not, then you may want to take a section of a room, whether that be your dining room, living room, guest room, etc., then make a small dedicated workspace for yourself.
Also, you need a place that can allow you to conduct professional video meetings, interviews, and phone calls without a lawn mower or a dog barking in the background. For me, this has never bothered me, but I know others who have worked from home usually say this is one of their problems. You don’t want to be on an important phone call when there’s a bunch of noises outside distracting you or the person on the phone.
If you occasionally need something more professional than a home office but you know you won’t use it too often, then you may want to look into renting a shared office for your business. This way you have a place to conduct professional meetings and possibly even have a conference room that is available for you when you have to meet with clients.
Related: 15 Of My Best Working From Home Tips So You Can Succeed
I leave my home every now and then.
Some days, you may want to work from somewhere new. I always prefer to work from home over anything else, mainly because I can easily get distracted with people watching. Others I know enjoy working from a Starbucks, a park, or a rented shared office.
Every now and then, getting out of your home and switching things up may help so that you do not feel like you are stuck in a rut or secluded from the outside world.
Another thing you may want to do is to break up your work day. This is one of the things I love most about working from home. I have a flexible schedule, and I can do other things during the day that I want to do and work at a time that works better for me.
I recently bought a membership at an indoor rock climbing gym. It was somewhat expensive, and when I had my day job I probably would have never bought it. However, now that I work from home, I need a fun little break in my day so that I can rejuvenate and feel more motivated to work. Having a small break in the work day is very helpful because otherwise I would probably just work 16 hours a day without a break. It’s also a great way to work out and have fun at the same time.
I still have a social life.
Leaving your home is also a good idea if you ever feel lonely. Loneliness is a big reason for why many people think that working from home won’t work for them.
You might want to join a club, go to networking events, meet up with friends and/or family for lunch or dinner, and more.
I make sure I have fast and reliable internet.
One thing that can really ruin my work day is not having quick internet. Lately, my internet has been much better, but before I would occasionally want to throw my laptop out the window.
Having fast internet for many work at home jobs can make your work day move along much more efficiently.
I set a schedule and make goals.
Since you are working from home, it can be easy to forget about the work you need to do since your workday is a little different.
You need to create a schedule and stick to it. Decide when you’ll wake up, when you will work on a task, and what your goals are. Setting a schedule and setting goals will help keep you motivated and you will be less likely to procrastinate.
I try to eliminate distractions.
It is extremely easy to get distracted when working from home. Before you know it, you might watch TV for hours on end and waste a whole work day.
Here are different ways to eliminate distractions:
- Turn off your TV. TV has been my number one distractor.
- Download apps that will turn off social media for you. This way you are locked out of any distractions and you are unable to turn it back on by yourself.
- Turn off the wi-fi in your home. This ties back into distracting yourself with social media. If you don’t need wifi for your job, then I highly recommend this.
- Prep your meals. If you distract yourself from working by eating (yes, I do this too), then you may want to look into prepping your meals so that you can spend less time making your meals. Also, don’t buy unhealthy snack items so that you have nothing quick to resort to.
I have off days.
You can’t work every single day, at least not forever. In order to keep your sanity, you should have off days.
This is something I still struggle with. I find myself working nearly every single day. It is hard to stop since it is so easy for me to work, and also because I do enjoy it so much that it doesn’t really feel like work.
Even with that, you still need an off day. For me, I like to pick my least busiest days, which are usually during the weekend. I will still reply to emails just because I don’t want to wait until Monday and there be 1,000 emails in my inbox waiting to be answered.
I hire help.
Having help is a big reason for why I am able to do so much. I hire different parts of tasks that need to be done to three virtual assistants. It makes life so much easier because I can focus more on the bigger picture.
There are many things you could hire out. You could find a babysitter or helper for your children, you could have someone clean your home, you could hire an employee or a virtual assistant, and more.
When I worked at my day job, I even had a client who hired someone to pay his bills. YES, it was an odd job but he hated it so he had someone else do it.
I let people know that I am still working a real job.
Ever since I started working from home, people have been popping out from all over asking for favors and telling me that since I do nothing during the day that I should have tons of free time.
If I do say no, I sometimes get guilted into doing it because people tend to think I’m just being lazy. I think this is really the only thing about working from home that bothers me. I’m fine with doing favors, but there is a point to where you might actually be hurting yourself if you are doing more favors than what you can realistically take on. Rarely is there a day that goes by where at least one person doesn’t ask for a favor. I love my friends and family, but I need a break every now and then! P.S. If you are someone who asks for favors from me, don’t take this the wrong way 🙂 It’s just that doing 15 favors a week gets very tiring…
You need to inform others that you are still actually working. You are just working in a different environment now but just because you are working from home does not mean you are unemployed. If I was working in an office building doing the same exact tasks, would my job be viewed differently?
Would you prefer to work from home?
Would working from home work for you?
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I don’t have an issue with focus so I love working remotely. I get way more done when I work at home versus working in an office where people feel compelled to schedule meetings or pop by my office for some chitchat, etc. It might be good for networking but honestly, when it comes to getting through a huge pile of work in a chunk of time, working from home is the best.
I have to admit that I keep the tv on during the day for the dog, but it’s good for me to have a little bit of background noise that I can very easily ignore. If PiC’s spending the day working from home as well, though, I can tell he’s completely distracted by the tv. I’m about to set up a nice little desk “station” since we don’t have room for an office, and that’s going to make it even easier.
Your last point has been my major pet peeve. Whenever I’m working from home, people think I’m free to take calls and just gab for hours. My schedule is flexible, not empty! So I now screen calls just as much at the “home” office as I do at the regular office.
