Do you work from home?
Do you work from home?
Working from home can pose many challenges. It’s no walk in the park – It takes a lot of discipline. Finding balance when you are reminded every second of your “home to-do list” while you are “at work”.
Here are 10 tips to make it work.
- Get help.
- Have a dedicated office space.
- Set office hours.
- Separate your work and home tasks.
- Communicate by email.
- Work remotely when needed.
- Set boundaries.
- Be flexible with your time.
- Be realistic.
- Don’t feel guilty.
Working from Home. It's no walk in the park. It takes a lot of discipline. Click To Tweet
Do you work at home and struggle with setting boundaries? Which tip could help you most?
The Time Timer
Give the Gift of (Visual) Time
Whether your children are learning at home in the classroom or both, the time timer products can help ensure they have the tools to succeed. Discover how you can reduce resistance to routines and increase time management skills.
Unlike traditional timers that fail to make the abstract concept of time concrete, the award-winning Time Timer’s visual depiction of “time remaining” provides stress-free time management at work, school, and home to make every moment count.
Special needs individuals: There’s a world of difference between looking at a clock and being able to say that it’s 3 o’clock and understanding “how long” 5 minutes is. For those who learn differently, this type of abstract thinking is even more difficult and often creates a high level of anxiety.
Education: Teachers around the world have discovered the power of the award-winning Time Timer to transform stressful transition periods, reduce resistance to routines and increase their ability to manage their classrooms.
Home: You know what a difference the Time Timer makes in the classroom, but what about at home? Discover the power of the award-winning Time Timer to transform never-ending meals, stressful transition periods, and resistance to routines.
Work: At your desk, in the boardroom, or on the wall of the conference hall, the Time Timer increases productivity by creating a sense of urgency and keeping everyone on track.
Subscribe by email
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
[…] Do you work from home? […]
[…] Do you work from home? (basicorganization.wordpress.com) […]
Setting boundaries is key for me.
Love the Time Timer!
It’s always good to separate being a working mom from home mom
As someone who works from home, I am with you 100% about the list you shared. Boundaries are huge. It’s easy to get pulled off task (and away from work) with ‘home’ projects and distractions. But being clear about your work hours helps tremendously. Working from home also allows for breaks. And during those breaks, it’s possible to attend to some other things including self care, like taking a walk outside.
Absolutely, or switch the laundry during the few minutes breaks. But I like “taking a walk outside” especially during nice weather.
I love how you hit all the essentials so quickly. #7, setting boundaries, is key, both for preventing others from taking your attention away from your work, but also to prevent sabotaging yourself. I set specific rules when I started working from home: barring a national disaster, the TV stays off until after 6p; no personal/social phone calls except on my “lunch hour,” just as if I worked for someone else; and no housework during the workday! (OK, I never want to do housework!) I give myself breaks, but those are to refresh me (body and mind) rather than to entangle me in goofing off.
But #5 intrigues me. While I certainly use email all the time, I’ve found that there’s far too much back-and-forth in email, and most times, problems and miscommunication can be avoided by making quick, direct phone calls (or leaving messages that are clear, concise, and specific about what I need) just as when I worked in an office.
I think too many people underestimate the great point you made — working from home takes a LOT of self-discipline!
I agree with you on the quick phone call instead of the back and forth.
Working from home is great in so many ways and definitely set the rules.
I’ve been working from home for 18 years and can honestly say household tasks have almost never distracted me from my work. I actually have to force myself to take a break to deal with things like that!
Working from home makes things easier on so many levels, as long as we don’t get distracted, same as if working from the office. We need to stay focused to get the work done.