Are you, like me, one of the thousands of people who work from home? Working from home definitely has it’s advantages in terms of comfort and saving money on transportation. But, it can turn out to be unsustainable and unproductive if you aren’t organized and strategic about it. In this post, I’m going to give you 6 basic tips to help you work from home, so that you can optimize productivity and become a true professional in the freelance world.
As you know, “Work from home” is not as simple as it sounds. Among many other things, peace and quiet is needed in order to concentrate and perform your tasks properly. When you are employed by someone else, it’s the responsibility of the company that hired you to provide you with all the elements and materials you need. However, when you work from home, you are your own boss and have to manage your resources the best way possible. So, how do you do that? Here are my six special tips to make that happen!
1) Set a work schedule
I strongly suggest (and know from experience) specifically defining your work hours and more importantly, sticking to them. That way, you’ll avoid having to pull all-nighters or getting stuck in when all your friends go out, in order to finish up an assignment. Defining your hours will also help you keep your peace of mind and lead to less worrying and frustration. It will help make your work seem like something pleasant to look forward to instead of a drawn out activity that surrounds you every minute of every day.
Since you work from home, you have to put your foot down with your daily work plans and not get distracted by neighbors who come over or even household chores (which can be surprisingly tempting!). In fact, during your work hours your home should become your office and the activities you do must match that atmosphere if you want to be successful.
We also recommend taking sporadic breaks to refresh your mind. So, every half hour, 45 minutes, or whatever time you set (try to shoot for less than an hour), take a little break and do short, recreational activities to relax and recharge your batteries. This is essential for maintaining your quality of work. Some ideas for the breaks? Go for a walk around the block, have a cup of tea, do some exercises for a few minutes (e.g, yoga), read a page of your favorite book, etc.,
I also recommend not working in pajamas (let it go!). Many people stay in their pjs when you work from home, just because they are at their own house. But, the reality is that getting dressed in the morning helps your mental dynamism and puts you in a better mood before starting your workday. What we mean is….dress for the occasion!
2) Control your contact with others when you Work from Home
After starting my first freelance experience, I noticed that working from home can interrupt the typical social life at home (which must be kept at bay!). So, if you live with other people you have to make sure that they know and respect your work schedule. This means that during those hours nobody will disturb you or interrupt your tasks.
This advice also applies fully to social networks (only here they are under YOUR control). Working and Facebooking at the same time is pretty much impossible. So, I definitely recommend not going on FB while working on assignments. The same applies to Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and other sites that will be too distracting while trying to work …(simma down, they’ll still be there when you’re done!).
Do you find it hard to not check your social networks compulsively? Fear not, there is a solution and it’s called Nanny for Google Chrome. It’s an extension that lets you block certain sites at certain times. If you want, you can add Facebook (or whichever sites are most tempting to you) to your list and activate the block for 30 minutes, 2 hours, or however long you need to concentrate for.
On the other hand, I suggest conducting business meetings through video conferencing instead of going personally to each location. This will save you valuable working time and help you stick to your allotted work hours. If it’s mandatory that you attend, it would a good idea to schedule multiple meetings (but no more than three) in one day to use your time most effectively.
3) Organize your daily task list to increase productivity
Every day you’ll probably have to do some of the same tasks and assignments. So in order to save time, you should try to find the most practical order to do them in (I found mine through everyday trials). Once you figure it out, turn this into the “standard order” to perform each task. The goal here is to come up with a methodology that will help you avoid unnecessary steps and increase your daily productivity.
When I was trying to sort out my activities, I found a good way to organize my work day was to: Always begin with the most important tasks first. This is great because it helps you make sure to finish your main projects first and get them out of the way. Then, the rest of your day you’ll be less stressed because you’re not worrying about the big projects.
Fortunately, there are apps out there that can help you organize your daily tasks to increase your productivity (they’re awesome!). One is Trello, an online platform to manage all your tasks. Registration is super simple (you can do it through your Google account, independently, or via e-mail and password). Trello offers practical tools for organizing your tasks, such as the ability to create lists, attach documents, set alerts, work in teams, add due dates for each task, and more.
