10 Proven Working From Home Tips And Tricks

This article provides provides working from home tips based on my experiences and expert interviews.

Over the years, I’ve worked several jobs as a freelance writer , journalist, and copywriter from my modest house in the Irish suburbs.

These days, I also run Become a Writer Today from a home office on the first floor of my house an hour outside Dublin.

In this article, I’ll share my experiences and explain how you can accomplish more at home, without distraction.

Working From Home (WFH) Versus the Office

I can accomplish more in less time from my house while avoiding painful parts of the day like a long commute.

I’ve also worked in dreary open-plan offices, and I’d never be able to make that switch again, even if it meant earning more money .

A classic introvert, I found conversations about plans for the weekend, bad dates and the weather distracting and a little stressful.

That said, spending hours at home can get lonely. Although I’m an introvert, many people, including writers, prefer being surrounded by their teammates and friends.

Some writers also like taking a laptop to the coffee shop where they can write without interruption in the company of other people. This environment gives them energy and staves off feelings of loneliness.

If you’re engaged in any type of deep or creative work, you’ll accomplish more than in an open-plan office. Albert Einstein had one of the most productive years of his life while at home.

Remote working also offers a greater work-life balance as you can eliminate the commute, some long meetings and other distractions.

Working From Home Tips and Tricks

To work productively from home, consider how and when you work. Make sure you set ground rules. Mindset is more important than tools or a to-do list. That said, I’ve also included a list of resources below that can help.

1. Start Work On Time

It’s tempting to think you can start the day later in the morning or even in the early afternoon.

Although this approach is a nice luxury for a day or two, it’s not sustainable over the long-term.

Putting off work until later means you’re likely to fall out of sync with a coworker, boss or client.

Even if you’re focused on clients projects, this approach still means that tasks will drift into the evening time and you’ll have trouble switching off and falling asleep.

If anything, I’d recommend getting up at the same time as normal and taking advantage of no commute to start even earlier. That way, you can free up time for personal pursuits in the evening.

2. Hold a Consistent Daily Routine

Whether you’re freelance writing or engaged in other tasks at home, normal hours are your best friend.

Usually, I start my day at the same time about 09.00 after the kids leave the house for school. I finish about 17.30, at the same time as other team members who are both remote and office-based.

I try to leave the job behind at the end of the day rather than checking email on my phone at dinner or while watching TV shows on Netflix that night.

Occasionally, I’ve taken a longer lunch break or time off in the afternoon and promised myself I’d catch up on work that evening. I’ve almost always regretted that decision as it felt like work dragged on for hours longer than necessary.

At the start of the coronavirus crisis, I adjusted that routine by rising earlier to start key projects and allowing for disruptions to planned meetings, a video call and other deliverables.

I avoid having more than one beer at night during the week as I’ll feel more sluggish after waking up early.

When crafting your ideal routine, remember to factor in time for regular breaks, lunch away from the desk, naps and walks.

Remote work doesn’t mean spending the entire day on video conferencing calls.

3. Create a Dedicated Workplace

The goal is to create one place in your home that you associate with work rather than having no hard boundaries between your personal and professional life.

When I started working from home for the first time, I didn’t pay much attention to where I worked in my house. That was fine for a few weeks. Work spilt all over my house: the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom.

I’d lie on the couch with my laptop and check email or respond to requests. I wrote articles in the kitchen, living room and even while sitting up in bed. I couldn’t switch off properly on Friday or Saturday evenings when I was lying on the same couch.

I work at a standing desk in an office in my house.

If space is an issue, consider using the kitchen table and putting away the laptop when you have finished. Earplugs or noise-canceling headphones can help if you’re sharing a workspace with others.

You can write without interruption even if you’re living space is noisy. These noise blockers probably are not a good idea if you’ve got small kids though!

My choice of headphones is the Sony Noise Canceling Headphones WH1000XM3 .

The worst place to start a task is in the bedroom, as your sleep will suffer.

4. Master The Art of Over-Communication

I learned long ago working from home means communicating early and often.

So use all of the communication tools at your disposal. Check-in early and often with your boss, coworker, colleagues, editor, or freelance writing clients using email, instant messaging, and so on.

Let them know what you’re focusing on, how long you’ll be offline, and when they can expect a big deliverable.

I also like using Loom because it enables me to record short video responses instead of typing out lengthy emails.

People begin to associate these videos with who I am, and they remember what I’m doing. Zoom is another good tool for video conferencing calls and interviews.

That said, there’s a fine line between checking in and responding to every notification, ding, and email instantly.

You can disable internet access for 30 or 60 minutes using apps like Freedom or RescueTime . That’s long enough to concentrate on a troublesome project, but not so long you’re disconnected from the office or clients.

5. Prime Productive and Creative States

You can get a lot done as a homeworker thanks to fewer distractions than a busy office, but if you’re struggling, consider priming a flow state.

That’s simply a state where, according to psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, all sense of time and effort fades away.

First:

Ask yourself, “What are the most important tasks I need to accomplish today?” Then write your next action on a sticky note.

