You can work effectively at home from the very start if you follow these basic rules.

Making the transition to working from home can be confusing if you’re used to working in a structured office environment. The freedoms that come with being your own boss may leave you feeling like you lack direction, especially with all the distractions that the home environment brings.

You can stay productive by creating your own rules to make the switch to working at home smoother. Here are 6 basic rules to start you off and guide you.

1. Be realistic

Keep your expectations realistic if you want to stay motivated and productive in your new work environment. Working from home often requires putting in more hours, creating a disciplined schedule, and avoiding new distractions. You’ll be much better off if you can accept this early on instead of believing that working at home will be easy.

2. Follow a Consistent Work Schedule

It doesn’t matter when you work as long as you set and maintain a regular work schedule. This will help keep you focused and give your work set-up a level of professionalism by giving your clients regular business hours during which they can contact you. It will also let your family and friends know when you are working (and therefore should not be disturbed) and when your work day ends.

3. Dress Appropriately

How you dress can affect how you act. While you can be more relaxed about what you wear when you’re spending all day in your home office, dressing for an office-casual setting will help you get into a working mindset. It will also help you separate your work time from your leisure time if you change your clothes when your work day begins and ends.

4. Stay Connected

As humans, we are social by nature, and continuing to interact with others is important if you want to stay sane and productive. If you work in isolation, make an effort to find ways to keep connected with other people. Go out to lunch with friends or old coworkers, chat with people online, and get out once in a while for breaks. It will be good for your mental health.

5. Evaluate Yourself

Performance evaluations are important for keeping you focused and productive, so you should evaluate yourself on a regular basis. There are plenty of sample performance evaluations online that you can adapt for your own use, and it will be easy to compare your answers to determine whether you are moving toward meeting your goals or need to start doing things differently.

6. Take Care of Yourself

Don’t let work overwhelm you and burn you out. Make it a priority to keep both your body and mind refreshed, relaxed, and healthy.

Success is so much easier to attain when you have a plan and some structure to work with. So follow these rules and set some of your own to maximize your work-at-home effectiveness!

By Cathy Lau

Tags: Getting Started