Top 30 Tips for Staying Productive While Working From Home
I found this older post from ZenHabits today. I find that while I love working from home, I do sometimes find it hard to stay productive. There are so many distractions, and no one looking over my shoulder making sure I am working!
While I was reading the post I was struck by how much of the advice related to working at home the way you would work in an office. Things such as setting a schedule, limiting the number of hours you work, and taking breaks are all things that happen naturally with most “away from home” jobs. I tend to either have trouble getting started and spend all day procrastinating, or I get so involved in my work I work 12 or 14 hours straight and forget to eat. Honestly, I’m not sure how productive I really am after 10 hours of working without eating!
While all 30 work from home tips were great the last tip was my favorite.
30. Be grateful you’re working from home and not in some cubicle! That gratitude will motivate you to work harder, so you can continue to work from home.
So click on over to ZenHabits to read the rest of the 30 work from home tips, and find even more great tips in the comments.
Would you like to share your best tips for staying productive while working from home? Comment with them here and I’ll put them all together in a WFH Pro post and give you credit!
Those of you who know the joys of working from home, whether you’re self-employed or freelancing or telecommuting, know also the joys of procrastination and the lures of laying on the couch. Now, I’m as much in favor of a good nap as the next guy, but a nap should be a break, not your default work mode….
Unexpected "Sound Effects" on Conference Calls
As more and more people work from home and take company calls from there, it’s inevitable that we’ll be hearing more and more interesting sounds in the background going on at people’s homes. Everyone has heard the toddler trying to talk to daddy or mommy while they’re on an important conference call. Here are some of the other intriguing sounds you might be hearing in the background:
- Excessive slurping of coffee
- Small children to the extent that is sounds like the employee is moonlighting at a day care
- Dogs barking
- Toilets flushing
- Trains
- Cabs
- Heavy breathing
The office creates a sterile environment for conference calls devoid of ancillary noise but at home, life goes on and the presence of families and their activities provide a backdrop for the modern day conference call.
My favorite is the toilet flush. I have not personally experienced hearing one on a call, but I have had friends who have heard one go down (excuse the pun) on a call. The funny thing is that many times, the initiator of the sounds can be identified since often there is a limited group of call participants who are at home while most are in the office. How many of you have succumbed to the call of mother nature and muted a call during a pit stop?
I’ve experienced an employee conducting another phone call in parallel with a conference call that I was on with them and they accidentally added the other party and the conversation to the first call! Although it was not a memorable call to listen in on, about 7 of us were listening in on a call that we weren’t invited to. Our call participants went silent as we were overcome by another conversation.
While we try to make avid use of the mute button, inevitably there are mishaps. It’s inevitable that you will be on the wrong end of the equation at some point in your work from home life.
Non-Telecommuters More Likely to Leave a Company
This article I ran into explains that in companies with a high concentration of telecommuters, there is an adverse effect on those who are left behind in the company offices.
These workers are more likely to feel less committed and are more likely leave the company. There is a perception that those left behind have been left with more work and are permitted less flexibility than their peers.
With the focus in the press so often placed on the telecommuters themselves and the benefits derived, here is another ignored side of telecommuting that companies need to be aware of.
Dead Body Discovered In The Home Office
I made the trek up to the 3rd floor to my home office and found the above gruesome but not-too-uncommon discovery on the carpet by the door. A few feet away I found another pile of body parts, this time, internal organs:
And then there was the bulk of the remains a few feet further away. It appears I came just in time - the octopus could be saved but the goose was too far gone.
The culprit was found, surprised that we had located her …
Getting Out of the Home Office
As a manager for a consulting services organization who works from home, I occasionally need to get out of the home office and actually meet with humans face-to-face. Although the rigors of the airport ritual make me wince when I think about traveling, I enjoy getting out of the house and into a real office talking with people in the flesh.
Leading customer meetings in-person is much more demanding mentally and physically than conducting them via phone. If you don’t get out there once in a while, you get out of practice and your skills start to decline.
If you’ve been home-bound for too long, I recommend getting out there and creating a reason to get into an office. Meet with your coworkers or your customer in-person. Doing so could prove to be rejuvenatinating if you feel that the working from home pattern has been repeating itself for too long.
If you manage a team of telecommuters, find a way to get an in-person team meeting at least once a year. Over the years, I’ve encountered budgetary resistance to holding these but it is critical that these be held. The team bonding is one of the biggest reasons for it. It’s hard for people to feel like a team if they’re geographically dispersed and never see each other in person.
Telecommuting full time has it’s benefits but staying locked up in your home with no outside stimulation is not healthy over the long term.
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