Avoiding Time Sinks When Working from Home

I started working full-time from home about 3 years ago, after years of working in an office situation.  For the most part, I enjoy working from home.  In particular, I love having a 3-second commute, not having to put on pantyhose and high heels every day, and I appreciate the flexibility that working from home gives me.  However, I’ve also found working from home challenging at times, especially during the initial period.  After being accustomed to a large office environment, working from my home office can feel isolating; and it’s very easy to let distractions pile up and discover that very little work was accomplished by the end of the day.  It’s taken me some time to evolve practices that have helped me stay focused and more productive.  So, I thought I would share these:

Keep the work environment as structured as possible — in my case, this means getting dressed (still comfortable, very casual clothes, but out of pj’s), having distinct times when I’m available for telephone calls, and meetings.  In addition, I keep a detailed to-do list (which I have to force myself to create each day) and try to stick to regular times for meals, walks, and weekly errands as much as possible.  For women that are working at home with small children, you might explore exchanging childcare services with a neighbor where you watch the kids 2 mornings a week, and she watches 2 mornings a week, blocking off some uninterrupted time.

Try to prevent too much of a time sink in responding to a stream of emails and reading blogs .  I try to carve out blocks of time dedicated to responding to email.  In addition, I implement one no email day a week (Saturday) when I try to avoid opening the inbox.  I find that by compartmentalizing email and blog reading, I am much more efficient during the dedicated blocks of writing time.  In addition, weekends seem more like weekends.

Make sure your technology is adequate for your needs. Working from home can be challenging, with no support from an IT professional when your computer freezes, and without the help of a fully stocked office.  I found out the difficult way that backing up files is important, and a lot of time can be wasted restoring things.  In addition, I make full use of my printer/fax/scanner. The computer backup drive and scanner are some of the best investments that I’ve made.

If you are saving time on a commute, try to find an explicit use for that time so that you can both realize and acknowledge some of the benefits of working from home. I use the time to go for exercise and unwind which I now look forward to every day.

Finally, ban yourself from opening the refrigerator during certain times of the day. You probably wouldn’t graze constantly if you were in an office.

see my post on Avoid Work at Home Isolation;  and at this week’s carnival at Free Money Finance