Top Tips For Working From Home

At some point during the course of most office-based carers the honour of working from home will be bestowed upon the humble employee. This luxury demands a lot of  trust from your boss. Therefore, while you are away from their watchful eye it is crucial that you do not break this trust and scupper your chances of working another day from the comfort of your own home. Just stick to these top tips and your boss will have no complaints…

Structure

When you don’t have to worry about the morning commute, it can be easy to treat yourself to a lie-in. But, be warned, this will only force you to eat into your evening. Instead, try and follow the same structure as a typical day in the office: sit down to work at 9am and finish at 5pm, giving yourself set lunch and comfort breaks. This will ensure you don’t accidentally skimp on your hours and let your boss down.

Prove it

If you’re working a full shift, you want to be able to prove it. While your boss can’t physically see you clock in, you could do it virtually instead. Drop them an email or text when you start work and another when you are logging off. This will provide written proof that you have worked your contracted hours in case this was ever to be questioned.

Separate your space

A healthy work-life balance is imperative to keeping work-related stress to a minimum. This balance can become blurred if you work from home. You can help to segregate your work by avoiding working in your main living space. Ideally this would mean having an office space at home but it could be somewhere like a dining or kitchen table where you choose to set up. Places to steer clear of would be your living room and bedroom as you want to relax in these rooms, not think about work.

Get dressed

Whenever you’re not obliged to leave the house it can be very tempting to stay in your night clothes all day. This is fine for a lazy Sunday spent watching Disney films but not for a work day. Get into work-mode by throwing on some clothes – even if they aren’t smart clothes, the fact that you’re dressed will make you less relaxed and more focused.

Mimic your workplace

Most offices don’t have day time TV blaring away, so make sure Jeremy Kyle doesn’t feature in your workspace at home either. Try to create an atmosphere that is similar to your work place. For example, if the radio is on quiet at work, play the same station in the background at home. Additionally, try to separate yourself from distractions such as other people and pets. Again, this will help you to keep your mind on your work and prevent it from wandering.

These top tips will earn you the trust of your boss and give you the flexibility to work from home when you need or want to without compromising your productivity. If you haven’t yet entered the world of employment and are still a student, read this article to help you study effectively from home.