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27

Inbox Clips #3: How Can I Work at Home Successfully?

This is the third installment of the Inbox Clips series. The previous posts can be found in the Inbox Clips category.

Many people wonder aloud to me how I can manage to work at home and still keep myself business-oriented. Dont you get lazy? They ask. Don’t you lose track of your schedule? These are all good questions. Many people have great side businesses that they would like to take into their home full-time, but don’t trust themselves or their work ethic enough to believe that they’d be successful working all alone.

I got a question by email over the weekend from Rebecca:

How do you work at home and stay on track? You mention often that you work at home and are successful. I have a business selling jewelry that I make on ebay and want to take it into a full time gig… but I don’t know if I can do it… I’ve always worked in a business where the environment is strict and keeps me in line (otherwise I’d lose my job). At this point, I can’t devote any more time to my side business unless I give up my main job. My husband makes enough to support me even if I made no money, so this seems like a good fall-back plan in case I end up making no more money than I do now. But I don’t know if I can do the whole working-at-home thing. Do you have any advice for a newbie?

Thank you for the question, Rebecca! I have now worked entirely at home for the better part of seven months now and there are quite a few things I do to keep myself in line and keep business going strong.

Before getting into the advice, I think that you need to consider, first and foremost, whether you really want to give up the office atmoshere. I have to first encourage you to look at yourself and think about how you would normally react to the situation of being home all the time without other people around. Think about your work relationships. How much do you value these people in your everyday life?

Honestly, working at home is not for everyone. You have to be able to tolerate long hours alone every day, and have the ability to stay on task through sheer force of will (no one will be giving you deadlines but you!). You also have to consider how much you can stand to not leave the house. Unless your business calls you out all the time, you will most likely spend the majority of your time at home. Personally, I can go a week without leaving the house sometimes, if I’m not careful! I try and get out at least once every other day to run errands, visit family close-by, or see a friend. Without this little time I take away from the home, I think I’d slowly go mad
Take time to consider how well you handle being alone a lot of the time. For some people, this is just not possible - they’d go crazy. Some people prefer time alone and would rather interact with others as little as possible. After considering that factor, I can give you the advice you wrote in for. There are many things that I do to keep business strong and keep myself on track. These are my suggestions if you do decide to take the plunge and work at home full-time:

Dress for the Part

A lot of people assume that we work-at-home folk wear pajamas all the time. This is simply not the case. While it is lovely to wake up some mornings and boot up the laptop and check emails in bed in the morning (this is honestly the best way to wake myself up, sometimes), it is not how I usually spend my day. Getting dressed tunes me in to “business time.” If I just wear my PJs all day, I stay in “cozy time” and never get revved up like I need to be. Put on comfortable work attire and gear yourself up for work! You can do away with anything impractical (heels? no need), but get dressed.

Keep a Work Schedule

I have often times let my regular work schedule slip and have not been happy with the results. While I am a passionate worker and always do what I plan to do, I find I’m twice as productive if I work a structured environment. I get up in the mornings to an alarm (though it is beautiful that on the days I just CANNOT wake up, I can just turn off the alarm and sleep all day…), take a shower and listen to NPR, get dressed, make a pot of coffee, do my makeup. Then I drink coffee and eat breakfast while responding to emails. In that order. The routine is sort of sacred in that respect. Having the daily routine keeps me aware of the fact that I am working, regardless of location, and that I need to keep working until I’m done for the day.

That Said, Keep in Tune With Yourself

As much as a schedule is great, don’t push yourself to misery. I make sure that if I need a day off, I take it. If I need a day away, I leave. You are mixing work and play when you work at home, and you need to make sure to keep the two separate to the highest degree you can. I turn off my work email program when I end the day - because I know myself and I will check it all night when I hear the *ping* if I don’t turn it off. Also, be aware of your natural rhythms. I, personally, work best in accounting and communication (emails, letters, etc.) in the mornings, and do my best creative thinking and design in the evenings. For that reason, I structure my day around 3-5 hours of administrative stuff in the mornings and 2-4 hours of design and creativity in the late afternoon. I also blog at night because that is the time when work is off my mind and my creative juices are flowing.

Make Yourself a Work Space

I have a dining room in my apartment, which is laughable, because I can’t think of the last time I “dined” at home (with a table or any formality, I mean). Fortunately, the dining room is a little cove off to the side of the kitchen, surrounded by windows. It is there that I have set up my office space. I cannot stress how important is it to have an actual office if you’re working at home. I don’t suggest that you spend hundreds of dollars setting it up, but do make yourself somewhere permanent to work every day. And make sure you like the space! I was originally going to have my office in the back of the living room, but realized quickly that I would prefer to look out of the window all day than stare at the wall. Keep your work space clean and organized, and make a habit of re-efficientizing (word? it is now!) the space every couple of months to suit your work patterns and how you use the space.

Keep a Work Diary

When working at home, it is really easy to get lost in your own head. Especially with an art business (jewelry making) like yours, time can be spent for hours being creative and lost for hours of no inspiration. I currently keep a 2008 work journal (they are sold at office stores for like $25, bound like a book and dated) where I record everything that I do each day. I don’t track the miscellaneous nonsense or the mundane obvious (e.g. “checked email”), but I record all the important phone calls made, letters sent out, updates to web sites, and emails sent and recieved. I record bills paid and received, invoices sent and payments received. I keep a proper accounting system on my computer to track all the finances, but I keep this log for myself so that I can look back every week and see what was accomplished. This sort of diary system is suggested for people with regular jobs, but I think it’s twice as important when working at home for yourself. Not only is it handy to be able to look back (when the heck did I call Judy?), but it’s a great tool for assessing your business’ day-to-day progress and for realizing your personal work trends.

All in all, I think you’ll find that you can work at home if you set these simple rules and processes up for yourself. It takes some self-dicipline and a lot of creativity, but you CAN do it if you put your mind to it. Good luck! If there are any other questions you have, don’t hesitate to ask more
And to all my other readers - do you have any questions? I’d love to address them in future Inbox Clips posts.

Filed Under Inbox Clips - Reader Q&A, Just My Life - Stories, Etc., Self-Help and Personal Progress

Comments

4 Responses to “Inbox Clips #3: How Can I Work at Home Successfully?”

Jewelry Making on March 29th, 2008 7:02 am

I have been running my business at home for three years now and I agree with everything you said. One thing I don’t do which I learned from you is keep a work diary. I’m going to try it because I think it will help keep me more focused and not lose track of things. Thanks!
marketingtips on April 11th, 2008 2:32 am

Thanks for sharing.Your post made me to think of how to work at home successfully by having a good work schedule,making ourself a work space and keeping an work diary.
work at home on March 4th, 2009 3:49 pm

Nice work keep it up
Dodgen on June 5th, 2009 12:38 pm

That was a great post…I love this site…Thanks