The challenges of working from home
I have been working from home now for a little while. I must say that I love it. I love being able to “work” in my pjs or whatever. I love being able to stop to take a workout break. I love being able to actually cook something instead of tossing something in a microwave.
But working from home is kinda hard. I mean, it is hard to stay focused and stay productive because there is so much distraction. Dishes, laundry, cable tv and so on and so on. All distractions.
Staying productive can be a challenge.
Here are some things I have learned that help to stay focused when working from home:
Try to stick to a schedule, just like you would at an office. Don’t take 3 hours for lunch just because a movie you wanted to see is coming on HBO. Instead, schedule a regular lunch hour.
Don’t sign into instant messenger programs and what not. No need to invite others to distract you from your work.
Have a home office or a place to do you work. Make sure it is away from chores that will distract you. Shut the door if you have to.
Those are some of the things that I have learned about the challenges of working from home. Overall though I find it to be very rewarding - it just took a while to get used to it!
March 27th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I’ve been working out of my home for nearly 5 years now. For me it is important to have my own “space” with a door and to train my family (wife and kids) that my office is off limits during the day. Overall, I’m much more productive than working out of the corporate office and the flexible hours are great too. I also try to break for lunch outside of the home at least every other day to regain my sanity after being cooped in my house hour after hour.