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15 Work-From-Home Tips for Business Success
Yesterday I had a beautiful luncheon with four other business women in one of the ladies’ homes, and it went on for three and a half hours. No we are not “ladies who do lunch,” we are independents who work from home and have formed a support group called, The Sounding Board.
We try to meet every couple of months to offer advice, opinions, give leads and tips and most importantly of all, motivation and inspiration to one other. The biggest deterrent to people who work from home is loneliness, which is de-motivating and business busting – these gatherings take care of that.
Working from home is not for everyone by any means. Whether you work alone part time or full time there are certain guidelines that can make or break your success.
- You are not at “home” when you work from home, you are at work. Ensure that everyone in your household and your outside life knows your hours and their boundaries and access to you from 9-5PM.
- Physically separate your home office from the home. If space is a factor use a screen or mentally draw a line designating office.
- Establish a routine. Rise at a standard time, go to the gym, shower and be at your desk by xx:00AM.
- Fully equip your office from computers to faxes to paper clips. Any task is easier to do when you have the right tools.
- Set your hours and really try not to be drawn into your work space “after hours.” It is so important to establish a balance between what you do for a living and your personal and social time.
- Time slips away very easily and quickly. Time yourself initially on each task you routinely perform and telephone calls and Internet surfing. “Oh my gosh, it’s 4:00 and I haven’t got a thing done.”
- Make a “to do” list the night before so your mind is clear when you close down the office for the day. Keep a pen and paper or mini recorder, by your bed and in your car, to record AH HA moments.
- Don’t become an email-aholic. To stay focused on the task at hand, limit email checking to two to four times a day…unless that is the communication mode for your business.
- Depositing a cheque that comes to your home in the mail is a good day in the neighborhood…limit your trips to the bank…like so many other things, scrutinize and plan for the highest degree of prioritization.
- Set up a reward system, a behaviorial modification system: “After I make 5 phone calls I can have a cup of tea… and a cookie.”
- Electricity is cheaper after 9PM…do your laundry then, not as a deterrent during the day…or colour your hair or mow the lawn.
- That being said, if you are blocked, bored, depressed or uninspired, go to a movie, take the dog for a walk, call a friend or practice your hobby (no eating) then get back at it…give yourself a time limit.
- Get up and move around, add physical activity to your cerebral activities.
- Network, network, network. Take the initiative, reach out to people, you are not an island.
- Don’t try to be “a be-all”…hire experts to do what you don’t do well and that which takes too much time to learn.
The list goes on and on, but for now give yourself permission not to feel guilty for the flexibility working at home allows.
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Colleen Clarke is a Corporate Trainer and Career Specialist and author of Networking How To Build Relationships That Count, How To Get a Job and Keep It and co-author of The Power of Mentoring: The Mastermind Group. www.colleenclarke.com 416.686.3079
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