smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

SmallBusiness.co.uk gives some tips on how to make the best use of your time when working from home.

By Sebastien Powell, Messagebase

For most people, working from home is the ultimate luxury, one that allows you to blend comfort and practicality, keep costs to a minimum and avoid coworkers pulling you away every 5 minutes into endless discussions on what colour the new company logo’s strapline should be.

On the downside, working from home also means you will regularly be confronted with the temptation of doing pretty much everything except for work; whether you’re a video game fanatic or an amateur Michelin star chef, sometimes temptation to transform your work day into a weekend becomes just far too appealing.

When this happens, it can be worth considering how simple solutions such as the ones outlined below can help you get more done throughout the day.

Technology can help: there are dozens of tools that can help you stay focused on your work and ensure you get that important proposal emailed to your boss on time. For instance, telephone answering services allow you to have a virtual assistant answer your phone calls throughout the day, without any interruption. Whatever your specific needs are, you can be sure there will be some piece of technology out there that will help.

Discipline yourself: this is particularly important for those who spend most of their day working on a computer, where spending just a little too long checking Facebook or watching the latest Simpsons episode can make the difference between a productive day, and one where you get less work done that the average OAP. Depending on your personality, a task-based approach using appropriate prioritisation and time-frames can help ensure you get all your work done on schedule.

Your environment is key: make sure that the environment you’re in actually allows for work to be done. This means keeping pesky kids or housemates out of the way, making sure the lighting is good, your workstation is properly adapted and that any distractions such as your vintage arcade system are safely stowed away.

Don’t force yourself: not every day can be a productive day. It is only natural for some days to be good days, whilst others are not so good. When this happens, it is sometimes best to adjust your week accordingly, rather than force yourself to work on a day where you will clearly not get anything done, provided your work allows for this to happen.

Do what you love: At the end of the day, if you’re so distracted and don’t spend much time doing work, it’s maybe time to ask yourself if you shouldn’t do something you’re more passionate about? A day goes quick doing work when you do something you love!

Ultimately, there is not universal template that will work for all homeworkers, as each individual has different needs. However the beauty of working from home is that you can easily make the changes to your environment without entering any office feuds or politics, enabling you to make the home working experience as enjoyable as it should be.

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