![\"Vintage](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/01\/work.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The rise of the digital age has allowed more and more people to work remotely and to start businesses in the comfort of their own homes. Working out of your house has a lot of advantages \u2014 no dress code, no commute, and more autonomy. But it also comes with unique challenges.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re an entrepreneur starting an online empire from your bedroom or a contractor telecommuting for a big corporation, here are a few bits of advice on how to effectively work from home based on my own experience:<\/p>\n
1. Have a set schedule. <\/strong>The most important thing you can do when working from home is to create a set work schedule for yourself and treat it just like a work schedule you\u2019d have in an office. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019ll never get anything done.<\/p>\n You see, when you work from home the tendency is to be too <\/em>flexible with your time. For example, you might take a break to get a drink of water from the kitchen. When you get there you notice it\u2019s sort of messy, so you decide to clean up because, well, you\u2019re in charge of your schedule. Forty-five minutes later, you have a clean kitchen, but you haven\u2019t gotten any work done and now you need to pick up the kids from school. Whatever you wanted to get done today will have to be pushed to tomorrow. Had you implemented a set schedule, you would have told yourself, \u201cYeah, the kitchen is a pit, but I\u2019ll get to it after I knock off tonight.\u201d You wouldn\u2019t go home from an office to clean your kitchen, so don\u2019t do it when you work from home.<\/p>\n Another problem you may run into when you work from home is that people will assume you\u2019re free to drop whatever it is you\u2019re doing and attend to their needs or wants. If you worked at an office, they wouldn\u2019t call for a long chat, or ask for a favor during the day, but they figure that since you\u2019re at home all day, you\u2019re able to ditch work whenever you\u2019d like. If you don\u2019t set boundaries with your work schedule, your productivity will greatly suffer. Politely ask friends and family not to drop by unexpectedly during the workday and to only call if it\u2019s an emergency or just a quick question or reminder.<\/p>\n 2. But, be flexible with that schedule. <\/strong>Just because you establish a schedule for yourself, doesn\u2019t mean that schedule needs to run from 9-5. You can make it whatever you want, and tailor it to your own needs and proclivities. For example, because we want to spend our mornings hanging out with the kids, Kate and I work from 12-6, and then for a couple of hours after Gus and Scout go to bed.<\/p>\n 3. Do your personal errands before or after work<\/strong>. This is related to the above points. Because you have the leeway to be flexible with your schedule, it\u2019s tempting to do personal errands during the middle of the workday. While it\u2019s nice to be able to go shopping or to the dentist at times when such places are less crowded, these trips can severely disrupt your work mojo. I find that whenever I\u2019ve done personal errands during the middle of my workday, I can never get into a good flow because I\u2019m constantly checking the clock to make sure I have enough time to get ready and be punctual<\/a> for appointments. When I return from whatever it is I did, it will often take me a good thirty to forty-five minutes to get back into the work mindset. Couple that wasted time and attention with the time spent traveling to buy a new shirt, and you\u2019ve lost some major productivity.<\/p>\n Bottom line: try to schedule your personal errands outside of home office hours.<\/p>\n 4. Clock out (or don\u2019t).<\/strong> One of the potential downsides of working from home is that there\u2019s no set \u201cquittin\u2019 time.\u201d Because you decide when to \u201cclock out,\u201d work can start bleeding over into all hours of the day. There\u2019s certainly an argument for establishing a clear line between your work and personal life, especially if you\u2019re not personally invested in your job, the drift causes you stress, and you need work-free time to rejuvenate. But I\u2019m not sure compartmentalizing is essential for everyone.<\/p>\n Because I had always heard that separating work from your personal life was so important, when I became a full-time writer and found my work seeping into nearly every hour of the day, I stressed out that I was \u201cdoing it wrong.\u201d Since Kate and I work together on the website, we\u2019re talking about it all the time; there\u2019s always something new popping up in my inbox; and even when I\u2019m doing something unrelated to AoM, it\u2019ll usually inspire an idea for an article! Yet I eventually made peace with this fact; I really enjoy my work, and it\u2019s rather part of who I am, so I don\u2019t stress anymore about not completely cordoning it off from my \u201creal\u201d life.<\/p>\n 5. Get dressed (or don\u2019t).<\/strong> One of the most common pieces of advice on working from home is that you need to get dressed as if you were going to an office job. I understand the thinking; research shows that what we wear does affect our frame of mind, so if you get dressed up, you\u2019ll hypothetically shift into a \u201cworking\u201d mindset.