Yeah, the last one is something that has been stressing me out a LOT lately 🙁
Is it worth setting your personal contact stuff (Gchats, phone) on “office hours” such that you don’t pick up or respond during them?
I’ve never done that, but I know others do. I’m sure it’s worthwhile if people text or call a lot during the day. I’m good with just ignoring phone calls haha 🙂
I think there’s a give and take here. I have gmail up all day at the office and email back and forth with my sister as we have time. (On slow days for both of us, it gets up to 50+ total emails.) But Gchat can annoy you if you have extra talkative or, how shall I put this, persistent friends!
Jay
Haha yes those persistent friends can halt a work day! 🙂
I’ve just started a new job which involves alot more working from home. I think I will miss the social side of the office workplace alot, at least to begin with. My parents both worked from home during their careers and they said it can be quite lonely, especially if you are part of a team which has members who do work from an office and you can become left out of discussions.
Saying that; I love the thought of being able to work from anywhere. If the weather is nice next summer I’ll run some power cables out the window and sit in the garden to work. Plus the flexibility is pretty invaluable.
Yes, the flexibility is amazing. I love being able to work from wherever!
At first, I didn’t liked the idea of working from home. But, when I tried it, it liked it. However, I did not resigned at my work. What I am doing now is I work at office weekdays, then I do work from home every Saturday or any days where time permits. Time is flexible for working from home, which I really like.
That’s awesome Jayson!
At my last job, i worked mostly in the office, but if I really needed to get something done then I went home and knocked it out. There are just so many distractions in a traditional office. Right now I don’t have the option to ever work from home and I miss it. My ideal situation would be 3-4 in the office and 1-2 at home.
Yeah, there were a lot of distractions when I had my day job. The distractions often made it hard to work!
When Mr. FW worked from home, he had a dedicated office in a small room upstairs. It was ideal to have this separate space because if he was in there, I considered him to be “at work” and I wouldn’t bother him. If the door was closed, I’d actually text him if I needed anything just to respect the boundary of work and home!
Yes, this is exactly how a dedicated work area is important. Without it, I think it would be very hard to work. That being said, I do spend a ridiculous amount of time working in my living room haha.
I LOVE working from home! Even thought I don’t work for myself, my company lets us work from home 2 days a week and it’s a perk that I adore. I get so much done on those days because I don’t have any of the normal office distractions. It also opens up my schedule a lot since I’m not commuting and I have way more flexibility to run errands, do a workout, etc. I’d work from home every day if I could!
That’s definitely a great perk!
I work from home and also fall into the category of “loving” it. I don’t have a home office, but once we get a house that is definitely happening! For now, I work on the couch which is fine since I have to watch the two little ones. I also agree about the “favors” thing. For me, it wasn’t always favors but more just friends and family always wanting to make plans. I guess I sometimes feel like people don’t think I actually have a job because it’s from home. I’ve had people say, “Well, you work from home so can’t you just work later?” Yes, I could…but then I’m missing dinner with my family and relaxing with my husband! Would they want to work later?! Probably not!! Anyways, rant over…but I totally see where you’re coming from with that!
Yes, it is extremely annoying!
I read on lifehacker (go figure lol) that breaking up your workday makes you more productive. You can work longer each day and your brain loves for your body to get up and move. I know if I work 8 hours straight, I get restless.
And my family are farmers so they think if I’m not outside sweating, I’m being lazy. Very hard to get my point across that I’m working while ‘sitting on the computer’.
Haha yeah a lot of people don’t understand the work that goes into it all.
Your last point is so true for me! Hearing things like “you’ve got all this time on your hands anyway” or ” it’s not like you have anything better to do” gets old quick! I’m still learning how to deal with those kind of comments. It’s hard to say no, but I know I have to put me and my business first if I want to succeed.
Yes, it definitely gets old quick. I’m wondering if any of the people who constantly ask me for favors will red today’s post haha!
When people say things like “oh you have so much time,” I think it is important to be prepared to say something back. I would run with “well, I wish but it takes all my time to do x,y,z.”
Yeah, I try to, but I’m always afraid people will just assume I’m being snappy and complaining :/
I enjoy working from home. I have an office, but I mostly work in my living room. I never get sick of being here when it’s nice outside because I could leave any time if I wanted. The only time I go crazy is during winter when it’s awful outside. Sometimes I lose my mind if I’ve been here for several days in a row without venturing out.
I mostly work from my living room as well. Love my couch! 🙂
I’m not wild about people speaking to experiences they’ve never had. There are pros and cons to working from home as you know, but when people get extreme about their stance without ever having done it, it seems a little ridiculous.
I agree Stefanie! It bothers me a lot when people assume I just do nothing all day because working from home must be so easy…
I think working from home will become more common in the future. Your list is a great example of how it can be done effectively. I haven’t hired virtual assistants yet, but I won’t be surprise when that day comes.
Thanks Natalie!
I work from home for my main job and also with side projects and at times it does get rather lonely which bums me out, but I remember how fortunate I am to set my own schedule, run errands when I need to, not have someone breathing over me, etc. My friends give me crap for it, but I know they wish they had the freedom I do!
Yes, I know they would all love the freedom as well! 🙂
I would love to work from home. The big issue would be setting up a dedicated space because my place is LITTLE 🙂 Luckily there are a number of really nice shared workspace businesses in my area. I really enjoyed this list.
Thanks Michelle!
I’ve only work from home for a handful of days over my career. If I did long term I would like to have a dedicated work space. I like the ideas of being about to work ASAP as opposed to having to get ready and commute. Seems like you could be much more productive.
Yes, being able to work right when you get up is a huge positive. So much time saved!