Everyone working remotely has to figure out the ins and outs of when to work, where to do it, and how to create proper boundaries between their business and personal lives. Career development, office equipment, training opportunities, and the importance of building and maintaining relationships with absent colleagues are all legitimate concerns. Working away from the office, especially from your own home, means sorting these issues out along with many others.
Create a Morning Routine
Deciding that you will sit down at your desk and begin work at a particular time is one thing. Creating the kind of routine that guides you into that chair is another!
What in your current morning routine indicates that you are about to start working? Maybe it’s making a great cup of coffee and sitting down to really savour it, no smartphone or tablet in sight. Maybe it’s getting into the shower after you return from your morning workout. Maybe it’s getting dressed for the job? Wearing your yoga pants to work can be a great perk for some but a terrible strategy for others.
A good routine can be more powerful than a clock at helping you get started every day.
Get Outside
Getting out of the house is a must, even if it’s just into your garden for a mid-morning cup of tea. Fresh air and natural light will do wonders for your mood and stamina.
Keep a Dedicated Work Space
Ideally, you would have not just a dedicated office space in your home, but two computers. One for your work and one for personal use. The latter can be used to keep track of your social networking accounts, keeping up to date with your friends and family, and even offer you a great way to wind down. Click here to enjoy some popular games that will restore your sense of fun and possibly even put a little extra money in your pocket.
But this is not often possible, and you’ll have to make do the best you can. The first step is dedicating a desk and some peripherals for work use only. For example, let’s say your laptop is hooked up to a monitor and an external keyboard. That means it’s work time! When it’s on your lap, or you’re simply not in your office, it’s personal time. You could even go as far as partitioning your hard drive and creating a separate user account for work.
Keep Regular Hours
Set a work schedule and stick to it as far as possible. Having clear guidelines for when to work and when to play is a huge help when maintaining a work and home balance in the same space. But, one of the many benefits of working remotely is flexibility, and sometimes you will need to lengthen your day or begin earlier than usual to accommodate your own or someone else’s needs. When you do, just make sure you wrap up earlier the next day or sleep in a little to make up for this!
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