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Telecommuting: Your productivity tips
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Working Productively "From Home"
I'm lucky enough to say I work from home. I've done so for about 12 years. Of all things, my career is in Human Resources, working with people all day long, albeit remotely.
While there certainly are benefits to performing your day job "from home", your effectiveness will increase manyfold if you can think of your workplace as just that, a workplace. Think of "going to work" as if you are going in to an office. Perhaps you don't need to worry about dry cleaning as much, but don't stay in your slippers all day. Get up, get ready and keep to a routine. Think of wearing slippers similarly to how office-goers think of "Jeans Friday", an exception and an occasional perk.
And communicate with your colleagues in a way that makes it seem as if you are right down the hall. Try not to comment on the dogs in the yard, the neighbors who are in their pool while you are hard at work, or the laundry in the drier. Even if you are working hard while your neighbor is floating the morning away, commenting on it detracts from your professional appearance, as virtual as it may be.
Set up a productive work area. Don't rely on the kitchen table.
The point is, if you act and feel as if you are in a structured work environment, your work deliverables and your communications with others will convey who you are - a true professional, committed to excellence. The addage is right - you can hear a smile through the phone. And the benefit of occasional slippers may keep you smiling. Treating your job as a profession, and not a kitchen table hobby, will help you earn the same respect as your commuting industry peers.
While there certainly are benefits to performing your day job "from home", your effectiveness will increase manyfold if you can think of your workplace as just that, a workplace. Think of "going to work" as if you are going in to an office. Perhaps you don't need to worry about dry cleaning as much, but don't stay in your slippers all day. Get up, get ready and keep to a routine. Think of wearing slippers similarly to how office-goers think of "Jeans Friday", an exception and an occasional perk.
And communicate with your colleagues in a way that makes it seem as if you are right down the hall. Try not to comment on the dogs in the yard, the neighbors who are in their pool while you are hard at work, or the laundry in the drier. Even if you are working hard while your neighbor is floating the morning away, commenting on it detracts from your professional appearance, as virtual as it may be.
Set up a productive work area. Don't rely on the kitchen table.
The point is, if you act and feel as if you are in a structured work environment, your work deliverables and your communications with others will convey who you are - a true professional, committed to excellence. The addage is right - you can hear a smile through the phone. And the benefit of occasional slippers may keep you smiling. Treating your job as a profession, and not a kitchen table hobby, will help you earn the same respect as your commuting industry peers.
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