Working From Home… The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

The good.  Well this one is obvious.  Freedom to do what you want, when you want. Put a load of washing on between phone calls. Sleep in and work late.  Be at home to receive that delivery from Strawberry Net.  Making your own healthy lunch instead of dropping twenty bucks at the food court.   I’m sure there are loads more, probably too many to mention.  Working from home allows me the freedom to fit my lifestyle into my work life, and the flexibility to get other things done during a ‘work day’.

The bad, I would say is focus and motivation.  And separating your work life from your home life (hard to ignore emails if your computer is sitting on your dining table while your eating!).  I’m sure I speak for many  when I say that it can be a struggle at times to keep your focus.  I’ve never been one to park my backside in front of the tele for an episode (or afternoon marathon) of Oprah.  Lots of people ask me this all the time, “it must be great working from home, you can do the housework, watch tele, get your nails done”… mmm, no.  If I did this I wouldn’t get ANY work done.  Its all about habits for me.  I’ve been working from home for over 8 years and I’ve never turned the TV on once during the day.  True story.  I didn’t want to start that habit (or routine).  So my suggestion would be, get up at a reasonable hour (try not to sleep in too late), have a shower and get dressed as you would normally.  This puts me into ‘work mode’ after Ive had my shower and morning coffee.  And save your mani & pedi for the weekend 😉

Another thing that works really well for me is having a to do list.  You can buy a pad of these from Kikki K.  I write down all of the things I need to get done that day and mark them off as I get through them. It gives you a good sense of satisfaction ticking off the things you have to get through, it helps me stay motivated.  There are websites such as Flying Solo that are designed for people working in home based businesses. Another suggestion would be to go into a serviced office once or twice a week if you can afford it.  Due to the change in scenery and being in an office environment, I sometimes get much more work done if I’m sitting in an office.  It can be great to bounce ideas off others too, most serviced offices are hubs for entrepreneurs so you never know what doors could open up just by sitting around other like-minded people!

Finally… the UGLY.  For me the ugly would be more for the unfortunate person I live with.  Flatmates, boyfriends, friends, family.  Who ever is the first human to walk through the front door gets pounced on.  It can be isolating working from home by yourself, so if I’ve been at home all day and had no other interaction, I can get a bit too ‘chatty’ with the lucky person that comes home.  I remember what its like working full time in an office all day.  You finish your 10 hour day and just want to come home and plonk your ass on the couch and not speak to anyone.  Your biggest nightmare would be to walk through the door to be greeted by someone with cabin fever.  I get it. I’m sure everyone gets this one.  So my suggestion for avoiding ‘the ugly’, would be to try to get out of the house during the day if you can, grab some lunch with a friend, attend a networking event or even go to the gym.

It is important for yourself and your house mate/ partner / dog  / neighbours, that you have other interaction during your day, this will avoid depression, irritability or lack of motivation, which can all be real signs of cabin fever.