Working from home is fast becoming an option for many people. Whether it is because you want to leave your dead end job, or because, like us, you find your job too stressful and want to leave it, it is worth considering working from home even as a way to supplement your income.
First of all, working from home gives you the flexibility of being around for other family commitments such as child rearing, but it can also enable you to finally pursue a career that you are passionate about such as being your own boss and starting your own business from scratch.
However, starting off can be a tough thing to do, so you may want to consider some of the ways that you can make working from home, like these women. Here are some of what you need to think about:
Do you have skills that you can use?
Some of us work most of our lives for others, not realising that the skills we gave can easily serve us if we set up our own business and work from home.
Typing, word processing, child minding, sewing, cake making and blogging, are just a few of your options here you may have transferable skills.
Do you have a designated space to considering working from home?
One of the first things that you may need to consider is having a designated space to work from. This can help make such a huge difference to your productivity levels when it comes to working from home and separating your home life.
It might be as simple as a desk in the corner of the room, but it could also be a home office if your property allows you the space. It can help you to know when you are in the mindset to work, and when your working day is finished as you can walk away from it.
If all you have is a bed in your bedroom, that’s pushing it. But it could still work until you are able to do better.
Dress for the day
The next thing to think about would be how you approach your day, and getting dressed for the day may sound simple but it is extremely effective.
The vision people have when you say you work from home is likely to be sat in bed or on the sofa in your comfort clothes. But actually, this isn’t the best mindset to be in if you want to be productive.
You don’t need to dress up in work attire, but getting ready for the day can help you get on track and be more productive with work.
Tech that will work with you while you are working from home
You will need to invest in technology to help you make your working from home venture work for you. It might be a new phone or laptop, perhaps even a desktop computer where you have the Mac OS Catalina latest release in terms of software. You will also want to think about your WiFi connection and whether or not you can have access to remote working systems to complete any work that is needed.
A routine that suits you
It may sound strange, but you may want to try and stick with a routine when it comes to working from home. Being at home often means you have distractions.
It could be a TV in the background, or chores that you want to complete. Allocating working time and sticking with a routine much like you would if you were heading out to work can help you to stay accountable when it comes to getting what you want done and still enjoying and maintaining your home life.
What I do is to tell myself how much money an hour of my time is worth. That helps me to make sure I stay productive.
So if a friend wants to meet up in the day when I am at work, I have to refuse it, unless of course it is an emergency that I can help with.
Time managing yourself effectively
Finally, when you do have time to work, you may want to look at ways to help you be more productive. There are an array of time management hacks and processes you can try to help you stay on track with what needs to be done. It could be time blocking, or allocating a specific amount of time to tasks.
I also use the Pomodoro method to help me focus on timed work with breaks in between. You can read more about Pomodoro tacker here.
Networking is a welcome help when working from home
Places like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have your kind of people waiting to network. You can share ideas, ask for help and even find business opportunities when you network and link with others. Most of the work we get have been sourced this way.
If there are conferences or other meetups with people of like mind, that’s the place to be. Read how I got on at the first bloggers meetup I attended.
Let’s hope these tips help you make working from home an option for you. Consider your options well though, before you launch out. You must weigh the pros and cons.
Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
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