How to Be Successful Working from Home

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It is a great luxury to be able to work from home, but if you don't have the necessary discipline, success may be very hard to achieve. Here are some tips and guidelines to assist you in getting the best outcome for your work day, and ultimately, your success.

Steps

1. Have A Dedicated Work Area. Choose an area in your home that has good natural light, and is well ventilated. Working in the basement or closet will really start to close in on you after a few hours’ work and will not serve as much encouragement to ‘go to work’ each day. A desk and chair is essential. Although you may not be in an office environment, you are still doing an income producing activity and therefore you should set yourself up as professionally as possible. Working at the dining room table is a viable option if you do not have a separate study or office area in your home, so long as you are preparing your work area daily and its not cluttered with household items (dishes, magazines etc.)
2. Dress For Success. Working from home has many comfort benefits, but working in your Pyjamas is not one of them! Sure, check your emails with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, but when your work day begins you should be dressed appropriately. Its all the about your posture. Think about how different you feel in the evenings after a hot bath and your are in your comfy PJ’s – relaxed and winding down. This is not the posture you would want to project on the phone when speaking to clients or prospects. Keep it professional all round, and your results will reflect your professionalism.
3. Organisation Is A Top Priority. Getting organised is the first step to a really productive day. The last thing you want is to get to the end of your work day and realise nothing of importance has been done due to shuffling paper all day. Arrange your work area with all the ‘office’ type tools you need (printer, PC / Laptop, stationery etc.) A carafe of water, phone chargers, a great filing system etc is essential. And of course a diary / day planner. ie. Set yourself up to win!
4. Prioritise and Plan Your Day. In your day planner / diary, write down all the things that need to be done – everything from doing the washing to making those important calls etc. Block out times for them as accurately as possible. A little trick I learned from Brian Tracy was to put a number next to each task in order of importance. For example – the top priorities of the day would get a number 1, the least priorities would get a number 5. This will assist you in ensuring you have great time management and are productive in your work day. Preparation is key to getting anything done to the best of your ability. My suggestion would be to prepare your work day the night before, that way you already know what to expect when you begin your work day and are not wasting precious time with non-income producing activities.
5. Decide On Your Office Hours. Take into account your household chores, kids (if you have any), personal commitments etc. and plan your office hours to suit. Your business / work from home job is your main priority so make sure you set your office hours and commit to working within this time slot. Its best to keep your office hours as consistent as possible, which takes me to my next point..
6. Get Into A Routine. The sooner you get into your routine, the better and more productive you will become. Call it what you will, but training your mind to become most active at certain parts of the day will assist you tremendously. You will be surprised at how your creativity and concentration increases having set specific working hours and routines when you need it most, and in the evenings when it is time to wind down, your mind will be more relaxed and therefore a good nights rest is more likely.
7. Leave The Washing Alone! This is something I needed to practice for a while before I got it right. The home distractions… Avoid them! If there are home chores that need to be attended to, diarise and prioritise. Sure, if its storming outside and all your windows are open, you may want to attend to that ASAP, but everything else can wait. Watching an episode of your favourite TV show, or taking your suit to the dry cleaners is not going to put money in your account.
8. Limit The Number Of Times You Check Your E-Mails. If at all possible, only read your mails first thing in the morning, just before lunch and hour before you end your work day. Most times we get so caught up in our mails that we spend hours sifting and reading through them and this is not productive. Respond to Aunty Sue’s mail about her new roast beef recipe OUT of office hours.
9. Give Yourself A Break. Yes, you are working from home, but you are entitled to a break. Walk away from your computer a couple of times during your work day – stroll around the garden, or take a walk around the block. Some fresh air will do you the world of good and refresh your mind so as to serve you more effectively. I would suggest avoiding watching TV or getting stuck into a hobby as this is a very easy way to lose track of time and lose the drive to return to your work.
10. Get Moving! Join a gym, or take up yoga from home. Whatever your pleasure, but exercise is important. Not just for your physical health, but mental health too. Sitting at your work area for hours a day will eventually lead to fatigue and then it all becomes a downward spiral of demotivation and disinterest.

Tips

• 1. These tips and guidelines may seem very simple and are quite easy to follow but they are very effective in assisting you achieve success working from home.

Sources and Citations

• www.CreatePower.biz

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