One of the best things about working for yourself is working from home. There’s no commute, there’s no one to hassle you if you’re not at your desk at 9am on the dot, you can play music – and sing along! – and you can even work in your jammies if you want.
But working from home is also one of the worst things about being a freelancer! There are sooo many distractions, and there’s no one around if you need to talk about your ideas or just need a break and want to chat about that awesome movie you saw last night.
It can be really lonely, especially if you also live alone and have no pets – though at least with no pets you should avoid becoming a crazy cat lady!
But you know what? I wouldn’t actually change it. I love working from home. You’ve just got to figure out how to make it work for you.
So how do you make working from home work for you?
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Have a dedicated work area
Rather than working on the sofa, or the kitchen table, or wherever is the least messy right now, set aside one area of your home that’s for work.
It doesn’t have to be a whole room or even a proper room (technically, I work in a cupboard!), but having that dedicated work space means that when you’re there, you’re in work mode. And when you’re done for the day, you can walk away, close the door on it (real or metaphorical) and not think about work stuff.
Keep regular hours
When you work for yourself you don’t have to do the 9 to 5 thing. If, like me, you hate mornings and wish they wouldn’t start until 11am or until you’ve guzzled 3 cups of coffee, you don’t actually have to work until then. You can totally create your own schedule.
You can decide which days and hours you work, and you can take time out without asking permission from your boss.
But here’s the thing… sticking to a regular work schedule can really help your motivation and productivity.
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If your schedule is wildly erratic, you can find it super-hard to get motivated to work. Like the feeling you get the first day back at work after a holiday – ugh.
But if you work set hours, you train yourself to be in work mode on those days and at those times. Finding the motivation to work isn’t a thing any more. You create a routine and just show up and get stuff done.
Make time to speak to other people
One of the best things about working from home is being alone – you can just concentrate on getting your work done. But even the most introverted and socially inept of us get lonely sometimes.
As tempting as it is to just stay behind your computer all the time, it’s important to step away and talk to other humans!
That could be a regular phone call to family or friends, or reaching out to arrange a date for coffee and cake. Even going to a networking event and chatting to other people can get you out of your lonely, anti-social funk and back to feeling good.
Minimise distractions
Some distractions are unavoidable – like the noisy neighbours upstairs, or if your family needs you.
But there are things you can do to minimise them. Like playing loud music to block out at least some of the noise from upstairs! Or, if you have kids, shutting the door so they know not to disturb you unless it’s an emergency or you’re taking a break.
Another good reason to have a dedicated work space is that it’s harder to get distracted by TV or household chores. Tucked away in my cupboard, I’m not thinking about the dishes that need to be washed. But if I was working at the kitchen table, I’d find it hard to settle until they were done and the kitchen was scrubbed clean.
If you don’t have that, you need to find a way to avoid being distracted.
Really want to watch some TV? Record the programme and watch it later when you’re finished working. Or arrange things so that you take your lunch break when it’s on.
Same goes for the dishes if you do work in your kitchen – as long as you actually have room to work, make a deal with yourself that you’ll do them as soon as you’ve finished working. The world won’t end if they wait another couple of hours.
Don’t be too strict
Some people who work from home a super-strict with themselves. When they’re working, they pretend they’re not at home and don’t let themselves do anything that’s not work related.
And if that works for them, great. But I think that takes some of the benefits away from working from home.
I’ll try not to get sucked into housework during my workday, but I’m not against taking 2 minutes to fill my washing machine. It’s not going to affect any of my deadlines and by the time I’m finished working my laundry is ready to hang up. That’s the kind of multi-tasking I like!
And a couple of times a day I’ll step away from the computer and do a few yoga stretches. It’s just the thing when you’ve been hunched over a laptop for hours.
Or if one day I’ve smashed through my to-do list by 2pm, where’s the harm in finishing work slightly early. As long as all projects and deadlines are on track, why not take an impromptu afternoon off?
Remember that you set your schedule, so if you want or need to be flexible about it now and again, you can do that.
[Tweet “You set your #freelance schedule, so if you want to be flexible sometimes you can do that”]
What’s your favourite way to make working from home work for you?
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Anders Sundstedt says
Great article.
One idea I guess can be to find a partner so that you are only alone during the working hours.
Like a girlfriend/boyfriend for example 😉
This can be combined with a kitten.
Only problem is that both of you may become cat lady / cat guy.