You have made the big decision to change your career and start up a lifestyle business. Working from home can obviously be a major distraction and so it is important that you bring the office environment to you. Read on and find out some tips on how you can accomplish this feat.
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One way is to get yourself a fully functional desk and a typical office chair to sit on while you work. Your comfortable sofa just does not cut it in terms of productivity, does it? It is extremely vital that you feel like you are at work and not just in front of the TV. On your desk, you should put the items that you put on at your workplace when you were in the office – those family photos, the motivational posters etc. It needs to feel like an office based environment for you to cut out all necessary distractions and lower procrastination time. Furthermore, look online for a company that deals with desk mounted screens. Your laptop is great in that it is portable and that you can take it anywhere with you, but your office environment needs something a bit more fixed and work friendly. A wireless keyboard will also further heighten this fact.
Now that you are working from home, you need to be super organized with your time. Do not just think of it as an extra hour or two in bed. Try to start work the same time as you would in the office. You do have no excuse about being stuck in traffic now, have you?
It is also essential that you have breaks and your lunchtime as normal. Your daily routine is so important in getting a full day’s productive work in. Try to be away from the computer during these rest periods. Your eyes need a break from the screen as much as you do. Make sure also that you have your breakfast or your lunch ready-made. Your time is short. Do not waste it all by cooking. You would not do that in the office staff room, would you? Finish at the same time as you would do normally, close your email window and disconnect your work phone. Then leave the room you are based in and you just concentrate on other things that are a world away from your work. Your workstation and all its gadgets will always be there for you tomorrow.
It is very easy to be sucked into the working from home slob fest but you must try to fight that by showering and being changed into your work clothes every day. Yes, you may be working from home and nobody will be able to judge you, but for productivity’s sake, you have to get yourself prepared for a normal working day. Maybe you should get up earlier and take the dog for a walk to wake you up and give you some much-needed exercise. Do not let standards slide just because you have no hard-nosed employer breathing down your neck.