Besides Trello you can use other complementary tools such as Microsoft Excel or Google Docs Spreadsheets. You can utilize them to create tables for schedules, activities, or to monitor posts you’ve written, etc. With Google Docs, you have the advantage of being able to work online and resume your work from any computer.
4) Watch your deadlines!
This tip is very important! You have to be very responsible when you work from home. Making sure your client is satisfied with your work is all on you. That’s why I recommend establishing and respecting deadlines and due dates. That way, hopefully you don’t get caught by surprise.
To make sure you’re always caught up on projects, you should put your due dates on Google Calendar and enable notifications to remind you of them. Check out below. We’ll show you how to do it in three simple steps:
The first thing you have to do is create the event you want to remember:
Then you can add additional information and contacts to the event:
Finally, you can configure notifications to remind you of that task with alerts:
Remember, that when you work from home, YOU are your own boss, so no one will be pressuring you to get things done except yourself. If you follow this advice, you shouldn’t have any problems with your deadlines.
5) Get trained to Work from Home
The fact that you work from home does not mean you shouldn’t have any training, actually, just the opposite! You have to prepare yourself to be the best in your industry. This will keep you competitive in the market and guarantee your income, so yeah… it’s important!
Fortunately, going to conferences in far-away cities around the world isn’t the only way get training … Thank You, Internet! Currently there are hundreds of platforms dedicated to different areas of the market, that offer workshops and online tutorials, often free of charge. So, I advise you dive into the Web to find the knowledge you need to be successful.
A good example of conferences online are those thousands offered around the world every year as part of the TED organization, ideas worth spreading. Many of them are even carried out independently, but with the same spirit, under the name TEDx. The topics are varied, usually motivational and are taught by the best representatives of each field. I suggest you visit the TED page in your city to find out about available content.
Another way to add to your training is to subscribe to interesting publications and specialized newsletters from your field. You should analyze what your colleagues are doing for training as well. And finally, research on the internet for articles that can contribute to your professional growth.
6) Optimize your workspace
Working isn’t the same as doing any other activity: sometimes you’ll be excited about doing your job and other times you’ll want to just turn on the TV or escape into the forest (it’s happened to me a few times!). That’s why, it’s really important to create the right atmosphere in your workspace to be able to focus on your tasks. Keep in mind that in order to achieve quality results, you must be focused and comfortable.
Focus on these aspects to create a space for productive work at home:
Comfort: This is a very important issue to take into consideration, since it directly affects your performance. If you are uncomfortable, you won’t be able to concentrate on your work and the feeling of discomfort will make you tired faster. Therefore, make sure you have a comfortable chair or sofa, that the room you’re in is bright, and there aren’t any background noises that might disturb you. Ideally, the place where you work should transmit a calm feeling and inspiration.
Health: This point is linked to the previous one in many ways: if you’re working on a computer, make sure the table it’s on is set at a comfortable height for typing or using a mouse (otherwise you could injure your joints). It’s also important that the chair you’re using is ergonomic and favors a natural and healthy posture.
The room where you’re working from everyday should be well ventilated and have the right temperature. Consider the fact that you’ll be spending several hours a day there, so it must be in the best condition, that way it doesn’t affect your health negatively.
Limits: Staying focused isn’t always easy, especially when the things around you catch your attention. So if you love learning guitar or playing Playstation, put them out of sight while working. You should also have your phone on silent and only check it every half hour, so you don’t get distracted by Whatsapp, Facebook, and other social networks.
On the same note, I suggest not working in the same places where you rest (for example, your bedroom or the couch where you watch TV). That will help you differentiate your moments of entertainment from moments of work. Which will eventually lead to better relaxation while resting and being more focused while working.
If you follow the tips I’ve given you in this post you’ll have higher quality work which will make your clients more satisfied. You’ll be able to take advantage of the best qualities that make the freelance work what it is: the possibility of of devoting professional attention to projects to obtain the best results. Remember, one who is working from home is solely responsible for their time and their resources.
Do you work from home? If so, do you apply any of these tips to your routine? Share your experiences with us!