How to Successfully Work From Home When You’ve Never Done it, Pt. 2

How to Successfully Work From Home When You’ve Never Done it, Pt. 2

Many of us have grown accustomed to working at home by now. Some of us (me!) may even enjoy it. While there are certain upsides to working in an office, I really enjoy working from home. Here is the second part of my how to successfully work from home series. If you haven’t read it already (or are new to working at home, take a look at part one of how to work from home for the basics). And, if you are struggling to work from home because of the pandemic, don’t worry, me too. I wrote a post about that here.

Ok, so, you’ve set up a workspace, you leave work and take breaks when needed, and you have all of the equipment necessary to do your job well. Here are a few more tips to working from home.

How to Successfully Work From Home:

1. Set up a “Zoom station”

Most of us have turned our home offices into zoom offices. And we’ve all seen some really bad setups. You know the ones with the pile of laundry in the background or who are so backlit they look ghostly?

If you find an area of your home that works well for zoom and use it regularly. Find a neutral and clutter free background. Sit facing a window if you can. I know, many of us don’t have a lot of options, but you will feel better about yourself if you can get yourself properly lit.

If you have a designated station, you don’t have to worry about neatening up for every meeting. I have a part of my office with nothing on the wall and the window in front for zooming. I set the kids up at the kitchen table with a bookshelf behind them.

The rest of my office can be usually is a disaster zone, but I don’t have to worry about it during calls. You don’t want to be embarrassed and distracted by the dishes that you can see in your camera when you are trying to conduct business!

2. Groom for Zoom

Speaking of Zoom, do your makeup in front of the camera you will be using. Seriously. This way, you won’t be surprised when the camera is on and you see something you don’t want to see (and then get distracted by it!).

Put on your comfiest pants and your dressiest shirt and you are ready!

3. Work When You Are Most Productive

One of the best things about working from home is that you can work when you are productive, rather than when the office demands it (if your kid situation allows!). If possible, schedule your most difficult tasks at your most productive times. When my kids are in school, I try to get the hard projects done between ten and noon. This is my optimal time, so I use it. Now that they are out of school, nap time is my optimal time, whenever that is!

When working from home, most of us can set our own hours (within reason – many of us still need to be in touch with clients and colleagues).

4. Don’t Forget to Keep In Touch.

One of the benefits of being in an office is that you touch base with coworkers, often spontaneously.

When working from home, you can sometimes lose touch. Make sure that you have regular check in times for colleagues, clients, and supervisors. I touch base with all of my clients by email or phone every Thursday, even if I have nothing to say. I bill everyone the first Thursday of the month. My clients expect this. They also know that I am not as available the rest of the week, so we schedule all calls for Thursday.

Make sure to set up a time that you regularly check in. Even if it is to say something like, “I don’t have anything to report right now, but wanted to say hi and see if you have any questions.” It shows that you are proactive and involved in your projects. It also keeps you front of mind for supervisors and colleagues.

Every business has different expectations, so set up a check in schedule and method that works for you and your team and stick to it.

5. Batch Work.

I love batching! I wish I had more time to work in batches. It is probably the best time management tool that I’ve learned, aside from the Pomodoro method.

Determine the main things that you need to do weekly and monthly. Then try to knock them all out at once. As I mentioned above, I keep in touch with clients on Thursdays. So, I set aside a few hours each Thursday to plan the week ahead, update every account, and then connect with everyone. After I have a plan for what needs to get done, I batch it out.

Then, I block off several hours at a time to do one related project. Batching allows you to really focus on one task, is more efficient, and gives you the clarity and relief of a job completely done!

6. Create a physical “I am busy” indicator

We are fortunate to have an office. My kids know that when the door is closed, mama is working. Do they care? Well… sometimes. But sometimes, they forget that I am there!

If you don’t have this luxury, create another physical indicator or boundary. Headphones, a certain shirt, even a baby gate. Anything that tells the people (not just kids. Spouses, babysitters, parents all will interrupt if not aware that you are working) in your life that you are working.  

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Working from home take some getting used to, but setting up a designated space and time, and doing your best to eliminate distractions are huge steps to being successful.

For more tips on how to work from home take a look at my collection.

And, if you have more tips, I’d love to hear from you!