Ulm secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do.
So! You’ve decided to quit your job, or you’ve been retrenched or you’ve retired and now you’re going to work from home.
When you go from a busy work environment filled with people, to working alone from home, it can be quite a shock to the system and will need some serious emotional and practical adjustments in the beginning.
Here are a few tried and tested suggestions for handling it:
First of all, and, in my opinion, most importantly – stick to your usual routine. Get up at a set time each morning, and get dressed as if you were going to work — which you are. You can dress more casually, but don’t get into shlumpfing around in a tracksuit with unwashed hair and no make up on — with a ‘no-one’ll see me anyway’ attitude. You see you in every mirror you pass! And therein lies great potential for depression which leads to lack of motivation and productivity and a general downward spiral.
You don’t have the comfortable structure of work anymore, so you have to create your own. Do this by setting working times, including tea and lunch breaks, that you and everyone around you stick to.
Establish those times right from the beginning, and be disciplined about them until they become a habit.
I’ve found that if I have to drive to work, I’m there on time – more or less. If I have to walk down the passage to get to work, it can take me the whole day – if I’m not careful. It’s amazing how many absolutely essential things demand immediate attention, like picking flowers or brushing the cats.
Obviously, working from home you can now work flexitime. Choose your most productive times, provided that they also fit in with your family’s timetables. (Some compromise might be needed here.)
Discourage friends and family from ‘just popping in’ to visit, unless they come to help. Time wasted will have to be made up later.
Make it quite clear that although you are working from home, YOU ARE WORKING. (And not suddenly available to do everyone else’s chores.) Fit the chores in as you did when you were working nine to five.
It can be awfully lonely at first, but try to resist the temptation to talk for hours on the phone. Apart from anything else, your phone account will skyrocket — and the phone chats might get in the way of customers who are trying to reach you. Rather listen to the radio or send sms’s and e-mails.
Avoid seeking comfort from the fridge! This is one time when you definitely DO NOT want to put on weight! If you do find yourself with extra kilos, build a brisk walk around the block into your routine. It’ll also clear your head, and, who knows, you might just discover the nicest of neighbours that you never knew you had.
Get an answering machine for your phone, so that if you’re in the middle of something, it’ll let you know whether the call is important enough to take immediately or if you could respond to the message. Telkom offers quite a reasonably priced multi-purpose answering machine with call screening and other options. Record a business-like message – it’s often the first impression a stranger will get of your business. Give your business a name.
Have set times when you return calls and, unless the need to return a specific call is very urgent, stick to that routine. You might like to do this during your coffee break. Returning calls can be a lot more tedious than being creative, but it’s a necessary aspect of your business.
Working from home can be quite isolating and lacking in stimulation in the beginning. Join a guild, do workshops, visit markets and chat to the stall holders – get out there and see what’s going on.
Set yourself goals, which once achieved, can be rewarded with ‘time off’. If you can combine it with networking or something creative like watching a movie, you won’t even have to feel guilty.
Discussion, debate and even quiet reflection are as essential to the health of your business as working flat-out at your workbench.
Try to keep your work to weekdays, and leave at least one weekend day for family and friends. It’ll give you a similar routine to those around you and will entrench everyone’s – including your own – perception of a focussed and hard working business.
Treat your business seriously and everyone else will too. The last word on the subject
If your work is suitable, set up a working space in your garden or on your balcony. You can now create whatever work environment you want. Make it attractive. Make it enjoyable. Make it productive.
And one wonderful day, you’ll wake up to another busy, creative, colourful day and you’ll wonder how you ever worked in a dreary office block with all those boring people!
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