When a lot of people think of working from home, they envision a life in front of a screen in a bathrobe. That's a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective. The adjustment from working outside the home full time to working at home can be a rough one, but it doesn't have to be! Here are some tips to help make it work for you:
- Get dressed. Sick days are made to be spent in your PJs, but you're not sick now, you're working. Getting up, showering and getting dressed changes the scenery enough to give your day an official start. Yes, comfy clothes are fine, even preferable. Skipping the trip to the dry cleaner is a pretty nice benefit, after all.
- Keep a schedule, of sorts. One of the advantages of working from home is NOT keeping a schedule, right? Sure, you're your own boss now, but any clients you're working with are going to have the not unreasonable expectation of contacting you at normal times of day. Best to avail yourself to them fairly regularly.
- BACK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! Especially when you're getting started, it's tempting to work all the time. You probably started working from home because it allowed you the flexibility to do other things. If you're not doing those other things, what exactly is the point of not leaving the house? It won't be long before anyone who shares your home gets annoyed by your "absence while present" so try to head that annoyance off at the pass by setting appropriate boundaries.
- Talk to people whenever possible. It can get pretty isolating holed up at home. Having a quick phone chat rather than an email with a client or taking a break to talk to a friend can help you feel a little more connected with the world.
- Don't forget about self-care. Just because how you look in a suit matters less these days, don't think it doesn't matter at all. You're missing out on the moving around that leaving the house for work naturally includes now. Take regular breaks for feeding, watering and walking.
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