Working at Home: How to Organize Yourself and Get The Job Done

If you are a work-at-home freelancer or entrepreneur with no partners, then you most probably work from a special corner at home where you have set up your “home office”. And although working from home is greatly rewarding (no commuting time and cost, no office dress code, flexible working hours, more time for family and friends and much more) having a home office means you might find it difficult to draw the line between “home” and “office”. Sometimes you will lose a lot of time deciding between devoting yourself to house chores and meeting the deadline, or answering your friends/relatives/telesales person calls, or getting the latest news on your Facebook friends. Or you just devote yourself to working while feeling guilty for not doing the laundry.

Here are a few tips to help out organize yourself while working at home:

Set up a schedule

This means setting up your office hours and a to-do list for the next day after finishing a day’s work. Since you work from home you can set more flexible hours for doing errands, the shopping, even a coffee with friends, as long as you meet your daily deadlines. It’s not like you need to work from 9 to 5, but sometimes you may need to put in 12 hours in order to fit in your doctor’s appointment or your children’s school fair the following day.

Following a planned scheduled to-do list will allow you to have a day-to-day guide, scheduling clients phone calls, sending e-mails, working, marketing and devoting some time to read on the latest trends on your industry.

Work is work, anyway

During office hours, do work-related activities. This means not hanging out on social networks that are not related to your work, forgetting about calling/e-mailing friends and family. You will and need to focus on your tasks rather than just passing time!

Workplace takes a new meaning

Take the office outside the “office”. Thanks to modern technology, i.e. laptop computers, wireless Internet access, etc, you can virtually work from anywhere you want. So, next time the sun shines, work from the nearest park, or, if you don’t own a laptop computer, you can work from your nearest cybercafé, at least you take some fresh air and are out of the house.

When you’re at work everybody needs to know…

Precisely that, that you’re at work! Just because you are your own boss and your office happens to be at home, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to stick to a timetable or that you can run anybody else’s errands! Make it clear that if they are not able to take the trash out or go for the groceries during their office hours you are neither.

Socialize

You’re still a human being and you need to be with other people to keep sane. Take time to spend with your family and friends, or go to your trade meetings such as off-line networking meetings, fairs or shows. Get a life out of your computer.

Take breaks

Our brain is able to concentrate well only for certain time, and to avoid getting tired take breaks at least every two hours. Your breaks should be of anything between 5 to 15 minutes. However, make your breaks count for you and make them meaningful as well as useful. Taking a break doesn’t mean you stop working on your client’s project to play an online game, but to get out of the computer, stretch out and walk around, maybe go for a coffee or tea, or why not, tossing the laundry on the washing machine!

Live your life out of work

Although this may sound repetitive, try to separate work life from home life. If there are house chores to do, try to split them throughout the day, and wedge them between your working blocks. If there are other things to do, for instance, a PTA meeting or driving your kids to school, going to your kids’ games or other activities, make sure you fit them into your schedule.

In conclusion, working from home, if organized efficently will allow you to save time on commuting, having more time to spend with your family thanks to a flexible schedule and give you more freedom than working 9 to 5 from an away office.