We all love the idea of working from home. You don’t have to deal with the long commute, the office playlist is entirely up to you, and you can help yourself to snacks from the fridge whenever you like. When I first started working from home, I wasn’t exactly very productive. I got distracted easily and was always wandering off to do my tasks around the house. After a while, I asked for some veteran freelancers to share their advice on how to work from home without going insane. Here are the five tips they gave me…
Create a dedicated work space working from home
You can’t work when you’re surrounded by mess and always trying to tidy up, which is why it’s important to create a dedicated work space to allow you to do your best work. This also helps when it comes to switching off at the end of the day as you’ll be much less likely to keep working late into the night if you can move away from your workspace.
Remove all distractions
Working with the TV on might sound tempting, but you won’t do your best work if you’re distracted. If you can, put a door between you and all the distractions. If you have family at home, it’s important that they understand that you are working, so they can’t distract you when they want.
Plan for breaks
You wouldn’t work all day without a break in the office, so don’t try to do this at home. Plan coffee breaks and a healthy lunch break throughout the day so you can stay focussed. If you are very active, you might want to get outside on your lunch break and go for a walk. This will help to refresh your mind and give your eyes a much-needed break from the screen.
Keep in Touch
You might be out of the office, but your colleagues should still be able to get in touch with you as easily as they would if you were at your desk. Use messaging apps like Slack to keep in touch, or keep your Skype account logged in so people can easily call you for free. You can even attend important meetings via a video call, so it’s worth finding a method that works for you.
Collaborate on the Cloud
If you need to find a way to seamlessly collaborate with your colleagues and clients, a cloud account might be the best way forward. You’ll never have to worry about compatibility again, and if you’re based on the other side of the country or the world, this won’t be a problem either. If you’re based in London and the rest of your team is in Manchester, with cloud services, Manchester colleagues will never be left out of the loop.
What do you think?
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