Tips To Work More Effectively From Home

Many self-employed people work from home. Many choose it consciously, while for others it is simply the only alternative.

I myself have worked in the home office for about 3 years and have gained a lot of experience.

Therefore there are in the following altogether tips for all, which want to work in the own four walls more effectively.

One feels comfortable in one’s own four walls, but working there is not easy for many. After all, it is the private area and a complete separation from work is difficult.

Before I come to my tips, I’ll first discuss the most important advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

Working at Home – The Advantages

For many self-employed people, working from home brings the following advantages, for example:

The way to work is no longer necessary. To my last job I took 2 jeepney rides every day from my grandma’s house to my work, then I go home every weekend riding in a bus for 2 hours. Also, living in the city will surely make you stuck in a traffic for more than an hour, and it was often a wasted time. On the other hand, working at home saves a lot of time.

At home you have more flexible working hours. For example, you can spend the afternoon with your family or friends and then sit at the computer again in the evening. Or you get up very early and are done with your work quite early.

Many people simply feel more comfortable at home than in a small “storeroom” in an office building. Office space is not cheap and often you don’t get the ideal environment.

One should interrupt one’s work every now and then to switch off for a moment, recharge one’s batteries and then continue with a clear head. That’s very possible at home.

You shouldn’t underestimate the saving possibilities. If you work at home, you don’t have to pay any additional rent. Of course, that looks quite different with an external office.

The advantages are already very great, which was an important reason for me to work in my home office for many years.

Working at Home – The Disadvantages

Of course, there are also disadvantages when you work from home.

It is often easier to be distracted at home, e.g. by the TV or your pets. You suddenly think of so many things that still have to be done at home. You must not give in to these “temptations” during working hours.

In addition, it is difficult for many people to really finish work, which is very important if you don’t want to have any health problems. The work “lies” only a few meters away.

Another disadvantage is certainly low social contact. Often during the week, I could hardly get out of the house and only saw other people (except my family) at the weekend.

You have to be able to motivate yourself. This is especially important at home, because the way to the couch or your bed is short. ?

Last but not least, many people look at you funny when you work from home. The relatives think that you don’t really work at all and the home office is also not suitable for getting clients. ?

Not everyone is suitable for working in their own four walls. It takes a certain discipline and fun at work to be consistent every day and not to end up on the living room couch all the time.

Tips For Effective Work From Home

The following are tips to help you work better, more effectively and more efficiently at home.

Divide your big goals (websites, tasks, projects, etc.) into small subgoals. These should best be achievable in less than a day. This brings many “partial successes” and keeps your motivation high. In addition, such small subtasks are easier to plan. I personally used Asana to note and divide my tasks from most important to less important.

Every self-employed person should have medium- and long-term goals. Use one day a week to convert these goals into measures and plan ahead. The short- and medium-term planning of upcoming tasks and work is important to have the head free for the daily tasks.

Despite the freedom at home, you should have halfway fixed working hours. For example, I am more effective when I know that the working day ends at 5 p.m. than when I know that I can sit in front of the PC until midnight. That one deviates in each case after the current requirements from these working hours, is then again the good right of each independent one.

Concentrate on one task and don’t work on 5 things at the same time. Multitasking doesn’t work! It helps in this cooperation a lot to keep your own workplace tidy. Only the documents you currently need should be stored here.

Set external appointments to one day. This point, like all the others, is also very subjective. In any case, I found it difficult at that time to sit down in front of the computer again after a client meeting and think myself into a task. I’d rather have a day or time in week where I choose to contact my clients if the task is not that urgent.

You will certainly like to check your blogs, emails, social media profiles, statistics and income just as much as anyone else who is self-employed on the Internet. However, these distractions can severely disrupt your workflow. Try to put these things on specific times. For example, after work, lunch and after work, you could reply to emails and be on Facebook for a short while. In between, you should simply turn off your feed reader, mail program and social media platforms.

After a short routine work (checking mails and blogs, etc.), start your day with a difficult and unpleasant task (Eat that Frog). Once you’ve done that, you fill up very well and it will be a good and successful day. It is also advisable to alternate between longer and shorter tasks.

At the end of the day, plan the tasks for the next day. This will make it easier for you to start the next day. I use extensive to-do lists to keep track of all tasks that still have to be completed again using Asana because I can track my task and put a due date on it. For each working day I then create a small to-do list again written in my notebook, which I want to create today.

Write everything down. Most people think that they can remember everything (calls, customer agreements, appointments, tasks, etc.). However, you always forget something and that is especially annoying when it comes to work for customers. In addition, it frees you up a lot and you can concentrate better on the current task if you don’t always think “There was still something there. Have I forgotten anything?

Make a note of your ideas immediately. I get a lot of ideas while reading blogs, lying in bed in the evening and thinking about the day or discussing all kinds of things. Nothing is worse than forgetting a good idea and desperately thinking about what it was again.

Make yourself ready in the morning as for a normal working day. Body care and clothes are important. Of course you should put on things you feel comfortable in. Make sure to have an exercise either a walk or jog before you start your day.

Always save and make backups! This may look like a simple and boring tip, but I hate doing tasks on the computer that I’ve done before. What haven’t I cursed here before! Write a text again that you just sat on for an hour? That doesn’t have to be. I usually write in Notepad++ where all text is being saved automatically and removes all formats.

More tips for working at home.

Do you have any more tips for working at home?

These were my tips for working effectively from home. In general, you should always try something new. In the end, however, you should only use the tips that work well for you.