<\/p>\n As someone who has worked from home for over five years, I\u2019ve been able to experiment with that idea off and on. My normal routine is to be showered and dressed after the gym in the morning. You\u2019ll usually find me in jeans and a t-shirt. Because it\u2019s been butt cold here in Oklahoma this winter, I\u2019m wearing a hoodie sweatshirt right now. I\u2019ve tried getting \u201cdressed up\u201d to work from home — as in put on a shirt and tie or at least a nice button down — but I didn\u2019t notice any increase in my productivity. I now reserve getting gussied up for days when I\u2019m meeting somebody for lunch or have other work-related appointments.<\/p>\n As to the idea that you should never work in your underwear or gym clothes and, at a minimum, put on a pair of pants, even these super casual get-ups don\u2019t significantly affect my state of mind. Every now and then I have days where my schedule gets messed up, I don\u2019t have time to shower, and I stay in my gym clothes all day long. On such days, I feel maybe slightly less focused, but I haven\u2019t observed a noticeable change in my productivity.<\/p>\n All this is to say, don\u2019t sweat the clothes thing when you\u2019re working from home. Just do what works for you. If putting on an oxford and dress pants helps you to work more effectively, do it. If you can stay on task in gym shorts and a tank top, run with that (you can even literally start running, since you\u2019re already dressed to do so!).<\/p>\n 6. Establish a home office. <\/strong>While clothes don\u2019t affect my work mindset all that much, my surroundings do. I just work better when I have a regular place where I do my work. I\u2019ve had this habit since my days as a student. When I was an undergrad, I had a specific area in a secluded part of the library basement where I did all my studying. When I was in law school, I rented a desk in the law school library that I used as my set study space. I\u2019d even take naps underneath it.<\/p>\n Today I have a home office that sits just off my bedroom. When I go in there, it puts me in a work mindset. I\u2019ve got it decorated with stuff that inspires my thumos — a bust of Teddy Roosevelt, a memento mori skull, a statue of a Spartan warrior \u2014 and I have easy access to all my books in case I need to look something up.<\/p>\n Besides helping you be more productive, setting aside a specific space in your home as a work area comes with tax benefits. The IRS allows you to claim home-office deductions on areas in your house that are used exclusively for work. You can write off furniture, printers, and office supplies; you can also deduct portions of \u201cindirect\u201d expenses like property insurance, your mortgage, and utility bills.<\/p>\n You can claim these home office tax benefits even if you\u2019re a company man whose company doesn\u2019t provide you with an office and you\u2019ve been forced to work at home.<\/p>\n Claiming home office tax deductions can be intimidating — it was for me at least. I highly recommend that you talk to an accountant to walk you through the rules and make sure you\u2019re taking advantage of this deduction if you\u2019re eligible.<\/p>\n 7. Set up your computer so you don\u2019t waste time on the internet. <\/strong>When you work from home it\u2019s easy to let your personal computer use bleed over into your work computer use. Instead of working, you\u2019re checking your personal Facebook or Twitter accounts.<\/p>\n This is of course a temptation office workers face as well, but the threat of a supervisor or co-worker walking by their desk keeps the habit in greater check, along with built-in workplace computer filters. At home, no one will know you\u2019ve wasted an entire day surfing reddit except your cat and your anxious conscience.<\/p>\n To help combat the internet\u2019s ever-present distractions, set up your computer so you\u2019re not wasting time with personal web surfing. The easiest way to do this would be to create two user accounts on your computer: one for business use and one for personal use. On your business account, only allow apps and websites that you need to get work done — no Facebook, no games, no YouTube, etc. On your personal account, give yourself access to all the dumb stuff you like to surf and use.<\/p>\n If you still find the temptation to switch over to your personal account too strong, you might consider buying a cheap laptop just for personal use, while having a separate business computer on which you\u2019ve blocked all the time-wasting stuff. Put your personal laptop somewhere inconvenient during the workday. By making it a hassle to access, you\u2019ll be much more likely to stay focused on actual work.<\/p>\n 8. Master the cloud. <\/strong>Become friends with Dropbox, Evernote<\/a>, and other cloud services. It makes working remotely a breeze.<\/p>\n 9. Change your venue every now and then. <\/strong>While I prefer to do most of my work from my home office, every now and then I like to go to a coffee shop near my house to do some work, especially if I\u2019m trying to brainstorm new ideas. Research shows that simply changing your scenery spurs creativity (as a bonus, so does the coffee shop background noise!).<\/p>\n 10. Get social. <\/strong>Probably the most significant downside of working from home is the greater isolation you\u2019ll experience — it\u2019s just you and your laptop all day long.<\/p>\n Despite the bad rap that office politics gets, many people find their closest friends at work. One study<\/a> found that 36% of adults have met at least one of their closest friends on the job. Even if you don\u2019t find your bosom buddy at the office, just being able to socialize face-to-face on a regular basis provides a myriad of psychological and physiological benefits. Believe it or not, small talk makes you happier!<\/a><\/p>\n Thus, many telecommuters or work-at-home entrepreneurs find that without the built-in social connections of the office, loneliness can become a big problem.<\/p>\n