Attach it to your monitor or keyboard, so you can get right to it. Don a pair of noise-canceling headphones or listen to ambient music and focus on that task and nothing else for at least 90 minutes.

I often leave prompts for myself in the form of sticky notes on my desk e.g., “Write 500 words about productivity at home.”

Music can help prime creative states. The writer Stephen King blares AC/DC and heavy metal music when he’s writing novels at home in Maine. This approach helps him enter a state of creative flow faster.

In Tribe of Mentors, Tim Ferriss recommends keeping geranium oil handy and dabbing a drop on your wrist when you really need to concentrate.

Remember to remove distracting prompts too. That means putting away or turning off the radio, television, game consoles, and possibly your phone.

Bonus tip: The app Primed Mind can help trigger these states at will.

5. Avoid Mixing Work and Personal Time

Some homeworkers have the luxury of starting and finishing at times that suit family life.

That said, avoiding adherence to a routine is a mistake. Otherwise, you could find yourself playing catchup at night or on the weekend.

I acquired this tip the hard way. I had to spend a long, sunny bank holiday weekend writing a long feature article about printers. The article was due on Monday morning, but I’d procrastinated about this freelance writing commission all week.

If you’re a new homeworker, review your calendar for the week ahead and allocate time for business, personal life and creative time. Check what lies ahead every morning.

Jill Felska, director of people and culture at Limelight Health, told me,

“When people begin working remotely, they tend to want to prove that they’re actually working by responding to everything immediately. This allows no one to get actual heads-down work done because they’re concerned with making sure their boss knows they’re working instead of focusing on important tasks.”

She added,

“Creating these parameters and telling them [your manager] why you’ve created them is one way to quash this behavior before it starts. When you trust people to do their work, that’s when the respect comes back to you.”

6. Schedule Regular Check-Ins With Your Clients or Boss

In an office job, a manager can drop by someone’s desk and see if they need help. They can also gather a team and check that everyone is clear about progress toward a quarterly goal or objective.

Remote managers must balance these check-ins by giving their teams enough time and space to WFH effectively.

Wen-Wen Lam, CEO and founder of corporate travel booking platform NexTravel, offered these tips,

“Video chats are also a great way to help teams keep work moving. During sessions, it’s important that team leaders communicate clear goals to team members so that everyone stays on track and isn’t confused by what is expected of them as they work remotely-and then follow up-as they normally would via email.”

He added,

“As with virtual happy hours and trivia games, it is important to schedule these more frequently than you would in a traditional environment. That way, you can ensure employees have what they need to accomplish their goals.”

You can check in with your boss, editor or client via an end-day email status update or a video conferencing call.

7. Use Instant Messaging Appropriately

A freelance writer or entrepreneur can check in with their teams early and often using video conferences or video chat and instant-messaging tools.

These new inboxes can easily distract or overwhelm a home worker. Effective managers provide their teams with enough time and space to get work done, alongside guidance about appropriate response times.

He told me:

“While instant messaging platforms like Slack can be a great tool for team members to use to communicate quickly and efficiently, some important things do end up getting missed, especially during peak productivity hours of the day.”

“Employees should be sure to communicate any activities that are important or immediate versus casual or not important so as to make the most out of using instant messaging channels.”

If your team members are in different time zones, hand off parts of your work come the end of the day, like a relay race.

8. Focus On Your Most Important Task

Pick one to three tasks to focus on each day and work through those first thing. Reduce distractions, and always ask yourself,

“What needs to be done next and by whom?”

Remember, personal and professional routines change from month to month and year to year. Make sure you adjust accordingly.

Instead of holding onto what worked in the past, consider when you’re most creative and productive and how you’re going to switch off at the end of the day.

For me, this involves writing down a list of what I need to do the following day before closing out of any open applications.

I then engage in a physical activity like going for an hour-long run, as it helps me forget about the stresses of the day and sleep more easily at night.

9. Track Your Work Schedule

Tweak and improve your schedule as you see fit.

I recommend using apps like Rescue Time or Harvest to record how long you spend working on profitable projects or tasks. Freedom will help you block distracting websites, news and social media.

These types of apps can also identify the times you the day when you get distracted and what sites you waste hours on. Use all of this information to review your schedule as part of a weekly review, and adjust for the following week.

10. Use Separate Devices

If you can afford it or your company provides them, use a different computer, tablet and or phone for work versus personal activities.

This way, you can close down the device at the end of the day more and switch off more easily. You’re also less likely to open up business software if it’s powered down and put away for the night. You could also keep one number for your personal life and another one for work.

If budget is an issue, turn off notifications on your any business app you use a lot including social media, messaging and email. You can also limit screen time and access to these apps via the setting section of your smartphone.

Working From Home Tips: The Final Word

During the pandemic, many remote workers discovered that working from home doesn’t suit everyone.

Some people prefer the noise of a coffee shop or office. That said, by applying some of the tips in this article you can accomplish more from home until life or your routine returns to normal.

Author

  • Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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