4 Things I’ve Learned About Working from Home
Recently, I moved from the beautiful state of Maine to sunny Florida. I’m lucky enough to have been able to keep my job and work remotely for flyte. One of the most frequent questions I get is how it is working from home. In a word, it’s great. But I will say, I’ve learned a lot. If you’re thinking about working from home, read this first or if you already work from home, let me know if you’ve had the same experiences!
1. The transition may take more time than expected
My move went great. I jam packed everything from a going away party, to packing up my entire house, to selling everything I couldn’t take in a huge yard sale in just one weekend. The two day drive from Maine to Florida went smashingly, and when I arrived in Florida, everything settled down – including my dog – very quickly. Overall, I was really happy with the way things went.
However, even though it took my dog no time at all to get used to living at the beach, it took me a little longer than I expected to settle into a routine (we’ll cover that next). Nearly a month after moving, I can honestly say that I’ve settled in and have made the transition. So for those of you who are planning on moving and/or working from home, it may take some time to make the transition…and that’s ok.
2. You still need a schedule
Even if you have an open schedule (and therefore an awesome boss), it’s still important to keep some schedule. Personally, I’ve tested out a few options that I like: whether it’s waking up early and working for 3-4 hours, having a midday break to run my dog on the beach, and then pick things back up for the rest of the late afternoon. I can also work later in the morning and later at night.
As long as you can figure out a schedule that works for you, make sure you stick with it. That schedule also means planning work around family time and “me” time. I’ve found “me” time is particularly important when you work from home all day. I promise, it will keep you sane. Which brings us to…
3. Location, location, location
It helps to find nooks and crannies in your house that you can work in. A few of my favorite spots are at my desk, the dining room table, and the stool at my breakfast bar. This obviously depends on what you work on (laptop vs. desktop) and what you work with (if you have to write a lot on pads of paper or draw things on an easel e.g. an architect). Defining these “work spaces” will keep things flexible so that you can move around your house if that’s what you like to do.
In addition, staying at home all day every day (and in my case, having staring contests with my dog all day) can get boring and cause you to lose touch with the human race. It may just be me, but I love the feeling of Internet cafes. I’ve been to a few already and plan on scoping out more within the coming weeks. That way, I can camp out with my giant coffee and work with free Wifi to my heart’s content!
4. Don’t forget to get up and move
One of the biggest things I’ve felt since I’ve started working from home is having to force myself to get up and do something. Whether it’s a lunch time walk or a break to make a trip to the gym, it’s important to include exercise into that schedule we talked about. There’s not necessarily anyone across the cubicle to go for a lunch time walk or the ride home to make it easy to stop by your gym anymore; so you have to be even more proactive about getting up and out of the house!
Do you work at home? What has your experience been like?!
Nicki Hicks
Former commuter, current telecommuter
Photo credit: ishane
Tags: telecommuting, working from home